NINE SYMBOLS ENCRYPTED IN “SIKTINSKAYA MADONNE”
“The genius of pure beauty” - said Vasily Zhukovsky about the “Sistine Madonna”. Later, Pushkin borrowed this image and dedicated it to an earthly woman, Anne Kern. Rafael also wrote…

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“Maha dressed” and “Maha nude”: How passion flared up around the scandalous paintings of Francisco Goya
Surprisingly, the paintings of the famous Spanish artist, painted at the turn of the enlightened XVIII and XIX century gold, became the causes of scandals until the liberated XX. Despite…

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Nudity in the history of art: How to change the attitude to nu from Venus Paleolithic to classical painting
Thanks to Ivan Efremov and his "Tais of Athens", the general public became aware of the notions of "hymnophiles" - that is, those who sing nudity - and "hymnophobes" -…

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10 fun facts about paintings by famous artists
Pablo Picasso painted one of his famous portraits in less than 5 minutes One of his acquaintances, Pablo Picasso, while examining his new works, sincerely told the artist: “Sorry, but…

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memorial exhibition

What pictures of Russian classics were banned from showing

We are accustomed to associate censorship bans with forbidden books or films. But even in such a seemingly harmless genre of art as painting, artists could go against the ideological attitudes of power, because of which certain paintings were not accepted for display at public exhibitions. Several such stories happened in the Russian Empire, and they are connected not with some little-known artists, but with generally recognized masters of the brush.
One of the most famous Wanderers, Ilya Repin, by the 1880s, was an artist with great experience. Pavel Tretyakov bought his paintings, cultural figures posed for him – such as the writer Turgenev and the composer Musorgsky. In addition to portraits and a social theme (for example, “Barge Haulers on the Volga”), Repin was always interested in historical subjects. Continue reading

Artist Konstantin Andreevich Somov, Soviet painting

Konstantin Somov is one of the representatives of Russian symbolism. The development of the artist’s style was largely influenced by his studies at the Paris-based Colorassi studio (1897–1899); it was then that he mastered the lessons of modern and French rococo. The scenes of his canvases resemble gallant balls and masquerades, which were characteristic of the bygone XVIII century. Modernity in his works is mystically connected with the previous epoch, the genre scenes of his canvases are reminiscences of the last century, his characters vaguely resemble puppet Watteau, Boucher and Fragonard, but unlike their predecessors, the artist endows those depicted more mystical ghostly than elegant elegance. V.A. Lenyashin rightly noted that the sources of Somov “beyond the borders of the past days” are much deeper, more blunt: Botticelli, Watteau, Hoffmann.
The ghostly transparent eroticism, without which Somov did not think of art, then permeates the irreversibly spicy pages of the Book of the Marquise, appears about (like the Casanova doll) in the naively challenging and mechanically outspoken image of Columbine. Continue reading

BOY WITH A TUBE by Pablo Picasso
The most expensive painting in the world? In 2004, at an Sotheby’s auction, an unknown buyer acquired the work of Pablo Picasso “Boy with a Pipe” (Garson and la Pipe)…

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About movement World of art of the beginning of XX century
The artistic association “World of Art”, formed at the beginning of the 20th century in Russia and partly emigrating after the Revolution, united such artists as artists L.S. Bakst, A.N.…

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