Today, in every museum you can listen to wonderful guides who will tell you in detail about the collection and the artists represented in it. At the same time, many parents know that it is difficult for most children to spend even an hour in a museum, and stories about the history of painting tire them rather quickly. So that children in the museum do not get bored, we offer a "cheat sheet" for parents - ten entertaining stories about paintings from the Tretyakov Gallery, which will be of interest to both children and adults.
1. Ivan Kramskoy. Mermaids, 1871
Ivan Kramskoy is primarily known as the author of the painting "Unknown" (she is often mistakenly called "The Stranger"), as well as a number of beautiful portraits: Leo Tolstoy, Ivan Shishkin, Dmitry Mendeleev. But it is better for children to start acquaintance with his work with magic picture"Mermaids", with which this is the story.
In August 1871, the artist Ivan Kramskoy was visiting the country estate of his acquaintance, art lover and famous philanthropist Pavel Stroganov. Walking in the evenings, he admired the moon and admired its magical light. During these walks, the artist decided to write night landscape and try to convey all the charm, all the magic of a moonlit night, "catch the moon" - in his own words.
Kramskoy began work on the painting. Appeared on the river bank moonlit night, a hillock and a house on it, surrounded by poplars. The landscape was beautiful, but something was missing - the magic was not born on the canvas. Nikolai Gogol's book "Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka" came to the aid of the artist, or rather the story called "May Night, or the Drowned Woman" is fabulous and a little creepy. And then the mermaid girls appeared in the picture, illuminated by moonlight.
The artist worked so carefully on the picture that he began to dream about it and he constantly wanted to finish something in it. A year after it was bought by the founder of the Tretyakov Gallery - Pavel Tretyakov - Kramskoy in Once again I wanted to change something in it and made small changes right in the exhibition hall.
Kramskoy's canvas was the first "fabulous" painting in the history of Russian painting.
2. Vasily Vereshchagin. "Apotheosis of War", 1871
It so happened that people always fought. From time immemorial, brave leaders and powerful rulers equipped their armies and sent them to war. Of course, they wanted distant descendants to know about their military exploits, so poets composed poems and songs, and artists created beautiful paintings and sculptures. In these pictures, the war usually looked like a holiday - bright colors, fearless warriors going into battle...
The artist Vasily Vereshchagin knew firsthand about the war - he took part in battles more than once - and painted many paintings in which he depicted what he saw with his own eyes: not only brave soldiers and their commanders, but also blood, pain and suffering.
Once he thought about how to show all the horrors of war in one picture, how to let the audience understand that war is always grief and death, how to let others look at its disgusting details? He realized that it was not enough to paint a picture with a battlefield dotted with dead soldiers - such canvases were before. Vereshchagin came up with a symbol of war, an image, just by looking at which, everyone can imagine how terrible any war is. He painted a scorched desert, in the middle of which rises a pyramid of human skulls. Around - only dry, lifeless trees, and only crows flock to their feast. A dilapidated city can be seen in the distance, and the viewer can easily guess that there is no more life there.
3. Alexey Savrasov. "The Rooks Have Arrived", 1871
Everyone knows the picture “Rooks Have Arrived” since childhood, and for sure everyone wrote on it. school essays. And today teachers will definitely tell the children about lyrical landscapes Savrasov and about the fact that already in the very title of this picture one can hear a joyful harbinger of the morning of the year and everything in it is full of deep, close to heart meaning. Meanwhile, few people know that the famous "Rooks ...", as well as all the other works of Savrasov, could not exist at all.
Alexei Savrasov was the son of a petty Moscow haberdasher. The boy's desire to paint did not cause delight in the parent, but nevertheless, Kondrat Savrasov let his son go to the Moscow School of Painting and Sculpture. Both teachers and classmates recognized talent young artist and predicted a great future for him. But it so happened that, without having studied for even a year, Alexei, apparently due to his mother's illness, was forced to stop his studies. His teacher Karl Rabus turned for help to the chief police chief of Moscow, Major General Ivan Luzhin, who helped the talented young man get an art education.
If Luzhin had not taken part in the fate of the young artist, one of the most famous paintings in the history of Russian art would never have been born.
4. Vasily Polenov. "Moscow courtyard", 1878
Sometimes in order to write beautiful picture, the artist travels a lot, long and meticulously looking for the most beautiful views, in the end, finds the cherished place and over and over again comes there with a sketchbook. And it also happens that in order to create wonderful work, he just needs to go to his own window, look at a completely ordinary Moscow courtyard - and a miracle happens, an amazing landscape appears, filled with light and air.
