It's more than pretty pictures, it's a reflection of reality. In the works of great artists, you can see how the world and the consciousness of people have changed.
Art is also an attempt to create an alternative reality where you can hide from the horrors of your time, or the desire to change the world. The art of the 20th century rightfully occupies a special place in history. The people who lived and worked in those days survived social upheavals, wars, and the unprecedented development of science; and all this found an imprint on their canvases. Artists of the 20th century took part in creating the modern vision of the world.
Some names are still pronounced with a breath, and some are unfairly forgotten. Someone had such a controversial creative path that we still cannot give him an unambiguous assessment. This review focuses on the 20 greatest artists of the 20th century. Camille Pizarro- French painter. An outstanding representative of impressionism. The artist's work was influenced by John Constable, Camille Corot, Jean Francois Millet.
Born July 10, 1830 in Saint Thomas, died November 13, 1903 in Paris.
Hermitage in Pontoise, 1868 
Opera passage in Paris, 1898
Sunset at Varengeville, 1899
Edgar Degas - French artist, one of the greatest impressionists. On the work of Degas, the influence of Japanese graphics was traced. Born July 19, 1834 in Paris, died September 27, 1917 in Paris. 
Absinthe, 1876
Star, 1877
Woman combing her hair, 1885
Paul Cezanne - French painter, one of the greatest representatives of post-impressionism. In his work, he sought to reveal the harmony and balance of nature. His work had a huge impact on the worldview of artists of the XX century. Born January 19, 1839 in Aix-en-Provence, France, died October 22, 1906 in Aix-en-Provence.
Gamblers, 1893
Modern Olympia, 1873
Still life with skulls, 1900
Claude Monet- an outstanding French painter. One of the founders of impressionism. In his works, Monet sought to convey the richness and richness of the world around him. His late period is characterized by decorativeism and The late period of Monet's work is characterized by decorativeism, the increasing dissolution of objective forms in sophisticated combinations of color spots.
Born November 14, 1840 in Paris, died December 5, 1926 in Zhverny.
Welk Cliff at Pourville, 1882
After lunch, 1873-1876
Etretat, sunset, 1883
Arkhip Kuindzhi - famous Russian artist, master of landscape painting. He lost his parents early. From an early age, a love for painting began to manifest itself. The work of Arkhip Kuindzhi had a huge impact on Nicholas Roerich. Born on January 15, 1841 in Mariupol, died on July 11, 1910 in St. Petersburg.
"Volga", 1890-1895
"North", 1879
"View of the Kremlin from Zamoskvorechye", 1882
Pierre Auguste Renoir - French painter, graphic artist, sculptor, one of the prominent representatives of impressionism. He was also known as a master of secular portraiture. Auguste Rodin became the first impressionist to become popular among wealthy Parisians. Born February 25, 1841 in Limoges France, died December 2, 1919 in Paris.
Pont des Arts in Paris, 1867
Ball at the Moulin de la Galette, 1876
Jeanne Samary, 1877
Born June 7, 1848 in Paris, died May 8, 1903 on the island of Hiva Oa, French Polynesia.
Breton landscape, 1894
Breton village in the snow, 1888
Are you jealous? 1892
Saints Day, 1894
Wassily Kandinsky - Russian and German artist, poet, art theorist. Considered one of the leaders of the avant-garde of the 1st half of the 20th century. One of the founders of abstract art.Born November 22, 1866 in Moscow, died December 13, 1944 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France.
Couple on horseback, 1918
Motley life, 1907
Moscow 1, 1916
In grey, 1919
Henri Matisse - one of the greatest French painters and sculptors. One of the founders of the Fauvist movement. In his work, he strove to convey emotions through color. In his work, he was influenced by the Islamic culture of the western Maghreb. Born December 31, 1869 in the city of Le Cateau, died November 3, 1954 in the town of Cimiez.
