Russian artists names. What are the main genres of painting you know? Famous landscapes by John Constable

Magnificent works of art by the hands of great masters can surprise even people for whom art means little. That is why world-famous museums are among the most popular attractions, attracting millions of visitors a year.

To stand out from the huge number of paintings written throughout the history of art, the artist needs not only talent, but also the ability to express a unique story in an unusual and very relevant way for his time.

The paintings presented below speak loudly not only about the talent of their authors, but also about the numerous cultural trends that have appeared and disappeared, and about the most important historical events that have always been reflected in art.

"Birth of Venus"

This painting, painted by the great Renaissance master Sandro Botticelli, depicts the moment when the beautiful Venus appears from the sea foam. One of the most compelling aspects of the painting is the modest pose of the goddess and her simple yet beautiful face.

"Dogs play poker"

Painted by Cassius Coolidge in 1903, this series of 16 paintings depicts dogs gathered around a coffee or gambling table playing poker. Many critics recognize these paintings as the canonical depiction of Americans of the era.

Portrait of Madame Recamier

Painted by Jacques-Louis David, this portrait depicts a glamorous socialite in a contrastingly minimalist and simple setting, dressed in a simple sleeveless white dress. This is a vivid example of neoclassicism in portrait art.

№5

This famous painting by Jackson Pollock is his most iconic work, which vividly depicts all the chaos that raged in the soul and mind of Pollock. This is one of the most expensive works ever sold by an American artist.

"Son of Man"

"The Son of Man" by Rene Magritte is a kind of self-portrait depicting the artist himself in a black suit, but with an apple instead of a face.

"Number 1" ("Royal Red and Blue")

This rather recent piece by Mark Rothko is nothing more than brushstrokes of three different shades on a handmade canvas. The painting is currently on display at the Art Institute of Chicago.

"Massacre of the Innocent"

Based on the biblical story of the murder of innocent babies in Bethlehem, Peter Paul Rubens created this macabre and brutal painting that touches the emotions of all who look at it.

"A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of Grande Jatte"

Created by Georges Seurat, this unique and very popular painting depicts the relaxed atmosphere of a weekend in a big city. Such painting is an excellent example of pointillism, which combines many dots into one whole.

"Dance"

"Dance" by Henri Matisse is an example of a style called Fauvism, which is characterized by bright, almost unnatural colors and shapes and high dynamics.

"American Gothic"

"American Gothic" is a work of art that perfectly symbolizes the image of Americans during the Great Depression. In this painting, Grant Wood depicted a stern, apparently religious couple standing in front of a simple house with gothic windows.

"Flower Loader"

This painting by the most popular Mexican painter of the 20th century, Diego Rivera, depicts a man who is struggling to carry a basket overloaded with bright tropical flowers on his back.

"Whistler's Mother"

Also known as Arrangement in Gray and Black. The Artist's Mother, this is one of the most famous paintings by American artist James Whistler. In this painting, Whistler depicted his mother sitting in a chair against a gray wall. The painting uses only black and gray shades.

"The Persistence of Memory"

This is a cult work of no less cult Salvador Dali, the world-famous Spanish surrealist who brought this movement to the forefront of art.

Portrait of Dora Maar

Pablo Picasso is one of the most popular and influential Spanish painters. He is the founder of the sensational style at the time, called cubism, which seeks to break up any object and convey it with clear geometric shapes. This painting is the first portrait in the cubist style.

"Portrait of an Artist Without a Beard"

This painting by Van Gogh is a self-portrait, and unique, because it depicts the painter without the usual beard. In addition, this is one of the few Van Gogh paintings that have been sold to private collections.

"Night Cafe Terrace"

Painted by Vincent van Gogh, this painting depicts a familiar sight in a whole new way, using amazingly vibrant colors and unusual shapes.

"Composition VIII"

Wassily Kandinsky is recognized as the founder of abstract art - a style that uses forms and symbols instead of familiar objects and people. "Composition VIII" is one of the first paintings by the artist, made exclusively in this style.

"Kiss"

One of the first works of art in the Art Nouveau style, this painting is almost entirely done in gold tones. The painting by Gustav Klimt is one of the most striking works of style.

"Ball at the Moulin de la Galette"

The painting by Pierre Auguste Renoir is a vivid and dynamic depiction of city life. In addition, it is one of the most expensive paintings in the world.

"Olympia"

In Olympia, Édouard Manet created a real controversy, almost a scandal, since a naked woman with a gaze is clearly a mistress, not veiled by the myths of the classical period. This is one of the early works in the style of realism.

"Third May 1808 in Madrid"

In this work, Francisco Goya depicted Napoleon's attack on the Spaniards. This is one of the first Spanish paintings to portray the war in a negative light.

"Las Meninas"

The most famous painting by Diego Velasquez depicts the five-year-old Infanta Margherita in front of a portrait of her parents painted by Velasquez.

"Portrait of the Arnolfinis"

This painting is one of the oldest works of painting. It was painted by Jan van Eyck and depicts Italian businessman Giovanni Arnolfini and his pregnant wife in their home in Bruges.

"Scream"

A painting by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch depicts a man's face distorted by fear against a blood-red sky. The landscape in the background adds a dark charm to this painting. In addition, The Scream is one of the first expressionist paintings where realism is kept to a minimum to allow more freedom for emotion.

"Waters"

Water Lilies, by Claude Monet, is part of a series of 250 paintings depicting elements of the artist's own garden. These paintings are exhibited in various art museums around the world.

"Starlight Night"

Van Gogh's "Starry Night" is one of the most famous images in contemporary culture. It is currently on display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

"Fall of Icarus"

This painting, painted by the Dutch artist Pieter Brueghel, shows a person's indifference to the suffering of their fellow men. A strong social theme is shown here in a rather simple way, using the image of Icarus drowning under water and people ignoring his suffering.

"The Creation of Adam"

The Creation of Adam is one of several magnificent frescoes by Michelangelo adorning the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican Palace. It depicts the creation of Adam. In addition to depicting ideal human forms, the fresco is one of the first attempts to depict God in the history of art.

"The Last Supper"

This fresco by the great Leonardo depicts the last supper of Jesus before his betrayal, arrest and death. In addition to composition, form and color, the discussion of this fresco is replete with theories about hidden symbols and the presence of Mary Magdalene next to Jesus.

"Guernica"

Picasso's "Guernica" depicts the explosion of the Spanish city of the same name during the Spanish Civil War. This is a black-and-white picture, negatively depicting fascism, Nazism and their ideas.

"Girl with a Pearl Earring"

This painting by Johannes Vermeer is often referred to as the Dutch Mona Lisa, not only because of its extraordinary popularity, but also because the expression on the girl's face is difficult to capture and explain.

"Beheading of John the Baptist"

The painting by Caravaggio very realistically depicts the moment of the murder of John the Baptist in prison. The semi-darkness of the painting and the facial expressions of its characters make it a true classic masterpiece.

"The night Watch"

The Night Watch is one of Rembrandt's most famous paintings. It depicts a group portrait of a rifle company led by its officers. A unique aspect of the painting is the semi-darkness, which gives the impression of a night scene.

"School of Athens"

Painted by Raphael in his early Roman period, this fresco depicts famous Greek philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, Euclid, Socrates, Pythagoras and others. Many philosophers are depicted as contemporaries of Raphael, for example, Plato - Leonardo da Vinci, Heraclitus - Michelangelo, Euclid - Bramante.