It was precisely such a miracle that happened to the artist Vasily Polenov, who looked out of the window of his apartment in the early summer of 1878 and quickly wrote what he saw. Clouds glide easily across the sky, the sun rises higher and higher, heating the earth with its warmth, lighting up the domes of churches with brilliance, shortening thick shadows ... It would seem that a plain picture, which the artist himself did not take seriously at first: he painted and almost forgot about it. But then he was invited to take part in the exhibition. He did not have anything significant, and Polenov decided to exhibit "Moscow Courtyard".
Oddly enough, it was this “insignificant picture” that brought Vasily Polenov fame and glory - both the public and critics loved it: it has both warmth and bright colors, and its characters can be considered endlessly, inventing a story about each of them.
5. Ivan Shishkin. "Morning in pine forest", 1889
“Morning in a Pine Forest” by Ivan Shishkin is probably the most famous painting from the collection of the Tretyakov Gallery. In our country, everyone knows her, thanks to reproductions in school textbooks, or maybe thanks to the Mishka kosolapy chocolates.
But not everyone knows that Shishkin himself painted only a morning forest in a foggy haze, and has nothing to do with bears. This picture is the fruit of the joint work of Shishkin and his friend, the artist Konstantin Savitsky.
Ivan Shishkin was consummate master portray all sorts of botanical subtleties - critic Alexander Benois he was pretty scolded for his addiction to photographic accuracy, called his paintings lifeless and cold. But the artist was not friends with zoology. They say that this is why Shishkin turned to Savitsky with a request to help him with the bears. Savitsky did not refuse his friend, but he did not take his work seriously - and did not sign it.
Later, Pavel Tretyakov purchased this painting from Shishkin, and the artist suggested that Savitsky leave a signature on the painting - after all, they worked on it together. Savitsky did just that, but Tretyakov did not like it. Declaring that he bought the painting from Shishkin, and did not want to know anything about Savitsky, he demanded a solvent and with my own hands removed the "extra" signature. It so happened that today Tretyakov Gallery indicate the authorship of only one artist.
6. Viktor Vasnetsov. "Bogatyrs", 1898
Viktor Vasnetsov is considered the most "fabulous" artist in the history of Russian painting - it is his brushes that belong to such notable works like "Alyonushka", "Knight at the Crossroads", " Bogatyrsky lope" and many others. But his most famous painting is "Bogatyrs", which depicts the main characters of Russian epics.
The artist himself described the picture as follows: “Bogatyrs Dobrynya, Ilya and Alyosha Popovich at the heroic exit - they notice in the field, is there a enemy somewhere, are they offending anyone somewhere?”
In the middle, on a black horse, Ilya Muromets, looks into the distance from under his palm, in one hand the hero has a spear, in the other a damask club. On the left, on a white horse, Dobrynya Nikitich, takes out a sword from its scabbard. On the right, Alyosha Popovich, on a red-colored horse, holds a bow with arrows in his hands. A curious story is connected with the heroes of this picture - more precisely, with their prototypes.
Viktor Vasnetsov thought for a long time what Ilya Muromets should look like, and for a long time he could not find the “right” face - bold, honest, expressing strength and kindness at the same time. But one day, quite by chance, he met with the peasant Ivan Petrov, who came to Moscow to work. The artist was amazed - on the Moscow street he saw the real Ilya Muromets. The peasant agreed to pose for Vasnetsov and ... remained for centuries.
In the epics, Dobrynya Nikitich is quite young, but for some reason Vasnetsov's painting depicts a middle-aged man. Why did the artist decide to act so freely with folk tales? The answer is simple: in the image of Dobrynya, Vasnetsov portrayed himself, it is enough to compare the picture with portraits and photographs of the artist.
7. Valentin Serov. "Girl with peaches. Portrait of V. S. Mamontova, 1887
"Girl with Peaches" is one of the most famous portraits in the history of Russian painting, written by the artist Valentin Serov.
The girl in the portrait is Verochka, the daughter of the philanthropist Savva Mamontov, in whose house the artist often visited. It is interesting that the peaches lying on the table were not brought from warm regions, but grew up not far from Moscow, right in the Abramtsevo estate, which was quite unusual in the 19th century. Mamontov worked as a gardener-wizard - in his skillful hands fruit trees bloomed even in February, and the harvest was already in early summer.
