VARIETIES OF FIGURATIVE PAINTING
In the XVII century, a thematic or story picture was attributed to the high genre (grand genre) and called the genre. The high genre included: allegorical, battle, epic, household, historical,…

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Byzantine female icons of Klimt
The popularity of Gustav Klimt can be envied by any artist and any man. It is safe to say that Gustav Klimt lived a happy life. From childhood, he was…

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"Love Letter" by Jan Vermeer
At the first glance at Jan Vermeer's famous painting “Love Letter”, the name seems far-fetched, because the letter itself is hardly noticeable. But the lute in the hands of a…

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Arshil Gorki

Incorrigible stubborn: brilliant impressionist with a heavy character

Claude Monet is known as one of the founders of impressionism. The artist could magically convey on canvas the impressions of what he saw. Considering his paintings, full of appeasement, it is difficult to imagine that the master who wrote them had a terrible character. Claude Monet was known as an incredible stubborn, ready to take extreme measures, if only to insist on his own.
1. Monet did not want to sell paintings to everyone
The 1860s and 70s were financially difficult for the artist. He barely made ends meet. When the debts grew to incredible sizes, the creditors, not knowing what to remove from the poor artist, demanded his paintings. Monet decided to take a radical step, but did not concede – he simply burned his paintings. Continue reading

Dumas’ Three Musketeers for Almost 175 Years: Masterpieces Illustrations Drawn in Different Years

Many in adolescence were read by the works of Alexander Dumas, and especially the novel “Three Musketeers”, filled with adventures and historical events of 1625-1628, as well as entertaining illustrations. Next year, the novel will celebrate 175 years, during which artists from different countries have repeatedly illustrated it. One of the best publications is considered an anniversary edition – to the 50th anniversary of the novel with masterpiece illustrations by the French artist Maurice Leloir. But after so many years, contemporary artists also do not bypass the immortal creation of Alexander Dumas. Continue reading

People-birds, beautiful ladies and the joy of life

They worked in the harsh conditions of socialist realism, but paintings with farmers and tractors are not their style. Their paintings were crushed by bulldozers, not allowed to go to exhibitions, forgotten for many years. Some of them were lucky, and they received professional recognition, participation in exhibitions, posters mentioning their names … but few today remember their work. Artists of the Soviet era combined art and family – or preferred the workshop to a family hearth, searched for their own path, fought, dreamed … and, of course, did it.

Alexandra Beltsova was born in Latvia. During the years of training, she met the artist Roman Suta, who became her husband and associate. Together they traveled to Berlin, where they met many avant-garde artists, and to Paris, where they participated in exhibitions along with Picasso and Le Corbusier. Continue reading

How Russian artist Makovsky painted a portrait of the US president and opened the “Russian style” to Americans
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Western world discovered the Russian style. Sundresses, kokoshniks, furs and precious fabrics, boyars and feasts - this is exactly such Russia that…

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Unknown portrait of da Vinci brush
It may seem that the legacy of Leonardo da Vinci has many paintings - this artist, who died five hundred years ago, is mentioned too much and too often in…

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Why does music influence our emotions so much
In an article from the series “Ask, Answer,” designed to quench reader’s curiosity, BBC Future journalist explores the impact of music on people's emotional state. “Why does music have a…

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