10 collectors whose investments in art are millions of dollars
The richest people in the world spend billions of dollars in order to collect a decent collection of antiques and art. Each collector has his own taste and his own…

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10 years of happiness and 28 years of grief in the life of the artist Vasily Surikov
The personal life of prominent people always attracts the attention of readers, especially if it is full of piquant details, incredible stories, secrets and mysteries. But today we will talk…

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Giuseppe Arcimboldo - a phenomenal artist of the 16th century
This year marks almost 430 years since the death of Giuseppe Arcimboldo, an Italian artist known for his original portraits of fruits, vegetables, flowers and fish. Giuseppe so skillfully portrayed…

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were exhibited

How Pavel Tretyakov competed with the emperor to create the most famous art gallery in Moscow

Before the revolution, patronage of the arts was considered not only charitable, but also beneficial for the donor himself, and the point here was not taxes at all. According to the ideas of merchants in the old days, this activity avoided the terrible temptation – the power of money. Most often, wealthy industrialists became patrons of shelters, hospitals, and educational institutions. At first, the partners and competitors laughed at the Tretyakov brothers’ passion for painting, but time, of course, put everything in its place.

Pavel and Sergey Tretyakov were the eldest children in a well-known merchant family. This dynasty of industrialists has flourished since the 18th century, and for several generations from the retail of buttons, it has been able to grow to manufacturers – the family owned paper dyeing and finishing industries. I must say that, despite the huge investment in art, by the time of his death, the state of Pavel Tretyakov was estimated at 3.8 million rubles. Continue reading

What is special about the landscapes that are called the most Italian: Veduta and Capriccio

History did not preserve the name of the tourist that the first one wanted to take away from Italy a picturesque “postcard” in memory of the trip and thereby laid the foundation for a whole direction in the visual arts. However, it is unlikely that such a lover of beauty was the only one – this country in the south of Europe would sooner or later seduce connoisseurs with its landscapes immortalized on canvas.

Veduta

Translated from Italian, “Veduta” means “view”. This is a picture, drawing or engraving, which details the city landscape. In fact, Veduta is the prototype of photography, the golden rule of this genre is great accuracy. Therefore, the one who ordered the artist a city landscape really took home the memories of his journey. Continue reading

Skillful fakes that museums took for originals

Artistic fakes are a very real threat that museums constantly have to contend with. Fake artifacts appear in many museums from time to time, which can be displayed for several years before specialists realize that this is a fake. For counterfeiters, the high price tags attached to these fakes are often an incentive to continue to create fakes. Art fraudsters often go to great lengths to trick museums into acquiring their work. Some fakes are so good that it is difficult for historians and archaeologists to distinguish them from real things. Among the museums that became victims of fakes is even the famous Louvre Museum, where for many years successful copies were exhibited instead of the originals, and no one even knew about it.

Three Etruscan warriors

In 1933, the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art added three new works of art to its exhibition. These were sculptures of three warriors of ancient Etruscan civilization. Continue reading

How the primitive paintings of Grandma Moses influenced the course of the Cold War
Having crossed the age limit for 60 years, many no longer expect any fateful changes from life and quietly live out their lives. However, history knows many cases when older…

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Skillful fakes that museums took for originals
Artistic fakes are a very real threat that museums constantly have to contend with. Fake artifacts appear in many museums from time to time, which can be displayed for several…

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Secret meanings of Brueghel's visual “Flemish proverbs: Reflection of the essence of man and being
Northern Renaissance Master Brueghel the Elder is a Dutch Renaissance artist and engraver known for landscapes and peasant scenes. He was sometimes called the "peasant Brueghel." He portrayed his incredible…

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