Square in Saint-Tropez, 1904
Outline of Notre Dame at night, 1902
Woman with a hat, 1905
Dance, 1909
Italian, 1919
Portrait of Delectorskaya, 1934
Nicholas Roerich- Russian artist, writer, scientist, mystic. During his life he painted over 7,000 paintings. One of the outstanding cultural figures of the 20th century, the founder of the "Peace through Culture" movement. Born October 27, 1874 in St. Petersburg, died December 13, 1947 in Kullu, Himachal Pradesh, India.
Overseas guests, 1901
Great Spirit of the Himalayas, 1923
Message from Shambhala, 1933
Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin - Russian artist, graphic artist, theorist, writer, teacher. He was one of the ideologists of the reorganization of art education in the USSR. Born November 5, 1878 in the city of Khvalynsk, Saratov province, died February 15, 1939 in Leningrad.
"1918 in Petrograd", 1920
"Playing Boys", 1911
Bathing a red horse, 1912
Portrait of Anna Akhmatova
Kazimir Malevich- Russian artist, founder of Suprematism - a trend in abstract art, teacher, art theorist and philosopher Born February 23, 1879 in Kyiv, died May 15, 1935 in Moscow.
Rest (Society in top hats), 1908
"Peasant women with buckets", 1912-1913
Black Suprematist Square, 1915
Suprematist painting, 1916
On the boulevard, 1903
Pablo Picasso- Spanish painter, sculptor, sculptor, ceramist designer. One of the founders of cubism. The work of Pablo Picasso had a significant impact on the development of painting in the 20th century. According to a poll of readers of Time magazine Born October 25, 1881 in Malaga, Spain, died April 8, 1973 in Mougins, France.
Girl on a ball, 1905
Portrait of Ambroise Vallor, 1910
Three Graces
Portrait of Olga
Dance, 1919
Woman with a flower, 1930
Amadeo Modigliani- Italian painter and sculptor. One of the brightest representatives of expressionism. During his lifetime, he had only one exhibition in December 1917 in Paris. Born July 12, 1884 in Livorno, Italy, died January 24, 1920 from tuberculosis. Received world recognition posthumously World recognition received posthumously. 
Cellist, 1909
Spouses, 1917
Joan Hebuterne, 1918
Mediterranean landscape, 1918
Diego Rivera- Mexican painter, muralist, politician. He was the husband of Frida Kahlo. Leon Trotsky found shelter in their house for a short time. Born December 8, 1886 in Guanajuato, died December 21, 1957 in Mexico City.
Notre Dame de Paris in the rain, 1909
Woman at the well, 1913
Union of Peasants and Workers, 1924
Detroit industry, 1932
Marc Chagall- Russian and French painter, graphic artist, illustrator, theater artist. One of the greatest representatives of the avant-garde. Born on June 24, 1887 in the city of Liozno, Mogilev province, died on March 28, 1985 in Saint-Paul-de-Provence.
Anyuta (Portrait of a sister), 1910
Bride with fan, 1911
Me and the village, 1911
Adam and Eve, 1912
Mark Rothko(present Mark Rotkovich) is an American artist, one of the founders of abstract expressionism and the founder of color field painting. The first works of the artist were created in a realistic spirit, however, then by the mid-40s, Mark Rothko turned to surrealism. By 1947, the most important turning point in the work of Mark Rothko happens, he creates his own style - abstract expressionism, in which he departs from objective elements.
Born on September 25, 1903 in the city of Dvinsk (now Daugavpils), died on February 25, 1970 in New York.
Untitled
Number 7 or 11
orange and yellow
Salvador Dali- painter, graphic artist, sculptor, writer, designer, director. Perhaps the most famous representative of surrealism and one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. Designed by Chupa-Chups.
Born May 11, 1904 in Figueres, Spain, died January 23, 1989 in Spain.
Temptation of Saint Anthony, 1946
The Last Supper, 1955
Woman with a Head of Roses, 1935
My wife Gala, naked, looking at her body, 1945
Frida Kahlo - Mexican artist and graphic artist, one of the brightest representatives of surrealism. Frida Kahlo started painting after a car accident that left her bedridden for a year.