Thanks to Serov's portrait, Vera Mamontova went down in history, but the artist himself recalled how difficult it was for him to persuade a 12-year-old girl to pose, who was distinguished by an extremely restless character. Serov worked on the painting for almost a month, and every day Vera sat quietly in the dining room for several hours.
The work was not in vain: when the artist presented the portrait at the exhibition, the public liked the picture very much. And today, more than a hundred years later, The Girl with Peaches delights visitors to the Tretyakov Gallery.
8. Ilya Repin. "Ivan the Terrible and his son Ivan on November 16, 1581", 1883-1885
Looking at this or that picture, you often wonder what was the source of inspiration for the artist, what prompted him to write just such a work? In the case of Ilya Repin’s painting “Ivan the Terrible and his son Ivan on November 16, 1581”, guess about true reasons quite difficult.
The painting depicts a legendary episode from the life of Ivan the Terrible, when in a fit of anger he inflicted death blow to his son Tsarevich Ivan. However, many historians believe that in fact there was no murder and the prince died of illness, and not at all at the hands of his father. It would seem that what can make an artist turn to such a historical episode?
As the artist himself recalled, the idea to paint the painting "Ivan the Terrible and his son Ivan" came to him after ... a concert at which he heard the music of the composer Rimsky-Korsakov. It was symphonic suite"Antar". The sounds of music took possession of the artist, and he wanted to embody in painting the mood that he created under the influence of this work.
But not only music has become a source of inspiration. Traveling through Europe in 1883, Repin attended a bullfight. The sight of this bloody spectacle impressed the artist, who wrote that, “infected ... with this bloodiness, upon arrival home, he immediately set to the bloody scene“ Ivan the Terrible with his son ”. And the picture of blood was a great success.”
9. Mikhail Vrubel. "Seated Demon", 1890
Sometimes the title of a picture means a lot. What does the viewer see at the first glance at Mikhail Vrubel's painting "Seated Demon"? A muscular young man sits on a rock and looks sadly at the sunset. But as soon as we pronounce the word "demon", the image of a magical unkind creature immediately arises. Meanwhile, the demon of Mikhail Vrubel is not an evil spirit at all. The artist himself said more than once that the demon is a spirit "not so much evil as suffering and mournful, but for all that, an imperious spirit, ... majestic."
This picture is interesting painting technique. The artist applies paint to the canvas not with the usual brush, but with a thin steel plate - a palette knife. This technique allows you to combine the techniques of a painter and a sculptor, literally “sculpt” a picture with the help of paints. This is how a “mosaic” effect is achieved - it seems that the sky, the rocks, and the hero’s body itself are not painted with paint, but are lined with carefully polished, perhaps even precious stones.
10. Alexander Ivanov. "The Appearance of Christ to the People (The Appearance of the Messiah)", 1837-1857
Alexander Ivanov's painting "The Appearance of Christ to the People" is a unique event in the history of Russian painting. It is not easy to talk about it with children, especially 6-7-year-olds, but they must see this monumental canvas, on which the artist has been working for more than 20 years and which has become the work of his whole life.
The plot of the picture is based on the third chapter of the Gospel of Matthew: John the Baptist, baptizing the Jewish people on the banks of the Jordan in the name of the expected Savior, suddenly sees the One walking in whose name he baptizes people. ABOUT compositional features paintings, about its symbols and about artistic language the kids will find out later. During the first meeting, it is worth talking about how one picture became the work of the artist’s whole life.
After graduating from the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, Alexander Ivanov was sent "for an internship" to Italy. "The Appearance of Christ to the People" was supposed to be a reporting work. But the artist takes his work very seriously: he carefully studies Holy Bible, history, for months in search of the desired landscape, an endless amount of time looking for an image for each character in the picture. The money that was allocated to him for work is running out, Ivanov leads a beggarly existence. Painstaking work on the picture led to the fact that the artist spoiled his eyesight and had to be treated for a long time.
When Ivanov completed his work, the Italian public enthusiastically accepted the picture, this was one of the first cases European recognition Russian artist. In Russia, it was not immediately appreciated - only after the death of the artist did real fame come to him.
While working on the painting, Ivanov created more than 600 sketches. In the hall where it is exhibited, you can see some of them. It is interesting to use these examples to trace how the artist worked on the composition, landscape, and images of the characters in the picture.
