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…

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As a famous artist, Vasnetsov and his brothers created fabulous furniture for Russian theaters.
Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov - one of the most famous Russian artists, his brother Apollinarius is also known, but rather those who are interested in historical painting and theater. The other…

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interesting facts about the masterpieces of painting
Rafael Sistine Madonna 1512 Stored in the Old Masters Gallery in Dresden. The picture has a little secret: the background, seen from a distance, appears to be clouds, upon careful…

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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…

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well-known names

Graphics by Alexander Deineka 1920s-40s

Alexander Deineka entered the history of national art primarily as the author of mosaic panels and large thematic paintings, as an enthusiastic admirer of every technique, earthly and heavenly, as well as an admirer and connoisseur of various types of physical culture and sports. His outstanding artistic gift, remarkable energy Deineka put in the service of the victorious communist ideology, which he quite sincerely considered the only correct one. But his talent was much deeper and wider than ideological schemes, even when in the 1920s Deineke had to engage in their direct propaganda. Perhaps it was at this time of open agitation that the artist’s talent was revealed most deeply and widely.
From illustration to great work Continue reading

Russian avant-garde, Russian artist Kandinsky, Vasily Vasilyevich

Kandinsky became the creator of abstract art in its pure form, its theorist and creator. In his early works, which strongly influenced the French and German influence, and undoubtedly in the later ones, the artist asserts the possibility of self-expression, freed from reality, painting, born “from the artist”, “from the mental vibrations”; born not as a “dead word”, but as a “fertilizing abstract spirit that has found a form for revelation” and “spilling over into a symphony whose name is the music of the spheres”.
After the October Revolution, abstraction was for some time proclaimed official art, and Kandinsky held leading positions in virtually all institutes and colleges, research museums and centers, but his ideas were not in demand by the Soviet society. However, the rejection of art, where the “brush itself seeks paint,” began even before October. Continue reading

Creativity of the artist Sergey Y. Sudeikin, painting

After the October Revolution, the artist lived in the Crimea for two years, then a year in Tiflis and Baku, after which he emigrated to France – his path lay from Batumi, through Marseille, and in 1919 the artist moved to Paris. There he becomes a set designer: he collaborates with the Bat and Balaganchik theaters. The whole activity of these theaters was due to Sudeikin. D.Z. Kogan, who studied the heritage of the artist, notes that the creative principles of the artist largely influenced and determined the activities of the theater. “Here is a light genre with a claim to the meaningful“ fooling ”, and stylization, and lightweight grotesque, and the sharpness of shifts and displacements, and confusion of theater and life, truth and lies, and the combination of earthiness and sublimity. The sketches and programs designed by him were popular among Russian emigration mainly due to the “Russian national style”.
In Paris, draws ballet performances for the troupe A. Pavlova (ballet “Fairy Dolls” and “Sleeping Beauty”). Participates in the Russian group exhibition in the Paris gallery “Dancy”. Continue reading

About art emigration from Russia to the West (1920-1950s)
The problem of including the artistic heritage of Russian emigration in the concept of the development of Russian art of the 20th century in our days does not cease to…

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An example of art history analysis of painting on the example of Renoir's painting
Our Gallery of Contemporary Art continues the series of articles on the history of art. We invite everyone to visit our Master Classes and Lectorium on the history of painting,…

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