"Mona Lisa"

Probably the most famous painting in the world is Leonardo da Vinci's Gioconda, better known as the Mona Lisa. This canvas is a portrait of Mrs. Gherardini, who attracts attention with a mysterious expression on her face.

20.04.2017 at 22:25 · pavlofox · 3 120

The most famous paintings by Russian artists

Art has been considered one of the most valuable assets of human culture for several centuries. Paintings by famous artists become state treasures, which are watched vigilantly by thousands of specialists, and they cost hundreds of millions of dollars. In our country, art is valued much less, but everyone is probably familiar with the following the most famous paintings by Russian artists. Any educated person must know about them.

10. Appearance of Christ to the people | Alexander Ivanov

"The Appearance of Christ to the People" adequately opens the top of the most famous paintings by Russian artists. Russian artist Alexander Ivanov became famous for the painting “The Appearance of Christ to the People”, which he painted for twenty whole years. The size of the picture is amazing, as is its detail. The author was inspired, of course, by stories from the Bible, and it was far from the artist's first work on religious themes - Ivanov knew what everyone liked in the first picture and embodied it again - for the last time. The picture was called by contemporaries not just amazing, but the most important event in their lives. Ironically, Ivanov himself died on the same day, and the tsar bought the painting immediately after the death of the author.

9. Unequal marriage | Vasily Pukirev

One of the most famous paintings by Russian artists is considered to be an incredibly deep painting by Vasily Pukirev. Pukirev is an unremarkable villager who became famous for only one picture - all the other works of the author were forgotten. Why "Unequal Marriage"? The picture describes a plot from the life of Pukirev himself - he is even depicted in the picture itself. Young Pukirev stands in the background with crossed arms, unable to do anything, because his fiancee is getting married to an old general. Kostomarov himself, having seen the canvas, married a young girl.

8. Rooks have arrived | Alexey Savrasov

"The Rooks Have Arrived"- the most famous painting by Russian artist Alexei Savrasov. The painting gained popularity during its first exhibition, where it was appreciated for its realism and sincerity. “Such landscapes are only in Rooks,” they said about Savrasov’s painting. Interestingly, the church, which is depicted in the background, exists and stands in the same form to this day. In the same village, the famous Susanin accomplished his feat.

7. Hunters at rest | Vasily Perov

The author of the picture "Hunters in Retreat" is the famous author Vasily Grigorievich Perov. Now everyone knows this one of the most famous paintings by Russian artists, and in the 19th century, many spoke of it as unsuccessful. There were also those who admired Perov's work. First of all, the great classic Dostoevsky admired the work. Some criticized the picture because of unreliability, because Perov painted hunters from his friends, who were unfamiliar with this type of occupation.

6. Three heroes | Viktor Vasnetsov

Victor Vasnetsov created one of the most famous paintings among Russian authors - "Three heroes". Vasnetsov said that he was inspired by thick oaks - he was amazed by their power, and the heroes just appeared to him a little later in a dream. The painting depicts famous characters of Russian folk tales. In the very center, Ilya Muromets is depicted, in whose hand a spear, on the left is Dobrynya Nikitich, unsheathing a sword, and on the right is Alyosha Popovich with a bow and arrows. It is known that the artist painted Alyosha from the son of Mamontov, in whose estate the picture hung. And the rest of the heroes are similar to members of the family of Vasnetsov himself.

5. Girl with peaches | Valentin Serov

Valentin Alexandrovich Serov, unlike previous authors, after painting "Peach Girl", became one of the most important artists in the empire. The picture impressed the public and even the royal family so much that they turned to the author with an order for several more paintings that were supposed to decorate the royal palaces. “Girl with Peaches” deservedly enters the Top of the most famous paintings by Russian artists due to the joy that the girl radiates. Critics call the picture "alive". But imagine how it was for the girl who had to pose for Serov, and he is not the only one who embodied this young lady on his canvases.

4. Barge haulers on the Volga | Ilya Efimovich

Ilya Efimovich - a native of Ukraine, as a child he never saw large ships, barge haulers, and even more so the Volga. For the first time, Efimovich saw barge haulers on the Neva, where he formed the plot for the future masterpiece. Now "Barge Haulers on the Volga" one of the most revealing paintings by Russian artists, which deservedly enters the top 10. The picture was repeatedly described by great literary figures, including Dostoevsky himself. To paint the picture "Barge haulers on the Volga" the author needed only 200 rubles for the trip. Then it was sold for only 3,000 rubles to Vladimir Alexandrovich, the Grand Russian Prince. Now the picture is a legacy of Russian culture and its value cannot be estimated.

3. Boyarynya Morozova | Vasily Surikov

"Boyar Morozova" Russian artist Vasily Surikov is one of the most important exhibits of the Tretyakov Gallery and, in combination, one of the most famous paintings by Russian artists. The painting is large, and visitors are amazed at how well detailed life is on such a rather large canvas. The Tretyakov Gallery bought the painting for only 25,000 rubles – a lot of money, of course, for the 19th century, but now its value cannot be overestimated. Interestingly, the purchase of the picture was a risk for the gallery, because the majority did not accept the canvas.

2. Stranger | Ivan Kramskoy

The second most famous painting by Russian artists is rightfully the enigmatic "Stranger" Ivan Kramskoy. The small canvas depicts a young woman dressed in the most expensive and most fashionable clothes of the late 19th century. Someone claims that the picture depicts Anna Karenina, and some even believe that the "Stranger" brings great misfortune to everyone who looks into her eyes. "Unknown" is the most famous painting of all Kramskoy's works, and the world still does not know from whom the artist painted the picture. The author himself did not mention anything.

1. Morning in a pine forest | Ivan Shishkin

"Morning in a pine forest". Ivan Shishkin, an artist who answered at the academy that he would be a landscape painter, painted the famous painting “Morning in a Pine Forest”. Even small children know about the canvas, although they call it "bears", as they are depicted on chocolates of the same name. Among Russian artists, Shishkin's "Morning in a Pine Forest" is the most recognizable and often criticized for its lack of realism. The most annoying ones object why there are exactly three cubs, because a she-bear rarely has such offspring. The painting gained popularity thanks to the fabulously beautiful forest landscape with the addition of plot animalism, that is, a bear family.

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Quote message The most famous and significant paintings of the world for the history of art. | 33 masterpieces of world painting.

Under the paintings with the artists they belong to, there are links to posts.

The immortal paintings of great artists are admired by millions of people. Art, classical and modern, is one of the most important sources of inspiration, taste and cultural education of any person, and even more creative.
There are certainly more world-famous paintings than 33. There are several hundred of them, and all of them would not fit in one review. Therefore, for the convenience of viewing, we have selected several paintings that are most significant for world culture and often copied in advertising. Each work is accompanied by an interesting fact, an explanation of the artistic meaning or the history of its creation.

Stored in the Old Masters Gallery in Dresden.

The picture has a little secret: the background, which looks like clouds from a distance, upon closer examination turns out to be the heads of angels. And the two angels depicted in the picture below have become the motif of numerous postcards and posters.

Rembrandt "The Night Watch" 1642
Stored in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

The true name of the painting by Rembrandt is "The performance of the rifle company of Captain Frans Banning Cock and Lieutenant Willem van Ruytenburg." Art critics who discovered the painting in the 19th century thought that the figures were standing against a dark background, and they called it “Night Watch”. Later it turned out that a layer of soot makes the picture dark, and the action actually takes place during the day. However, the picture has already entered the treasury of world art under the name "Night Watch".

Leonardo da Vinci "The Last Supper" 1495-1498
Located in the monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan.