On December 3, 1961, a landmark event took place at the New York Museum of Modern Art - Matisse's painting "The Boat", which hung upside down for 46 days, was properly hung. It is worth saying that this is not a single amusing case associated with the paintings of great artists.
Pablo Picasso painted one of his famous portraits in less than 5 minutes
Once, one of Pablo Picasso's acquaintances, looking at his new works, sincerely said to the artist: “I'm sorry, but I can't understand this. Those things just don't exist." To which Picasso retorted: “You and Chinese Do not understand. But it still exists." However, Picasso was not understood by many. Once he suggested to the Russian writer Ehrenburg, his good friend, paint his portrait. He happily agreed, but did not have time to sit in an armchair to pose, as the artist announced that everything was ready.
Ehrenburg expressed surprise at the speed of execution of the work, after all, less than 5 minutes had passed, to which Picasso replied: “I have known you for 40 years. And all these 40 years I learned to paint portraits in 5 minutes.
Ilya Repin helped sell a painting he didn't paint
One lady purchased on the market for only 10 rubles a completely mediocre painting, on which the signature “I. Repin” proudly flaunted. When a connoisseur of painting showed this work to Ilya Efimovich, he laughed and added “This is not Repin” and put his autograph. After some time, the enterprising lady sold the painting unknown artist with the autograph of the great master already for 100 rubles.
The bears in the famous painting by Shishkin were painted by another artist
Among artists there is an unspoken law - professional mutual assistance. After all, each of them has not only favorite stories and strengths but also weaknesses, so why not help each other. So, it is known for certain that for the painting “Pushkin on the Seashore” by Aivazovsky, the figure of the great poet was painted by Repin, and for the painting by Levitan “Autumn Day. Sokolniki, a lady in black was painted by Nikolai Chekhov. The landscape painter Shishkin, who could draw every blade of grass and needles in his paintings, when creating the painting “Morning in pine forest“Bears didn’t turn out in any way. Therefore, Savitsky painted bears for the famous Shishkin canvas.
A piece of fiberboard, over which paint was simply poured, became one of the most expensive paintings
The most expensive painting in the world in 2006 was Jackson Polock's Number 5, 1948. At one of the auctions, the painting went for $140 million. It may seem funny, but the artist did not particularly “bother” with the creation of this picture: he simply poured paint over a piece of fiberboard, spread out on the floor.
The date of creation of his painting Rubens encrypted by the stars
Art critics and scientists for a long time could not establish the date of creation of one of the most famous paintings Rubens - the painting "The Feast of the Gods on Olympus". The riddle was resolved only after astronomers took a closer look at the picture. It turned out that the characters in the picture were located in exactly the same order as the planets were located in the sky in 1602.
The Chupa-Chups logo was drawn by the world-famous surrealist
In 1961, Enrique Bernata, the owner of the Chupa Chups company, asked the artist Salvador Dali to come up with an image for a candy wrapper. Gave the request fulfilled. Today, this image, albeit in a slightly modified form, is recognizable on the company's lollipops.
It is worth noting that in 1967 in Italy, with the blessing of the Pope, it was released with illustrations by Salvador Dali.
The most expensive painting Flour brings misfortune
Munch's painting "The Scream" was sold at auction for $120 million and is today the most expensive painting by this artist. Munch is said to life path which - a series of tragedies, put so much grief into it that the picture absorbed negative energy and takes revenge on the offenders.
One of the employees of the Munch Museum somehow accidentally dropped the painting, after which he began to suffer from terrible headaches that led this man to suicide. Another employee of the museum, who was unable to hold the painting, got into a terrible car accident just a few days later. And a visitor to the museum, who allowed himself to touch the painting, burned alive in a fire after some time. However, it is possible that these are just coincidences.
Malevich's "Black Square" has an "elder brother"
"Black Square", which is perhaps the most famous painting Kazimir Malevich, is a canvas 79.5 * 79.5 centimeters, on which a black square is depicted on a white background. Malevich painted his painting in 1915. And back in 1893, 20 years before Malevich, Alphonse Allais, a French humorist, drew his “black square”. True, Alle's painting was called "The Battle of Negroes in a Deep Cave on a Dark Night."