She was married to the famous Mexican communist artist Diego Rivera. Leon Trotsky found refuge in their house for a short time.
Born July 6, 1907 in Coyoacan, Mexico, died July 13, 1954 in Coyoacan.
The Embrace of Universal Love, Earth, Me, Diego and Coatl, 1949
Moses (Creation Core), 1945
Two Fridas, 1939
Andy Warhole(real. Andrey Varhola) - American artist, designer, director, producer, publisher, writer, collector. The founder of pop art, he is one of the most controversial personalities in the history of culture. Several films have been made based on the life of the artist. Born August 6, 1928 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, died in 1963 in New York.
The 19th century left indelible imprints on all forms of art. This is a time of changing social norms and requirements, tremendous progress in architecture, construction and industry. Reforms and revolutions are being actively carried out in Europe, banking and government organizations are being created, and all these changes have had a direct impact on artists. Foreign artists of the 19th century took painting to a new, more modern level, gradually introducing such trends as impressionism and romanticism, which had to go through many trials before becoming recognized by society. Artists of past centuries were in no hurry to endow their characters with violent emotions, but depicted them as more or less restrained. But impressionism had in its features an unbridled and bold fantasy world, which was vividly combined with romantic mystery. In the 19th century, artists began to think outside the box, completely rejecting the accepted patterns, and this fortitude is transmitted in the mood of their works. During this period, many artists worked, whose names we still consider great, and their works - inimitable.
France
Spain
The Iberian Peninsula also gave us many famous names, including:
Netherlands
Vincent van Gogh is one of the most famous Dutch people. As everyone knows, Van Gogh suffered from a severe mental disorder, but this did not affect his inner genius. Made in an unusual technique, his paintings became popular only after the death of the artist. The most famous: "Starry Night", "Irises", "Sunflowers" are included in the list of the most expensive works of art in the whole world, although Van Gogh did not have any special art education.
Norway
Edvard Munch is a native of Norway, famous for his painting. The work of Edvard Munch is sharply distinguished by melancholy and a certain recklessness. The death of his mother and sister in childhood and dysfunctional relationships with ladies greatly influenced the artist's painting style. For example, the well-known work "Scream" and no less popular - "Sick Girl" carry pain, suffering and oppression.
USA
Kent Rockwell is one of the famous American landscape painters. His works combine realism and romanticism, which very accurately conveys the mood of the depicted. You can look at his landscapes for hours and interpret the symbols differently each time. Few artists have been able to depict winter nature in such a way that people looking at it really experience the cold. Color saturation and contrast is a recognizable signature of Rockwell.
The 19th century is rich in bright creators who made a huge contribution to art. Foreign artists of the 19th century opened the doors to several new trends, such as post-impressionism and romanticism, which, in fact, turned out to be a difficult task. Most of them tirelessly proved to society that their work has the right to exist, but many succeeded, unfortunately, only after death. Their unbridled character, courage and willingness to fight are combined with exceptional talent and ease of perception, which gives them every right to occupy a significant and significant cell.
"Card Players"
Author
Paul Cezanne
A country France
Years of life 1839–1906
Style post-impressionism
The artist was born in the south of France in the small town of Aix-en-Provence, but began painting in Paris. Real success came to him after a solo exhibition organized by the collector Ambroise Vollard. In 1886, 20 years before his departure, he moved to the outskirts of his native city. Young artists called trips to him "a pilgrimage to Aix".
130x97 cm
1895
price
$250 million
sold in 2012
at private auction
Cezanne's work is easy to understand. The only rule of the artist was the direct transfer of the subject or plot to the canvas, so his paintings do not cause bewilderment of the viewer. Cezanne combined in his art two main French traditions: classicism and romanticism. With the help of colorful texture, he gave the form of objects an amazing plasticity.
A series of five paintings "Card Players" was written in 1890-1895. Their plot is the same - several people are enthusiastically playing poker. The works differ only in the number of players and the size of the canvas.