Over the more than 500-year history of the existence of the work, the fresco was repeatedly destroyed: a doorway was made through the painting, and then a doorway was laid, the refectory of the monastery, where the image is located, was used as an armory, a prison, and bombed. The famous fresco has been restored at least five times, with the most recent restoration taking 21 years. Today, to view the work of art, visitors must book tickets in advance and can only spend 15 minutes in the refectory.

Salvador Dali "The Persistence of Memory" 1931

According to the author himself, the picture was painted as a result of associations that arose in Dali at the sight of processed cheese. Returning from the cinema, where she went that evening, Gala quite correctly predicted that no one who saw "The Persistence of Memory" once would forget it.

Pieter Bruegel the Elder The Tower of Babel 1563
Stored at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.

According to Brueghel, the failure that befell the construction of the Tower of Babel was not due to language barriers that suddenly arose according to the biblical story, but to mistakes made during the construction process. At first glance, the huge building seems solid enough, but upon closer inspection, it is clear that all the tiers are laid unevenly, the lower floors are either unfinished or are already collapsing, the building itself is tilting towards the city, and the prospects for the entire project are very sad.

Kazimir Malevich "Black Square" 1915

According to the artist, he painted the picture for several months. Subsequently, Malevich made several copies of the "Black Square" (according to some sources, seven). According to one version, the artist was unable to complete the work on the painting in the right time, so he had to cover up the work with black paint. Subsequently, after the recognition of the public, Malevich painted new "Black Squares" already on blank canvases. Malevich also painted the paintings "Red Square" (two copies) and one "White Square".

Kuzma Sergeevich Petrov-Vodkin "Bathing the Red Horse" 1912
Located in the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow.

Painted in 1912, the picture turned out to be visionary. The red horse acts as the Destiny of Russia or Russia itself, which the fragile and young rider is unable to hold. thus, the artist symbolically predicted with his painting the “red” fate of Russia in the 20th century.

Peter Paul Rubens "The Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus" 1617-1618
Stored in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich.

The painting "The Abduction of the Daughters of Leucippus" is considered the personification of courageous passion and bodily beauty. The strong, muscular arms of young men pick up young naked women to put them on horseback. The sons of Zeus and Leda steal the brides of their cousins.

Paul Gauguin "Where do we come from? Who are we? Where are we going?" 1898
Stored at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

At the direction of Gauguin himself, the picture should be read from right to left - the three main groups of figures illustrate the questions posed in the title. Three women with a child represent the beginning of life; the middle group symbolizes the daily existence of maturity; in the final group, according to the artist, "an old woman approaching death seems reconciled and given over to her thoughts", at her feet "a strange white bird ... represents the futility of words."

Eugene Delacroix "Liberty Leading the People" 1830
Stored in the Louvre in Paris

Delacroix created a painting based on the July Revolution of 1830 in France. In a letter to his brother on October 12, 1830, Delacroix writes: "If I did not fight for the Motherland, then at least I will write for her." The bare chest of a woman leading the people symbolizes the selflessness of the French people of that time, who with “bare chest” went to the enemy.

Claude Monet Impression. Rising Sun" 1872
Stored at the Musée Marmottan in Paris.

The name of the work "Impression, soleil levant" with the light hand of the journalist L. Leroy became the name of the artistic direction "Impressionism". The painting was painted from nature in the old outport of Le Havre in France.

Jan Vermeer "Girl with a Pearl Earring" 1665
Stored in the Mauritshuis Gallery in The Hague.

One of the most famous paintings by the Dutch artist Jan Vermeer is often referred to as the Northern or Dutch Mona Lisa. Very little is known about the painting: it is not dated, the name of the depicted girl is not known. In 2003, based on the novel of the same name by Tracey Chevalier, the feature film "Girl with a Pearl Earring" was shot, in which the history of the creation of the canvas is hypothetically restored in the context of Vermeer's biography and family life.

Ivan Aivazovsky "The Ninth Wave" 1850
Stored in St. Petersburg in the State Russian Museum.

Ivan Aivazovsky is a world-famous Russian marine painter who has dedicated his life to depicting the sea. He created about six thousand works, each of which received recognition during the life of the artist. The painting "The Ninth Wave" is included in the book "100 Great Paintings".

Andrei Rublev "Trinity" 1425-1427

The icon of the Holy Trinity, painted by Andrei Rublev in the 15th century, is one of the most famous Russian icons. The icon is a board in a vertical format. The tsars (Ivan the Terrible, Boris Godunov, Mikhail Fedorovich) “encased” the icon with gold, silver and precious stones. Today the salary is stored in the Sergiev Posad State Museum-Reserve.

Mikhail Vrubel "Seated Demon" 1890
Stored in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow.

The plot of the picture is inspired by Lermontov's poem "The Demon". The demon is an image of the strength of the human spirit, internal struggle, doubts. Tragically clasping his hands, the Demon sits with sad, huge eyes directed into the distance, surrounded by unprecedented flowers.

William Blake "The Great Architect" 1794
Stored in the British Museum in London.

The name of the painting "The Ancient of Days" literally translates from English as "Ancient of Days". This phrase was used as the name of God. The main character of the picture is God at the moment of creation, who does not establish order, but limits freedom and marks the limits of the imagination.

Edouard Manet "Bar at the Folies Bergère" 1882
Stored at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London.

The Folies Bergère is a variety show and cabaret in Paris. Manet frequented the Folies Bergère and ended up painting this painting, his last before his death in 1883. Behind the bar, in the midst of a crowd of drinking, eating, talking and smoking, is a bartender absorbed in her own thoughts, watching a trapeze acrobat, who can be seen in the upper left corner of the picture.

Titian "Earthly Love and Heavenly Love" 1515-1516
Stored in the Galleria Borghese in Rome.

It is noteworthy that the modern name of the painting was not given by the artist himself, but began to be used only two centuries later. Until that time, the painting had various titles: "Beauty Embellished and Unadorned" (1613), "Three Types of Love" (1650), "Divine and Worldly Women" (1700), and, in the end, "Earthly Love and Heavenly Love » (1792 and 1833).

Mikhail Nesterov "Vision to the youth Bartholomew" 1889-1890
Stored in the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow.

The first and most significant work from the cycle dedicated to Sergius of Radonezh. Until the end of his days, the artist was convinced that “The Vision of the Young Bartholomew” was his best work. In his old age, the artist liked to repeat: “I will not live. "Young Bartholomew" will live. Now, if in thirty, fifty years after my death he will still say something to people, then he is alive, then I am also alive.

Pieter Brueghel the Elder "The Parable of the Blind" 1568
Stored in the Capodimonte Museum in Naples.

Other names of the painting are “The Blind”, “Parabola of the Blind”, “The Blind Leading the Blind”. It is believed that the plot of the picture is based on the biblical parable of the blind: "If the blind lead the blind, then both of them will fall into the pit."

Viktor Vasnetsov "Alyonushka" 1881
Stored in the State Tretyakov Gallery.

The fairy tale "About sister Alyonushka and brother Ivanushka" is taken as a basis. Initially, Vasnetsov's painting was called "Fool Alyonushka". Orphans were called “fools” at that time. “Alyonushka,” the artist himself later said, “as if she had been living in my head for a long time, but in reality I saw her in Akhtyrka when I met one simple-haired girl who struck my imagination. There was so much longing, loneliness and purely Russian sadness in her eyes ... Some kind of special Russian spirit emanated from her.