Christ and Judas have the same face in Da Vinci's painting
It is said that the creation of a painting The Last Supper"demanded titanic efforts from Leonardo da Vinci. The artist quickly found the person from whom the image of Christ was painted. One of the singers approached this role. church choir. But "Judas" da Vinci was looking for three years.
Once on the street, the artist saw a drunkard who unsuccessfully tried to get out of the cesspool. Da Vinci took him to one of the drinking establishments, sat him down and began to draw. What was the surprise of the artist when, having opened up, the drunkard admitted that several years ago he had already posed for him. It turned out that this is the same singer.
About famous artists you can find a huge amount of information - how they lived, how they created their immortal works. Many usually do not think about the features of the character and lifestyle of the artist. But some facts from the biography or the history of the creation of a particular picture are sometimes very entertaining and even defiant.
Pablo Picasso
Good artists copy, great artists steal.
When Pablo Picasso was born, the midwife thought he was stillborn. The child was saved by his uncle, who smoked cigars and saw the baby lying on the table, blew smoke in his face, after which Pablo roared. Thus, it can be said that smoking saved Picasso's life.
Apparently, Pablo was born an artist - his first word was PIZ, short for LAPIZ ("pencil" in Spanish).
IN early years During his life in Paris, Picasso was so poor that he was sometimes forced to heat with his paintings instead of firewood.
Picasso wore long clothes and also had long hair which was unheard of at the time
Picasso's full name consists of 23 words: Pablo-Diego-Jose-Francisco-de-Paula-Juan-Nepomuseno-Maria de los Remedios-Cypriano de la Santisima-Trinidad-Martir-Patricio-Clito-Ruiz- i-Picasso.
Vincent van Gogh
Don't be afraid to make mistakes. Many believe that they will become good if they do nothing wrong.
abundance yellow color and yellow spots of various shades in his paintings are believed to be caused by the large amount of drugs used for epilepsy, which developed from excessive use of absinthe. " Starlight Night”, “Sunflowers”.
For my hectic life Van Gogh visited more than one psychiatric hospital with diagnoses ranging from schizophrenia to manic-depressive psychosis. His most famous painting, Starry Night, was painted in 1889 in a hospital in the town of San Remy.
Committed suicide. He shot himself in the stomach while hiding in the farm yard behind a pile of dung. He was 37 years old.
Throughout his life, Van Gogh suffered from low self-esteem. He sold only one of his works during his lifetime - Red Vineyard at Arles. And fame came to him only after his death. If only Van Gogh knew how popular his work would become.
Van Gogh did not cut off his whole ear, but only a piece of his earlobe, which is practically not painful. However, the legend is still widespread that the artist amputated his entire ear. This legend was even reflected in the characteristics of the behavior of a patient who operates on himself, or insists on a certain operation - he was called Van Gogh's syndrome.
Leonardo da Vinci
Those who live in fear die of fear.
Leonardo was the first to explain why the sky is blue. In the book "On Painting" he wrote: "The blue of the sky is due to the thickness of the illuminated particles of air, which is located between the Earth and the blackness above"
Leonardo was ambidexter - in the same degree He was good with both right and left hands. They even say that he could write different texts at the same time. different hands. However, he wrote most of his works with his left hand from right to left.
He masterfully played the lyre. When Leonardo's case was considered in the court of Milan, he appeared there precisely as a musician, and not as an artist or inventor.
Leonardo was the first painter to dismember corpses in order to understand the location and structure of muscles.
Leonardo da Vinci was a strict vegetarian and never drank cow's milk, as he considered it theft.
Salvador Dali
If I didn't have enemies, I wouldn't be who I am. But, thank God, there were enough enemies.
Arriving in New York in 1934, he carried a 2-meter-long loaf of bread in his hands as an accessory, and while visiting an exhibition of surrealist art in London, he dressed in a diving suit.
Canvas "The Persistence of Memory" (" soft watch”) Dali wrote under the impression of Einstein's theory of relativity. The idea in El Salvador's head took shape when he looked at a piece of Camembert cheese one hot August day.
Salvador Dali often resorted to sleep with a key in his hand. Sitting on a chair, he fell asleep with a heavy key between his fingers. Gradually, the grip weakened, the key fell and hit a plate lying on the floor. The thoughts that arose during the nap could be new ideas or solutions to complex problems.
The great artist, during his lifetime, bequeathed to bury him so that people could walk on the grave, so his body was immured in the wall in the Dali Museum in Figueres. Flash photography is not allowed in this room.
