Little-known facts about the dark side of the brilliant artist Caravaggio
He was one of the great masters of baroque, and his difficult life in many respects determined his creation, which today is admired throughout the world. And Caravaggio himself believed…

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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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8 creepy paintings that are impossible to look at without a shudder
Typically, painters create paintings that you want to consider again and again, admiring the transmitted beauty on canvas. But not all canvases of outstanding artists evoke only positive emotions. In…

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VARIETIES OF GENRE STILL LIFE

Still life (with FR. nature morte-dead, inanimate nature) – artistic depiction of various household items.
In the XV-XVI centuries still life was considered as part of a historical or genre composition. Early still lifes often performed a utilitarian function, for example, as a decoration of Cabinet doors or to mask a wall niche.
As an independent genre of painting still life was formed in the XVII century in the works of Dutch and Flemish artists.
The term nature morte (dead nature) appeared in the XVIII century and reflected a dismissive attitude to the still life by the academic community, which preferred the “high” genres, the area of which was “living nature” (historical, battle, allegorical, religious, mythological). Until the end of the XIX century still life was considered as a “lower” genre.
The heyday of still life painting is associated with the invention in the XIX century of the method of production of tube paints and the appearance of plein-air painting. Continue reading

What secret is hidden by the canvas "Cornflowers" by Igor Grabar
Igor Grabar is known not only as an art critic and restorer, but also as a talented impressionist artist. Under his leadership, the Tretyakov Gallery turned into a world-famous museum…

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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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10 contemporary blind artists who surprised the world with their art
It will not be a revelation to anyone that painting is an exclusively visual form of art, therefore the phrase “blind artist” itself sounds like nonsense. But in fact, there…

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