Vincent van Gogh Starry Night 1889
Stored at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Unlike most of the artist's paintings, Starry Night was painted from memory. Van Gogh was at that time in the Saint-Remy hospital, tormented by bouts of insanity.

Karl Bryullov "The Last Day of Pompeii" 1830-1833
Stored in the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg.

The painting depicts the famous eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. e. and the destruction of the city of Pompeii near Naples. The image of the artist in the left corner of the picture is a self-portrait of the author.

Pablo Picasso "Girl on a ball" 1905
Stored in the Pushkin Museum, Moscow

The painting ended up in Russia thanks to the industrialist Ivan Abramovich Morozov, who bought it in 1913 for 16,000 francs. In 1918, the personal collection of I. A. Morozov was nationalized. At the moment, the painting is in the collection of the State Museum of Fine Arts named after A.S. Pushkin.

Leonardo da Vinci Madonna Litta 1491

Stored in the Hermitage in St. Petersburg.

The original title of the painting is Madonna and Child. The modern name of the painting comes from the name of its owner, Count Litta, owner of a family art gallery in Milan. There is an assumption that the figure of the baby was not painted by Leonardo da Vinci, but belongs to the brush of one of his students. This is evidenced by the baby's pose, which is unusual for the author's manner.

Jean Ingres "Turkish Baths" 1862
Stored in the Louvre in Paris.

Ingres finished painting this picture when he was already over 80 years old. With this picture, the artist sums up a peculiar result of the image of bathers, the themes of which have long been present in his work. Initially, the canvas was in the form of a square, but a year after its completion, the artist turned it into a round picture - a tondo.

Ivan Shishkin, Konstantin Savitsky "Morning in a pine forest" 1889
Stored in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow

“Morning in a Pine Forest” is a painting by Russian artists Ivan Shishkin and Konstantin Savitsky. Savitsky painted bears, but the collector Pavel Tretyakov, when he acquired the painting, erased his signature, so now only Shishkin is indicated as the author of the painting.

Mikhail Vrubel "The Swan Princess" 1900
Stored in the State Tretyakov Gallery

The picture was painted on the basis of the stage image of the heroine of the opera "The Tale of Tsar Saltan" by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov based on the plot of the fairy tale of the same name by A. S. Pushkin. Vrubel created sketches for the scenery and costumes for the premiere of the opera in 1900, and his wife sang the part of the Swan Princess.

Giuseppe Arcimboldo "Portrait of Emperor Rudolf II as Vertumn" 1590
Located in Skokloster Castle in Stockholm.

One of the few surviving works of the artist, who made portraits from fruits, vegetables, flowers, crustaceans, fish, pearls, musical and other instruments, books, and so on. "Vertumnus" is a portrait of the emperor, represented as the ancient Roman god of the seasons, vegetation and transformation. In the picture, Rudolph consists entirely of fruits, flowers and vegetables.

Edgar Degas Blue Dancers 1897
Located in the Museum of Art. A. S. Pushkin in Moscow.

Sandro Botticelli "The Birth of Venus" 1486
Stored in Florence at the Uffizi Gallery

The painting illustrates the myth of the birth of Aphrodite. The naked goddess floats to the shore in an open shell, driven by the wind. On the left side of the picture, Zephyr (the west wind), in the arms of his wife Chlorida, blows on a shell, creating a wind filled with flowers. On the shore, the goddess is met by one of the graces. The Birth of Venus is well preserved due to the fact that Botticelli applied a protective layer of egg yolk to the painting.

In early December 2011, new price records were set at Russian auctions in London. Summing up the results of the year, we have compiled a list of the most expensive works by Russian artists based on the results of auction sales.

33 most expensive k. Source: 33 most expensive k.

According to the ratings, the most expensive Russian artist is Mark Rothko. His White Center (1950), sold for $72.8 million, in addition, ranks 12th in the list of the most expensive paintings in the world in general. However, Rothko was Jewish, born in Latvia, and left Russia at the age of 10. Is it fairwith a similar stretch chase for the records? Therefore, Rothko, as well as other emigrants who left Russia before becoming artists (for example, Tamara de Lempicki and Chaim Soutine), we deleted from the list.

No. 1. Kazimir Malevich - $60 million

The author of "Black Square" is too important a person for his works to be often found on the free market. So this picture came up for auction in a very difficult way. In 1927, Malevich, about to arrange an exhibition, brought almost a hundred works from his Leningrad workshop to Berlin. However, he was urgently recalled to his homeland, and he left them for storage to the architect Hugo Hering. He saved the paintings during the difficult years of the fascist dictatorship, when they could well have been destroyed as "degenerate art", and in 1958, after Malevich's death, he sold them to the Stedelek State Museum (Holland).

At the beginning of the 21st century, a group of Malevich's heirs, almost forty people, began legal proceedings - because Hering was not the legal owner of the paintings. As a result, the museum gave them this painting, and will give away four more, which will surely cause a sensation at some auction. After all, Malevich is one of the most forged artists in the world, and the origin of the paintings from the Stedelek Museum is impeccable. And in January 2012, the heirs received another painting from that Berlin exhibition, taking it away from the Swiss museum.

#2 Wassily Kandinsky - $22.9 million

The auction price of a piece is affected by its reputation. This is not only a big name of the artist, but also "provenance" (origin). A thing from a famous private collection or a good museum is always more expensive than a work from an anonymous collection. The "Fugue" comes from the famous Guggenheim Museum: once director Thomas Krenz removed this Kandinsky, a painting by Chagall and Modigliani from the museum collections, and put them up for sale. For some reason, with the money received, the museum acquired a collection of 200 works by American conceptualists. Krenz was condemned for a very long time for this decision.

This painting by the father of abstract art is curious because it set a record back in 1990, when the auction halls of London and New York had not yet been filled with reckless Russian buyers. Thanks to this, by the way, it did not disappear into some very private collection in a luxurious mansion, but is on permanent display in the private Beyeler Museum in Switzerland, where anyone can see it. A rare occasion for such a purchase!

No. 3. Alexei Yavlensky - 9.43 million pounds

Approximately $18.5 million was paid by an unknown buyer for a portrait depicting a girl from a village near Munich. Shokko is not a name, but a nickname. The model, coming to the artist's studio, each time asked for a cup of hot chocolate. So “Shokko” took root behind her.

The sold picture is included in his famous cycle "Race", depicting the domestic peasantry of the first quarter of the 20th century. And, right, portraying with such mugs that it's scary to look at. Here, in the form of a shepherd, the peasant poet Nikolai Klyuev, the forerunner of Yesenin, is revealed. Among his poems there are the following: "In the fire, the scarlet flower has become deaf and faded - The light-brat is daring Far from the sweetheart."

No. 19. Konstantin Makovsky - 2.03 million pounds

Makovsky - a salon painter, known for a huge number of hawthorn heads in kokoshniks and sundresses, as well as a painting "Children running from a thunderstorm", which at one time was constantly printed on gift boxes of chocolates. His sweet historical paintings are in stable demand among Russian buyers.

The subject of this painting- Old Russian "kissing rite" Noble women in Ancient Russia were not allowed to leave the female half, and only for the sake of honored guests could they go out, bring a cup and (the most pleasant part) allow themselves to be kissed. Pay attention to the picture hanging on the wall: this is the image of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, one of the first equestrian portraits that appeared in Russia. Its composition, although it was brazenly copied from the European model, was considered unusually innovative and even shocking for that time.