Salvador Dali's nickname was "Avida Dollars", which means "passionately loving dollars."
The Chupa Chups logo was designed by Salvador Dali. In a slightly modified form, it has survived to this day.
Almost every one of Dali's works has either a portrait or a silhouette of him.
Henri Matisse
Flowers bloom everywhere for everyone who just wants to see them.
In 1961, Henri Matisse's Le Bateau, exhibited at the New York Museum of Modern Art, hung upside down for forty-seven days. The picture was hung in the gallery on October 17, and only on December 3 someone saw the error.
Henri Matisse suffered from depression and insomnia, sometimes sobbing in his sleep and waking up screaming. One day, without any reason, he suddenly had a fear of going blind. And he even learned to play the violin to earn his living busker when he loses his sight.
For many years Matisse lived in poverty. He was about forty when he was finally able to provide for his family on his own.
Henri Matisse never painted rocks, clear crystal houses, cultivated fields.
During the last 10 years of his life, he was diagnosed with duodenal cancer and had to remain in a wheelchair.
Edvard Munch
In my art I have tried to explain life and its meaning to myself, I have also tried to help others to explain their lives.
Munch was only five years old when his mother died of tuberculosis, and then he lost his older sister. Since then, the theme of death has repeatedly appeared in his work, and the artist's life path from the very first steps declared itself to be a life drama.
His painting "The Scream" is the most expensive work art sold at public auction.
He was obsessed with work and he himself spoke about it like this: “Writing for me is a disease and intoxication. A sickness that I don't want to get rid of, and an intoxication that I want to be in."
Paul Gauguin
Art is an abstraction, extract it from nature, fantasize on its basis, and think more about the process of creation than about the result.
The artist was born in Paris, but spent his childhood in Peru. Hence his love for the exotic and tropical countries.
Gauguin easily changed techniques and material. He was also fond of woodcarving. Often experiencing financial difficulties, he was unable to buy paint. Then he took up the knife and wood. He decorated the doors of his house in the Marquesas with carved panels.
Paul Gauguin worked as a laborer on the Panama Canal.
The artist wrote still lifes mostly without resorting to a model.
In 1889, having thoroughly studied the Bible, he painted four canvases, on which he depicted himself in the image of Christ.
Frequent and promiscuity with girls led to the fact that Gauguin fell ill with syphilis.
Renoir Pierre Auguste
At forty, I discovered that the king of all colors is black.
Around 1880, Renoir breaks his right arm for the first time. Instead of being upset and grieving about this, he takes the brush to the left, and after a while no one doubts that he will be able to write masterpieces with both hands.
Managed to paint about 6,000 paintings in 60 years.
Renoir was so in love with painting that he did not stop working even in old age, being ill different forms arthritis, and painted with a brush tied to his sleeve. One day it close friend Matisse asked: "Auguste, why don't you leave painting, are you suffering so much?" Renoir limited himself to only the answer: “La douleur passe, la beauté reste” (Pain passes, but beauty remains).
Painting contemporary artists for sale
The idea to depict a flowing clock came to Salvador Dali at dinner, when he noticed how the Camembert melted in the sun.
It was only later that Dali was asked if Einstein’s theory of relativity was encrypted on the canvas, and he answered with a smart look: “Rather, Heraclitus’s theory that time is measured by the flow of thought. That's why I called the painting "The Persistence of Memory". And at first there was cheese, processed cheese.”"The Last Supper"
When Leonardo da Vinci wrote The Last Supper, he paid special attention to two figures: Christ and Judas. Leonardo found a sitter for the face of Jesus relatively quickly - a young man who sang in the church choir approached him. But a person capable of expressing the vice of Judas, Leonardo was looking for during three years. One day, walking down the street, the master saw a drunkard in the gutter. Da Vinci brought the drunkard to a tavern, where he immediately began to write Judas from him.
When the drunkard sobered up, he remembered that several years ago he had already posed for the artist. It was the same singer. On great fresco Leonardo in Jesus and Judas is the face of one person.
Ivan the Terrible and his son Ivan
In 1913, a mentally ill artist slashed Repin's painting "Ivan the Terrible and his son Ivan" with a knife. Only thanks to the masterful work of the restorers, the canvas was restored. Ilya Repin himself came to Moscow and redrawn Grozny's head in a strange lilac- for two decades, the artist's ideas about painting have changed a lot. The restorers removed these edits and returned the painting to its exact match. museum photographs. Repin, when he later saw the restored canvas, did not notice the corrections.