Four paintings are kept in museums in Europe and America (the Musée d'Orsay, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Barnes Foundation and the Courtauld Institute of Art), and the fifth, until recently, was an adornment of the private collection of the Greek billionaire shipowner George Embirikos. Shortly before his death, in the winter of 2011, he decided to put it up for sale. Potential buyers of Cezanne's "free" work were art dealer William Aquavella and world-famous gallery owner Larry Gagosian, who offered about $220 million for it. As a result, the painting went to the royal family of the Arab state of Qatar for 250 million. The largest art deal in the history of painting was closed in February 2012. This was reported to Vanity Fair by journalist Alexandra Pierce. She found out the cost of the painting and the name of the new owner, and then the information penetrated the media around the world.
In 2010, the Arab Museum of Modern Art and the Qatar National Museum opened in Qatar. Now their collections are growing. Perhaps the fifth version of The Card Players was acquired by the sheik for this purpose.
The mostexpensive picturein the world
Owner
Sheikh Hamad
bin Khalifa al-Thani
The al-Thani dynasty has ruled Qatar for over 130 years. About half a century ago, huge reserves of oil and gas were discovered here, which instantly made Qatar one of the richest regions in the world. Thanks to the export of hydrocarbons, this small country recorded the largest GDP per capita. Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani seized power in 1995, while his father was in Switzerland, with the support of family members. The merit of the current ruler, according to experts, is in a clear strategy for the development of the country, creating a successful image of the state. Qatar now has a constitution and a prime minister, and women have gained the right to vote in parliamentary elections. By the way, it was the Emir of Qatar who founded the Al Jazeera news channel. The authorities of the Arab state pay great attention to culture.
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"Number 5"
Author
Jackson Pollock
A country USA
Years of life 1912–1956
Style abstract expressionism
Jack the Sprinkler - such a nickname was given to Pollock by the American public for his special painting technique. The artist abandoned the brush and easel, and poured the paint on the surface of the canvas or fiberboard during continuous movement around and inside them. From an early age, he was fond of the philosophy of Jiddu Krishnamurti, the main message of which is that the truth is revealed during a free "outpouring".
122x244 cm
1948
price
$140 million
sold in 2006
on the auction Sotheby's
The value of Pollock's work is not in the result, but in the process. The author did not accidentally call his art "action painting". With his light hand, it became the main asset of America. Jackson Pollock mixed paint with sand, broken glass, and wrote with a piece of cardboard, a palette knife, a knife, a shovel. The artist was so popular that in the 1950s there were even imitators in the USSR. The painting "Number 5" is recognized as one of the strangest and most expensive in the world. One of the founders of DreamWorks, David Geffen, bought it for a private collection, and in 2006 sold it at Sotheby`s for $140 million to Mexican collector David Martinez. However, the law firm soon issued a press release on behalf of its client stating that David Martinez was not the owner of the painting. Only one thing is known for certain: the Mexican financier has indeed recently collected works of contemporary art. It is unlikely that he would have missed such a "big fish" as Pollock's "Number 5".
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"Woman III"
Author
Willem de Kooning
A country USA
Years of life 1904–1997
Style abstract expressionism
A native of the Netherlands, he emigrated to the United States in 1926. In 1948, a personal exhibition of the artist took place. Art critics appreciated the complex, nervous black-and-white compositions, recognizing in their author a great modernist artist. For most of his life he suffered from alcoholism, but the joy of creating new art is felt in every work. De Kooning is distinguished by the impulsiveness of painting, broad strokes, which is why sometimes the image does not fit within the boundaries of the canvas.
121x171 cm
1953
price
$137 million
sold in 2006
at private auction
In the 1950s, women with empty eyes, massive breasts, and ugly features appear in de Kooning's paintings. "Woman III" was the last work from this series participating in the auction.