No. 20. Svyatoslav Roerich - $2.99 ​​million

The son of Nicholas Roerich left Russia as a teenager. Lived in England, USA, India. Like his father, he was interested in Eastern philosophy. Like his father, he painted many paintings on Indian themes. In general, his father occupied a huge place in his life - he painted more than thirty of his portraits. This picture was created in India, where the clan settled in the middle of the century. Paintings by Svyatoslav Roerich rarely appear at auctions, and in Moscow the works of the famous dynasty can be seen in the halls of the Museum of the East, to which the authors presented them, as well as in the Museum Museum "International Center of the Roerichs", which is located in a luxurious noble estate right behind the Pushkin Museum. Both museums do not like each other very much: the Oriental Museum claims both the building and the collections of the Roerich Center.

No. 21 Ivan Shishkin - £1.87m

The main Russian landscape painter spent three consecutive summers on Valaam and left many images of this area. This work is a little gloomy and does not look like a classic Shishkin. But this is explained by the fact that the picture belongs to his early period, when he did not find his own style and was strongly influenced by the Düsseldorf school of landscape, in which he studied.

We have already mentioned this Düsseldorf school above, in the recipe for a fake "Aivazovsky". " Shishkins" are made according to the same scheme, for example, in 2004 at Sotheby's exhibited "Landscape with a Stream" of the painter's Düsseldorf period. It was estimated at $ 1 million and was confirmed by the examination of the Tretyakov Gallery. An hour before the sale, the lot was removed - it turned out to be a painting by another student of this school, the Dutchman Marinus Adrian Kukkuk, bought in Sweden for 65 thousand dollars.

No. 22. Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin - 1.83 million pounds

A portrait of a boy with an icon of the Virgin was found in a private collection in Chicago. After it was handed over to the auction house, experts began research in an attempt to determine its origin. It turned out that the painting was at exhibitions in 1922 and 1932. In the 1930s, the artist's works traveled around the States as part of an exhibition of Russian art. Perhaps it was then that the owners acquired this painting.

Note the empty space on the wall behind the boy. At first, the author thought to write a window with a green landscape there. This would have balanced the picture both in terms of composition and colors - the grass would have something in common with the green tunic of the Mother of God (by the way, according to the canon, it should be blue). Why Petrov-Vodkin painted over the window is unknown.

No. 23. Nicholas Roerich - 1.76 million pounds

Before visiting Shambhala and beginning to correspond with the Dalai Lama, Nicholas Konstantinovich Roerich specialized quite successfully in the Old Russian theme and even made ballet sketches for the Russian Seasons. The sold lot belongs to this period. The depicted scene is a wonderful phenomenon above the water, which is observed by a Russian monk, most likely Sergius of Radonezh. It is curious that the picture was painted in the same year as another vision of Sergius (then the youth Bartholomew), appearing in our list above. The stylistic difference is enormous.

Roerich painted many paintings and the lion's share of them - in India. He donated several pieces to the Indian Institute of Agricultural Research. Recently two of them, "Himalaya, Kanchenjunga" and "Sunset, Kashmir appeared at an auction in London. It was only then that the Institute's junior researchers noticed that they had been robbed. In January 2011, Indians applied to a London court for permission to investigate the crime in England. The interest of thieves in Roerich's heritage is understandable, because there is a demand.

No. 24. Lyubov Popova - 1.7 million pounds

Lyubov Popova died young, so she failed to become famous like another Amazonian avant-garde Natalya Goncharova. Yes, and her legacy is smaller - therefore, it is difficult to find her work for sale. After her death, a detailed inventory of the paintings was compiled. For many years this still life was known only from a black and white reproduction, until it surfaced in a private collection, turning out to be the most significant work of the artist in private hands. Pay attention to the Zhostovo tray - maybe this is a hint of Popova's taste for folk crafts. She came from a family of an Ivanovo merchant who was engaged in fabrics, and she herself created many sketches of propaganda textiles based on Russian traditions.

No. 25. Aristarkh Lentulov - 1.7 million pounds

Lentulov entered the history of the Russian avant-garde with a memorable image of St. Basil's Cathedral - either cubism, or a patchwork quilt. In this landscape, he tries to break up space in a similar way, but it doesn't come out as exciting. Actually, therefore Basil the Blessed» in the Tretyakov Gallery, and this picture- in the art market. Still, once museum workers had the opportunity to skim the cream.

No. 26. Alexei Bogolyubov - 1.58 million pounds

The sale of this little-known artist, albeit a favorite landscape painter of Tsar Alexander III, for such crazy money is a symptom of the frenzy of the market on the eve of the 2008 crisis. Then Russian collectors were ready to buy even minor masters. Moreover, first-class artists rarely sell.

Perhaps this picture was sent as a gift to some official: it has a suitable plot, because the Cathedral of Christ the Savior has long ceased to be just a church, and has become a symbol. And a flattering origin - the picture was kept in the royal palace. Pay attention to the details: the brick Kremlin tower is covered with white plaster, and the hill inside the Kremlin is completely unfurnished. Well, why bother trying? In the 1870s, Petersburg was the capital, not Moscow, and the Kremlin was not the residence.

No. 27. Isaac Levitan - 1.56 million pounds

Completely atypical for Levitan, the work was sold at the same auction as Bogolyubov's painting, but it turned out to be cheaper. This is due, of course, to the fact that the picture does not look like "Levitan ". Its authorship, however, is indisputable, a similar plot is in the Dnepropetrovsk Museum. 40,000 light bulbs, with which the Kremlin was decorated, were lit in honor of the coronation of Nicholas II. In a few days, the Khodynka disaster will happen.

No. 28. Arkhip Kuindzhi - $3 million

The famous landscape painter painted three similar paintings. The first is in the Tretyakov Gallery, the third is in the State Museum of Belarus. The second, presented at the auction, was intended for Prince Pavel Pavlovich Demidov-San Donato. This representative of the famous Ural dynasty lived in a villa near Florence. In general, the Demidovs, having become Italian princes, had fun as best they could. For example, Pavel's uncle, from whom he inherited the princely title, was so rich and noble that he married Napoleon Bonaparte's niece, and one day he whipped her in a bad mood. The poor lady struggled to get a divorce. The picture, however, did not get to Demidov, it was acquired by the Ukrainian sugar factory Tereshchenko.

No. 29. Konstantin Korovin - 1.497 million pounds

Impressionists a very “light”, sweeping style of writing is inherent. Korovin is the main Russian impressionist. It is very popular among scammers; according to rumors, the number of fakes at auctions reaches 80%. If a painting from a private collection was exhibited at the artist's personal exhibition in a famous state museum, then its reputation is strengthened, and at the next auction it costs much more. In 2012, the Tretyakov Gallery is planning a large-scale exhibition of Korovin. Maybe there will be works from private collections. This paragraph is an example of the manipulation of the reader's mind by the example of listing facts that do not have a direct logical connection with each other.

• Please note that from March 26 to August 12, 2012 the Tretyakov Gallery promises to arrangeKorovin's exhibition . Read more about the biography of the most charming of the Silver Age artists. in our review vernissages of the State Tretyakov Gallery in 2012.

No. 30. Yuri Annenkov - $2.26 million

Annenkov managed to emigrate in 1924 and made a good career in the West. For example, in 1954 he was nominated for an Oscar as a costume designer for the film "Madame de..." The most famous of his early Soviet portraits- the faces are cubist, faceted, but completely recognizable. For example, he repeatedly drew Leon Trotsky in this way - and even repeated the drawing many years later from memory, when the Times magazine wanted to decorate the cover with him.