"Dream"
In 2006, American art collector Steve Wynn agreed to sell Pablo Picasso's The Dream for $139 million, one of the highest prices in history. But when talking about the picture, he waved his arms too expressively and tore the art with his elbow. Wynn regarded this as a sign from above and decided not to sell the canvas after the restoration, which, by the way, cost a pretty penny.
"Boat"
A less devastating but no less curious incident occurred with a painting by Henri Matisse. In 1961, the Museum of Modern Art in New York presented the master's painting "The Boat" to the audience. The exhibition was a success. But only seven weeks later, a casual art connoisseur noticed that the masterpiece was hanging upside down. During this time, 115 thousand people managed to see the art, the guest book was replenished with hundreds of admiring comments. The embarrassment spread all over the newspapers.
"Battle of the Negroes in the cave in the dead of night"
The famous "Black Square" was not the first painting of its kind. 22 years before Malevich, in 1893 french artist and the writer Alle Alphonse exhibited his masterpiece “The Battle of the Negroes in the Cave” in the Vivien Gallery late at night» - a completely black rectangular canvas.
"Feast of the Gods on Olympus"
In the 1960s one of the famous paintings Peter Paul Rubens "Feast of the Gods on Olympus". For a long time, the date of its writing remained a mystery. The answer was found in the picture itself, moreover, by astronomers. They guessed that the position of the planets was subtly encrypted on the canvas. For example, the Duke of Mantua Gonzaga in the form of the god Jupiter, Poseidon with the Sun and the goddess Venus with Cupid display the position of Jupiter, Venus and the Sun in the Zodiac.
In addition, it is clear that Venus is heading towards the constellation Pisces. Meticulous astrologers figured out that such a rare position of the planets in the sky was observed on the days of the winter solstice in 1602. So a fairly accurate dating of the picture was carried out.
"Breakfast on the Grass"
Édouard Manet, Breakfast on the Grass
Claude Monet, Breakfast on the Grass
Edouard Manet and Claude Monet are confused not only by current applicants art schools- they were confused even by contemporaries. Both lived at the end of the 19th century in Paris, communicated with each other and were almost namesakes. So, in the movie Ocean's Eleven, the following dialogue takes place between the characters of George Clooney and Julia Roberts:
- I always confuse Monet and Manet. I only remember that one of them married his mistress.
- Monet.
- So, Manet had syphilis.
And they both wrote from time to time.
But the artists had little confusion with names, in addition, they actively borrowed ideas from each other. After Manet presented the painting "Breakfast on the Grass" to the public, Monet, without thinking twice, wrote his own with the same name. As usual, there was no confusion.
"Sistine Madonna"
When looking at Raphael's painting "The Sistine Madonna", it is clearly seen that Pope Sixtus II has six fingers on his hand. Among other things, the name Sixtus is translated as "sixth", which eventually gave rise to a lot of theories. In fact, the "lower little finger" is not a finger at all, but part of the palm. It's noticeable if you look closely. No mysticism and secret portents of the Apocalypse, but it's a pity.
"Morning in a pine forest"
The bear cubs from Shishkin’s painting “Morning in a Pine Forest” replicated by confectioners are not the work of Shishkin at all. Ivan was an excellent landscape painter, he brilliantly knew how to convey the play of light and shadow in the forest, but people and animals were not given to him. So, at the request of the artist, cute bear cubs were added by Konstantin Savitsky, and the picture itself was signed with two names. But Pavel Tretyakov, after buying the landscape for his collection, erased Savitsky's signature, and all the laurels went to Shishkin.
Art is a part of human spiritual culture, a form artistic activity society, figurative expression of reality. Consider the most interesting facts about art.
Not everyone knows that art originates from the time primitive people, and many of those who are aware of this hardly think that Caveman owned polychrome painting.
The Spanish archaeologist Marcelino Sanz de Sautola in 1879 discovered the ancient cave of Altamira, in which there was a polychrome painting. No one believed Sautole, and he was accused of forging the creations of primitive people. Later, in 1940, an even more ancient cave with a similar painting was discovered - Lascaux in France, it was attributed to 17-15 thousand years BC. Then all charges against Sautole were dropped, but posthumously.