Since the 1970s, the painting has been kept in the Tehran Museum of Modern Art, but after the introduction of strict moral rules in the country, they sought to get rid of it. In 1994, the work was taken out of Iran, and 12 years later, its owner David Geffen (the same producer who sold Jackson Pollock's "Number 5") sold the painting to millionaire Stephen Cohen for $137.5 million. It is interesting that in one year Geffen began to sell his collection of paintings. This gave rise to a lot of rumors: for example, that the producer decided to buy the Los Angeles Times.
At one of the art forums, an opinion was expressed about the similarity of "Woman III" with the painting by Leonardo da Vinci "Lady with an Ermine". Behind the toothy smile and shapeless figure of the heroine, the connoisseur of painting discerned the grace of a person of royal blood. This is also evidenced by the poorly traced crown crowning the head of a woman.
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"Portrait of AdeleBloch-Bauer I"
Author
Gustav Klimt
A country Austria
Years of life 1862–1918
Style modern
Gustav Klimt was born into the family of an engraver and was the second of seven children. Three sons of Ernest Klimt became artists, and only Gustav became famous all over the world. He spent most of his childhood in poverty. After the death of his father, he was responsible for the entire family. It was at this time that Klimt developed his style. Before his paintings, any viewer freezes: under the thin strokes of gold, frank eroticism is clearly visible.
138x136 cm
1907
price
$135 million
sold in 2006
on the auction Sotheby's
The fate of the painting, which is called the "Austrian Mona Lisa", could easily become the basis for a bestseller. The work of the artist became the cause of the conflict of the whole state and one elderly lady.
So, the “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I” depicts an aristocrat, the wife of Ferdinand Bloch. Her last will was to transfer the painting to the Austrian State Gallery. However, Bloch canceled the donation in his will, and the Nazis expropriated the painting. Later, the gallery hardly bought out the Golden Adele, but then the heiress appeared - Maria Altman, Ferdinand Bloch's niece.
In 2005, the high-profile trial "Maria Altman against the Republic of Austria" began, as a result of which the picture "left" with her to Los Angeles. Austria took unprecedented measures: loans were negotiated, the population donated money to buy the portrait. Good never conquered evil: Altman raised the price to $300 million. At the time of the trial, she was 79 years old, and she went down in history as the person who changed the will of Bloch-Bauer in favor of personal interests. The painting was purchased by Ronald Lauder, owner of the New Gallery in New York, where it remains to this day. Not for Austria, for him Altman reduced the price to $135 million.
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"Scream"
Author
Edvard Munch
A country Norway
Years of life 1863–1944
Style expressionism
Munch's first painting, which became famous all over the world, "The Sick Girl" (exists in five copies) is dedicated to the artist's sister, who died of tuberculosis at the age of 15. Munch has always been interested in the theme of death and loneliness. In Germany, his heavy, manic painting even provoked a scandal. However, despite the depressing plots, his paintings have a special magnetism. Take at least "Scream".
73.5x91 cm
1895
price
$119.992 million
sold in 2012
on the auction Sotheby's
The full name of the painting is Der Schrei der Natur (translated from German as “the cry of nature”). The face of either a person or an alien expresses despair and panic - the viewer experiences the same emotions when looking at the picture. One of the key works of expressionism warns the themes that have become acute in the art of the 20th century. According to one version, the artist created it under the influence of a mental disorder, which he suffered all his life.
The painting was stolen twice from different museums, but it was returned. Slightly damaged after the theft, The Scream was restored and was ready to be shown again at the Munch Museum in 2008. For representatives of pop culture, the work became a source of inspiration: Andy Warhol created a series of its prints-copies, and the mask from the movie "Scream" was made in the image and likeness of the hero of the picture.
For one plot, Munch wrote four versions of the work: the one in a private collection is made in pastel. Norwegian billionaire Petter Olsen put it up for auction on May 2, 2012. The buyer was Leon Black, who did not spare a record amount for the "Scream". Founder of Apollo Advisors, L.P. and Lion Advisors, L.P. known for his love of art. Black is a patron of Dartmouth College, the Museum of Modern Art, the Lincoln Art Center, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It has the largest collection of paintings by contemporary artists and classical masters of past centuries.