The character depicted in the record portrait is the writer Tikhonov-Serebrov. He entered the history of Russian literature mainly through his close friendship with. So close that, according to dirty rumors, the artist's wife Varvara Shaikevich even gave birth to a daughter from the great proletarian writer. It is not very noticeable on the reproduction, but the portrait is made in the collage technique: glass and plaster go over the layer of oil paint, and even a real doorbell is attached.

#31 Lev Lagorio - £1.47m

Another minor landscape painter, for some reason sold for a record price. One of the indicators of the success of the auction is the excess of the estimate ("assessment") - the minimum price that the experts of the auction house set for the lot. The estimate of this landscape was 300-400 thousand pounds, and it was sold 4 times more expensive. As one London auctioneer said: "Happiness is when two Russian oligarchs compete for the same subject.

No. 32. Viktor Vasnetsov - 1.1 million pounds

Bogatyrs became a calling card back in the 1870s. He returns to his stellar theme, like other veterans of Russian painting, during the years of the young Soviet republic - both for financial reasons and to feel in demand again. This picture is the author's repetition "Ilya Muromets" (1915), which is kept in the House-Museum of the Artist (on Prospekt Mira).

No. 33. Eric Bulatov - 1.084 million pounds

The second living artist on our list (he also said that the best way for an artist to raise the price of his work is to die). By the way, this is the Soviet Warhol, underground and anti-communist. He worked in the genre of Sots Art, which was created by the Soviet underground, as our version of Pop Art. "Glory to the CPSU" is one of the artist's most famous works. According to his own explanations, the letters here symbolize the lattice that blocks the sky from us, that is, freedom.

Bonus: Zinaida Serebryakova - £1.07m

Serebryakova loved to paint nude women, self-portraits and her four children. This ideal feminist world is harmonious and calm, which cannot be said about the life of the artist herself, who with difficulty escaped from Russia after the revolution and spent a lot of energy to get her children out of there.

"Nude" is not an oil painting, but a pastel drawing. This is the most expensive Russian drawing. Such a high amount paid for graphics is comparable to the prices for Impressionist drawings and caused great surprise at Sotheby's, who started trading with 150 thousand pounds sterling, and received a million.

The list is based on the prices indicated on the official websites of the auction houses. This price is the sum of the net worth (voiced when the hammer comes down), and« Buyer's premium" (additional percentage of the auction house). Other sources may indicate "pure» price. The dollar to pound exchange rate often fluctuates, so British and American lots are located relative to each other with approximate accuracy (we are not Forbes).

Additions and corrections to our list are welcome.

In almost every significant work of art there is a mystery, a double bottom or a secret story that you want to uncover.

Music on the buttocks

Hieronymus Bosch, The Garden of Earthly Delights, 1500-1510.

Fragment of a triptych

Disputes about the meanings and hidden meanings of the most famous work of the Dutch artist have not subsided since its appearance. On the right wing of the triptych called "Musical Hell" sinners are depicted who are tortured in the underworld with the help of musical instruments. One of them has notes imprinted on his buttocks. Oklahoma Christian University student Amelia Hamrick, who studied the painting, transposed the notation of the 16th century into a modern twist and recorded "a 500-year-old ass song from hell."

Nude Mona Lisa

The famous "Gioconda" exists in two versions: the nude version is called "Monna Vanna", it was painted by the little-known artist Salai, who was a student and sitter of the great Leonardo da Vinci. Many art critics are sure that it was he who was the model for Leonardo's paintings "John the Baptist" and "Bacchus". There are also versions that dressed in a woman's dress, Salai served as the image of the Mona Lisa herself.

Old Fisherman

In 1902, the Hungarian artist Tivadar Kostka Chontvari painted the painting "Old Fisherman". It would seem that there is nothing unusual in the picture, but Tivadar laid a subtext in it, which was never revealed during the life of the artist.

Few people thought of putting a mirror in the middle of the picture. In each person there can be both God (the right shoulder of the Old Man is duplicated) and the Devil (the left shoulder of the old man is duplicated).

Was there a whale?

Hendrik van Antonissen "Scene on the Shore".

It seemed like an ordinary landscape. Boats, people on the shore and the desert sea. And only an X-ray study showed that people gathered on the shore for a reason - in the original, they examined the carcass of a whale washed ashore.

However, the artist decided that no one would want to look at a dead whale and repainted the painting.

Two "Breakfasts on the Grass"

Edouard Manet, Breakfast on the Grass, 1863.

Claude Monet, Breakfast on the Grass, 1865.

Artists Edouard Manet and Claude Monet are sometimes confused - after all, they were both French, lived at the same time and worked in the style of impressionism. Even the name of one of Manet's most famous paintings, "Breakfast on the Grass", Monet borrowed and wrote his "Breakfast on the Grass".

Twins at the Last Supper

Leonardo da Vinci, The Last Supper, 1495-1498.

When Leonardo da Vinci wrote The Last Supper, he attached particular importance to two figures: Christ and Judas. He was looking for sitters for them for a very long time. Finally, he managed to find a model for the image of Christ among the young singers. Leonardo failed to find a sitter for Judas for three years. But one day he came across a drunkard lying in the gutter on the street. He was a young man who had been aged by heavy drinking. Leonardo invited him to a tavern, where he immediately began to write Judas from him. When the drunkard came to his senses, he told the artist that he had already posed for him once. It was a few years ago, when he sang in the church choir, Leonardo wrote Christ from him.

"Night Watch" or "Day Watch"?

Rembrandt, Night Watch, 1642.

One of Rembrandt’s most famous paintings, “The Performance of the Rifle Company of Captain Frans Banning Cock and Lieutenant Willem van Ruytenbürg,” hung in different halls for about two hundred years and was discovered by art historians only in the 19th century. Since the figures seemed to stand out against a dark background, it was called the Night Watch, and under this name it entered the treasury of world art.

And only during the restoration, carried out in 1947, it turned out that in the hall the picture had managed to become covered with a layer of soot, which distorted its color. After clearing the original painting, it was finally revealed that the scene presented by Rembrandt actually takes place during the day. The position of the shadow from the left hand of Captain Kok shows that the duration of the action is no more than 14 hours.

capsized boat

Henri Matisse, "The Boat", 1937.

In the New York Museum of Modern Art in 1961, Henri Matisse's painting "The Boat" was exhibited. Only after 47 days did someone notice that the painting was hanging upside down. The canvas depicts 10 purple lines and two blue sails on a white background. The artist painted two sails for a reason, the second sail is a reflection of the first one on the surface of the water.
In order not to be mistaken in how the picture should hang, you need to pay attention to the details. The larger sail should be at the top of the painting, and the peak of the sail of the painting should be directed to the upper right corner.

Deception in a self-portrait

Vincent van Gogh, Self Portrait with a Pipe, 1889.

There are legends that Van Gogh allegedly cut off his own ear. Now the most reliable version is that van Gogh's ear was damaged in a small scuffle with the participation of another artist, Paul Gauguin.

The self-portrait is interesting because it reflects reality in a distorted form: the artist is depicted with a bandaged right ear, because he used a mirror when working. In fact, the left ear was damaged.

alien bears

Ivan Shishkin, "Morning in the Pine Forest", 1889.

The famous painting belongs not only to the brush of Shishkin. Many artists who were friends with each other often resorted to "the help of a friend", and Ivan Ivanovich, who had been painting landscapes all his life, was afraid that touching bears would not turn out the way he needed. Therefore, Shishkin turned to a familiar animal painter Konstantin Savitsky.