Raphael " Sistine Madonna»
The true picture of the canvas "Sistine Madonna", created by Raphael, can only be seen by carefully peering into it. The artist's art deceives the observer. The background in the form of clouds hides the faces of angels, and on right hand St. Sixtus depicts six fingers. Perhaps this is due to the fact that his name in Latin means "six".
And Malevich was not the first artist to paint Black Square. Long before him, Ally Alphonse, a man known for his eccentric antics, exhibited at the Vignen Gallery his creation “Battle of the Negroes in the Cave in the Dead of Night”, which was completely black canvas.
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Picasso "Dora Maar with a cat"
famous artist Pablo Picasso had an explosive temperament. His love for women was cruel, many of his lovers committed suicide or ended up in a psychiatric hospital. One of these was Dora Maar, who had a hard time breaking up with Picasso and subsequently ended up in a hospital. Picasso painted her portrait in 1941, when their relationship was broken. Portrait "Dora Maar with a cat" in 2006 was sold in New York for 95.2 million dollars.
When writing the painting "The Last Supper" by Leonardo da Vinci special meaning devoted to the images of Christ and Judas. He spent a very long time looking for sitters, as a result, for the image of Christ, Leonardo da Vinci found a person among the young singers in the church, and only three years later he was able to find a person to write the image of Judas. He was a drunkard whom Leonardo found in a ditch and invited to a tavern to paint a picture. Later, this man admitted that he had already posed for the artist once, several years ago, when he sang in the church choir. It turned out that the image of Christ and Judas, by coincidence, was painted from one person.
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Interesting Facts: Sculpture and Architecture
- Initially, an unknown sculptor worked unsuccessfully on the famous statue of David, which was created by Michelangelo, who could not complete the job and abandoned it.
- Few people wondered about the position of the legs on the equestrian sculpture. It turns out that if the horse stands on its hind legs, then its rider died in battle, if one hoof is raised, then the rider died from combat wounds, and if the horse stands on four legs, then the rider died a natural death.
- On the famous statue of Gustov Eiffel - the Statue of Liberty, 225 tons of copper were used. And the weight of the famous statue in Rio de Janeiro - the statue of Christ the Redeemer, made of reinforced concrete and soapstone, reaches 635 tons.
- Eiffel Tower was created as a temporary exhibit dedicated to the 100th anniversary french revolution. Eiffel did not expect the tower to stand for more than 20 years.
- An exact replica of the Indian Taj Mahal mausoleum was built in Bangladesh by millionaire film producer Asanull Moni, which caused great discontent among the Indian people.
- The famous Leaning Tower of Pisa, the construction of which lasted from 1173 to 1360, began to lean during construction due to a small foundation and undermining groundwater. Its weight is about 14453 tons. Bell tower ringing leaning tower of pisa is one of the most beautiful in the world. According to the original design, the tower was supposed to be 98 meters high, but only 56 meters high were completed.
- Joseph Niepce created the world's first photograph in 1826. After 35 years, the English physicist James Maxwell managed to make the first color photograph.
- Photographer Oskar Gustaf Reilander used his cat to determine the lighting in the studio. Then there was no such invention as a light meter, so the photographer watched the pupils of a cat, if they were too narrow, he set a short shutter speed, and if the pupils expanded, he increased the shutter speed.
- famous French singer Edith Piaf often gave concerts on the territory of military camps during the occupation. After the concerts, she was photographed with prisoners of war, whose faces were then cut out from the photographs and pasted into fake passports, which Edith handed over to the prisoners during the return visit. So many prisoners managed to escape with forged documents.
Interesting facts about contemporary art
Sue Webster and Tim Noble
British artists Sue Webster and Tim Noble made a whole exhibition of sculptures out of garbage. If you just look at the sculpture, then only a pile of garbage is visible, but under certain lighting, the sculptures create different projections that represent various images.
Rashad Alakbarov
Ayzerbajan artist Rashad Alakbarov uses shadows from various objects to create his paintings. He arranges objects in a certain way, directs the necessary lighting to them, thus forming a shadow, from which a picture is created as a result.
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three-dimensional painting
Another unusual method The creation of paintings was invented by the artist Ioan Ward, who makes his drawings on wooden canvases using molten glass.
Relatively recently, the concept of three-dimensional painting appeared. When creating a three-dimensional picture, each layer is poured with resin, and a layer of resin is applied to each layer of resin. separate part paintings. Thus, a natural image is obtained, which is sometimes difficult to distinguish from a photograph of a living being.