Savitsky painted perhaps the best bears in the history of Russian painting, and Tretyakov ordered that his name be washed off the canvas, since everything in the picture “starting from the idea and ending with the execution, everything speaks of the manner of painting, of the creative method peculiar to Shishkin.”

Innocent story "Gothic"

Grant Wood, "American Gothic", 1930.

Grant Wood's work is considered one of the strangest and most depressing in the history of American painting. The picture with a gloomy father and daughter is overflowing with details that indicate the severity, puritanism and retrogradeness of the people depicted.
In fact, the artist did not intend to depict any horrors: during a trip to Iowa, he noticed a small house in the Gothic style and decided to depict those people who, in his opinion, would be ideally suited as inhabitants. Grant's sister and his dentist are immortalized in the form of characters that the people of Iowa were so offended by.

Revenge of Salvador Dali

The painting "Figure at the Window" was painted in 1925, when Dali was 21 years old. Then Gala had not yet entered the life of the artist, and his sister Ana Maria was his muse. The relationship between brother and sister deteriorated when he wrote on one of the paintings "sometimes I spit on a portrait of my own mother, and it gives me pleasure." Ana Maria could not forgive such shocking.

In her 1949 book Salvador Dali Through the Eyes of a Sister, she writes about her brother without any praise. The book infuriated El Salvador. For another ten years after that, he angrily remembered her at every opportunity. And so, in 1954, the picture "A young virgin indulging in Sodomy sin with the help of the horns of her own chastity" appears. The pose of the woman, her curls, the landscape outside the window and the color scheme of the painting clearly echo the Figure at the Window. There is a version that this is how Dali took revenge on his sister for her book.

Two-faced Danae

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, Danae, 1636-1647.

Many secrets of one of Rembrandt's most famous paintings were revealed only in the 60s of the twentieth century, when the canvas was illuminated with x-rays. For example, the shooting showed that in the early version, the face of the princess, who entered into a love affair with Zeus, looked like the face of Saskia, the wife of the painter, who died in 1642. In the final version of the painting, it began to resemble the face of Gertier Dirks, Rembrandt's mistress, with whom the artist lived after the death of his wife.

Van Gogh's yellow bedroom

Vincent van Gogh, "Bedroom in Arles", 1888 - 1889.

In May 1888, Van Gogh acquired a small workshop in Arles, in the south of France, where he fled from the Parisian artists and critics who did not understand him. In one of the four rooms, Vincent sets up a bedroom. In October, everything is ready, and he decides to paint Van Gogh's Bedroom in Arles. For the artist, the color, the comfort of the room was very important: everything had to suggest thoughts of relaxation. At the same time, the picture is sustained in disturbing yellow tones.

Researchers of Van Gogh's creativity explain this by the fact that the artist took foxglove, a remedy for epilepsy, which causes serious changes in the patient's perception of color: the entire surrounding reality is painted in green-yellow tones.

Toothless perfection

Leonardo da Vinci, "Portrait of Mrs. Lisa del Giocondo", 1503 - 1519.

The generally accepted opinion is that Mona Lisa is perfection and her smile is beautiful in its mysteriousness. However, the American art critic (and part-time dentist) Joseph Borkowski believes that, judging by the expression on her face, the heroine has lost a lot of her teeth. While examining enlarged photographs of the masterpiece, Borkowski also found scars around her mouth. “She smiles so much precisely because of what happened to her,” the expert believes. “Her facial expression is typical of people who have lost their front teeth.”

Major on face control

Pavel Fedotov, Major's Matchmaking, 1848.

The public, who first saw the painting "Major's Matchmaking", laughed heartily: the artist Fedotov filled it with ironic details that were understandable to viewers of that time. For example, the major is clearly not familiar with the rules of noble etiquette: he appeared without the proper bouquets for the bride and her mother. And the bride herself was discharged by her merchant parents into an evening ball gown, although it was daytime (all the lamps in the room were extinguished). The girl obviously tried on a low-cut dress for the first time, is embarrassed and tries to run away to her room.

Why Freedom is naked

Ferdinand Victor Eugene Delacroix, Liberty at the Barricades, 1830.

According to the art critic Etienne Julie, Delacroix painted the face of a woman from the famous Parisian revolutionary - the laundress Anna-Charlotte, who went to the barricades after the death of her brother at the hands of royal soldiers and killed nine guards. The artist depicted her bare-chested. According to his plan, this is a symbol of fearlessness and selflessness, as well as the triumph of democracy: naked breasts show that Svoboda, like a commoner, does not wear a corset.

non-square square

Kazimir Malevich, Black Suprematist Square, 1915.

In fact, the "Black Square" is not black at all and not square at all: none of the sides of the quadrangle is parallel to any of its other sides, and none of the sides of the square frame that frames the picture. And the dark color is the result of mixing various colors, among which there was no black. It is believed that this was not the negligence of the author, but a principled position, the desire to create a dynamic, mobile form.

Specialists of the Tretyakov Gallery have discovered the author's inscription on a famous painting by Malevich. The inscription reads: "Battle of the Negroes in a dark cave." This phrase refers to the title of a playful painting by the French journalist, writer and artist Alphonse Allais “Battle of Negroes in a dark cave in the dead of night”, which was an absolutely black rectangle.

Melodrama of the Austrian Mona Lisa

Gustav Klimt, "Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer", 1907.

One of Klimt's most significant paintings depicts the wife of the Austrian sugar magnate Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer. All Vienna discussed the stormy romance between Adele and the famous artist. The wounded husband wanted to take revenge on his lovers, but chose a very unusual way: he decided to order a portrait of Adele from Klimt and force him to make hundreds of sketches until the artist starts to turn away from her.

Bloch-Bauer wanted the work to last several years, and the model could see how Klimt's feelings fade away. He made a generous offer to the artist, which he could not refuse, and everything turned out according to the scenario of the deceived husband: the work was completed in 4 years, the lovers had long cooled off towards each other. Adele Bloch-Bauer never found out that her husband was aware of her relationship with Klimt.

The painting that brought Gauguin back to life

Paul Gauguin, "Where do we come from? Who are we? Where are we going?", 1897-1898.

Gauguin's most famous canvas has one feature: it is "read" not from left to right, but from right to left, like Kabbalistic texts that the artist was interested in. It is in this order that the allegory of the spiritual and physical life of a person unfolds: from the birth of the soul (a sleeping child in the lower right corner) to the inevitability of the hour of death (a bird with a lizard in its claws in the lower left corner).

The painting was painted by Gauguin in Tahiti, where the artist fled from civilization several times. But this time life on the island did not work out: total poverty led him to depression. Having finished the canvas, which was to become his spiritual testament, Gauguin took a box of arsenic and went to the mountains to die. However, he did not calculate the dose, and the suicide failed. The next morning, he staggered to his hut and fell asleep, and when he woke up, he felt a forgotten thirst for life. And in 1898, his affairs went uphill, and a brighter period began in his work.

112 proverbs in one picture

Pieter Brueghel the Elder, "Netherlands Proverbs", 1559

Pieter Brueghel the Elder depicted a land inhabited by literal images of the Dutch proverbs of those days. There are approximately 112 recognizable idioms in the painted picture. Some of them are still used today, such as "swimming against the current", "bang your head against the wall", "armed to the teeth" and "big fish eats small fish".

Other proverbs reflect human stupidity.

Subjectivity of art

Paul Gauguin, Breton village under the snow, 1894

Gauguin's painting "Breton Village in the Snow" was sold after the death of the author for only seven francs and, moreover, under the name "Niagara Falls". The auctioneer accidentally hung the painting upside down after seeing a waterfall in it.

hidden picture

Pablo Picasso, The Blue Room, 1901

In 2008, infrared showed that another image was hidden under the "Blue Room" - a portrait of a man dressed in a suit with a butterfly and resting his head on his hand. “As soon as Picasso had a new idea, he took up the brush and embodied it. But he did not have the opportunity to buy a new canvas every time the muse visited him, ”art historian Patricia Favero explains the possible reason for this.

Inaccessible Moroccan women

Zinaida Serebryakova, Naked, 1928

One day, Zinaida Serebryakova received a tempting offer - to go on a creative journey to portray the naked figures of oriental maidens. But it turned out that it was simply impossible to find models in those places. An interpreter for Zinaida came to the rescue - he brought his sisters and his bride to her. No one before and after that was able to capture the closed oriental women naked.

Spontaneous insight

Valentin Serov, "Portrait of Nicholas II in a jacket", 1900

For a long time Serov could not paint a portrait of the king. When the artist completely gave up, he apologized to Nikolai. Nikolai was a little upset, sat down at the table, stretching out his hands in front of him ... And then it dawned on the artist - here he is! A simple military man in an officer's jacket with clear and sad eyes. This portrait is considered the best depiction of the last emperor.

Again deuce

© Fedor Reshetnikov

The famous painting "Again deuce" is just the second part of the artistic trilogy.

The first part is "Arrived for the holidays." Obviously a well-to-do family, winter holidays, a joyful excellent student.

The second part is "Again the deuce." A poor family from the outskirts of the working class, the height of the school year, a dull stunner who again grabbed a deuce. In the upper left corner you can see the picture "Arrived for the holidays."

The third part is "Re-examination". Rural house, summer, everyone is walking, one malicious ignoramus who failed the annual exam is forced to sit within four walls and cramming. In the upper left corner you can see the picture "Again deuce".

How masterpieces are born

Joseph Turner, Rain, Steam and Speed, 1844

In 1842, Mrs. Simon traveled by train in England. Suddenly, a heavy downpour began. The elderly gentleman sitting across from her got up, opened the window, stuck his head out, and stared like that for about ten minutes. Unable to contain her curiosity, the woman also opened the window and looked ahead. A year later, she discovered the painting “Rain, Steam and Speed” at an exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts and was able to recognize in it the very episode on the train.

Anatomy lesson from Michelangelo

Michelangelo, The Creation of Adam, 1511

A couple of American neuroanatomy experts believe that Michelangelo actually left some anatomical illustrations in one of his most famous works. They believe that a huge brain is depicted on the right side of the picture. Surprisingly, even complex components such as the cerebellum, optic nerves, and pituitary gland can be found. And the catchy green ribbon perfectly matches the location of the vertebral artery.

The Last Supper by Van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh, Café Terrace at Night, 1888

Researcher Jared Baxter believes that Van Gogh's Café Terrace at Night contains a dedication to Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper. In the center of the picture is a waiter with long hair and in a white tunic, reminiscent of the clothes of Christ, and around him exactly 12 cafe visitors. Baxter also draws attention to the cross, located directly behind the back of the waiter in white.

Dali's image of memory

Salvador Dali, The Persistence of Memory, 1931

It is no secret that the thoughts that visited Dali during the creation of his masterpieces were always in the form of very realistic images, which the artist then transferred to the canvas. So, according to the author himself, the painting “The Persistence of Memory” was painted as a result of associations that arose at the sight of processed cheese.

What is Munch shouting about

Edvard Munch, "The Scream", 1893.

Munch spoke about the idea of ​​​​one of the most mysterious paintings in world painting: "I was walking along the path with two friends - the sun was setting - suddenly the sky turned blood red, I paused, feeling exhausted, and leaned on the fence - I looked at blood and flames over the bluish-black fjord and the city - my friends went on, and I stood trembling with excitement, feeling the endless cry piercing nature. But what kind of sunset could scare the artist so?

There is a version that the idea of ​​"Scream" was born by Munch in 1883, when there were several strongest eruptions of the Krakatau volcano - so powerful that they changed the temperature of the Earth's atmosphere by one degree. A copious amount of dust and ash spread across the globe, reaching even as far as Norway. For several evenings in a row, the sunsets looked as if the apocalypse was about to come - one of them became a source of inspiration for the artist.

Writer among the people

Alexander Ivanov, "The Appearance of Christ to the People", 1837-1857.

Dozens of sitters posed for Alexander Ivanov for his main picture. One of them is known no less than the artist himself. In the background, among travelers and Roman horsemen who have not yet heard the sermon of John the Baptist, one can notice a character in a brown tunic. His Ivanov wrote with Nikolai Gogol. The writer closely communicated with the artist in Italy, in particular on religious issues, and gave him advice in the process of painting. Gogol believed that Ivanov "had long since died for the whole world, except for his work."

Michelangelo's gout

Raphael Santi, The School of Athens, 1511.

Creating the famous fresco "The School of Athens", Raphael immortalized his friends and acquaintances in the images of ancient Greek philosophers. One of them was Michelangelo Buonarroti "in the role" of Heraclitus. For several centuries, the fresco kept the secrets of Michelangelo's personal life, and modern researchers have suggested that the artist's strangely angular knee indicates that he has a joint disease.

This is quite likely, given the peculiarities of the lifestyle and working conditions of Renaissance artists and Michelangelo's chronic workaholism.

Mirror of the Arnolfinis

Jan van Eyck, "Portrait of the Arnolfinis", 1434

In the mirror behind the Arnolfinis, you can see the reflection of two more people in the room. Most likely, these are witnesses present at the conclusion of the contract. One of them is van Eyck, as evidenced by the Latin inscription placed, contrary to tradition, above the mirror in the center of the composition: "Jan van Eyck was here." This is how the contracts were usually sealed.

How a flaw turned into a talent

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, Self-portrait at the age of 63, 1669.

The researcher Margaret Livingston studied all Rembrandt's self-portraits and found that the artist suffered from strabismus: in the images his eyes look in different directions, which is not observed in the portraits of other people by the master. The disease led to the fact that the artist could better perceive reality in two dimensions than people with normal vision. This phenomenon is called "stereo blindness" - the inability to see the world in 3D. But since the painter has to work with a two-dimensional image, it was precisely this shortcoming of Rembrandt that could be one of the explanations for his phenomenal talent.

Sinless Venus

Sandro Botticelli, The Birth of Venus, 1482-1486.

Before the advent of The Birth of Venus, the image of a naked female body in painting symbolized only the idea of ​​original sin. Sandro Botticelli was the first European painter not to find anything sinful in him. Moreover, art critics are sure that the pagan goddess of love symbolizes the Christian image on the fresco: her appearance is an allegory of the rebirth of the soul that has undergone the rite of baptism.

Lute player or lute player?

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, The Lute Player, 1596.

For a long time, the painting was exhibited in the Hermitage under the title "Lute Player". Only at the beginning of the 20th century, art historians agreed that the canvas still depicts a young man (probably, Caravaggio was posed by his friend artist Mario Minniti): on the notes in front of the musician, a recording of the bass part of the madrigal by Jacob Arcadelt “You know that I love you” is visible . A woman could hardly make such a choice - it's just hard for the throat. In addition, the lute, like the violin at the very edge of the picture, was considered a male instrument in the era of Caravaggio.