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"Nude against the background of a bust and green leaves"
Author
Pablo Picasso
A country Spain, France
Years of life 1881–1973
Style cubism
By origin he is a Spaniard, but in spirit and place of residence he is a real Frenchman. Picasso opened his own art studio in Barcelona when he was only 16 years old. Then he went to Paris and spent most of his life there. That is why there is a double stress in his last name. The style invented by Picasso is based on the denial of the opinion that the object depicted on the canvas can be viewed from only one angle.
130x162 cm
1932
price
$106.482 million
sold in 2010
on the auction Christie's
During his work in Rome, the artist met the dancer Olga Khokhlova, who soon became his wife. He put an end to vagrancy, moved with her to a luxurious apartment. By that time, recognition had found a hero, but the marriage was destroyed. One of the most expensive paintings in the world was created almost by accident - out of great love, which, as always with Picasso, was short-lived. In 1927, he became interested in the young Marie-Therese Walter (she was 17 years old, he was 45). Secretly from his wife, he left with his mistress for a town near Paris, where he painted a portrait depicting Marie-Therese in the image of Daphne. The painting was purchased by New York dealer Paul Rosenberg and sold in 1951 to Sidney F. Brody. The Brodys showed the painting to the world only once, and only because the artist was 80 years old. After her husband's death, Mrs. Brody put the work up for auction at Christie's in March 2010. In six decades, the price has risen more than 5,000 times! An unknown collector bought it for $106.5 million. In 2011, a “one-painting exhibition” was held in Britain, where it saw the light for the second time, but the name of the owner is still unknown.
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"Eight Elvises"
Author
Andy Warhole
A country USA
Years of life 1928-1987
Style
pop Art
“Sex and parties are the only places where you need to appear in person,” said the cult pop artist, director, and one of the founders of Interview magazine, designer Andy Warhol. He worked with Vogue and Harper's Bazaar, designed record covers, and designed shoes for I.Miller. In the 1960s, paintings appeared depicting the symbols of America: Campbell`s soup and Coca-Cola, Presley and Monroe - which made him a legend.
358x208 cm
1963
price
$100 million
sold in 2008
at private auction
Warhol's 60s - the so-called era of pop art in America. In 1962, he worked in Manhattan at the Factory Studio, where all the bohemia of New York gathered. Its brightest representatives: Mick Jagger, Bob Dylan, Truman Capote and other famous personalities in the world. At the same time, Warhol tried the technique of silk-screen printing - multiple repetitions of one image. He also used this method when creating "Eight Elvises": the viewer seems to see frames from a movie where the star comes to life. Everything that the artist loved so much is here: a win-win public image, silver color and a premonition of death as the main message.
There are two art dealers promoting Warhol's work on the world market today: Larry Gagosian and Alberto Mugrabi. The first in 2008 spent $200 million to purchase more than 15 Warhol works. The second buys and sells his paintings like Christmas cards, only more expensive. But it was not them, but the humble French art consultant Philippe Segalo who helped Roman art connoisseur Annibale Berlinghieri sell the Eight Elvises to an unknown buyer for a Warhol-record $100 million.
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"Orange,Red Yellow"
Author
Mark Rothko
A country USA
Years of life 1903–1970
Style abstract expressionism
One of the creators of color field painting was born in Dvinsk, Russia (now Daugavpils, Latvia), in a large family of a Jewish pharmacist. In 1911 they emigrated to the USA. Rothko studied at the art department of Yale University, achieved a scholarship, but anti-Semitic sentiments forced him to leave his studies. Despite everything, art critics idolized the artist, and museums pursued him all his life.
206x236 cm
1961
price
$86.882 million
sold in 2012
on the auction Christie's
Rothko's first artistic experiments were of a surrealist orientation, but over time he simplified the plot to color spots, depriving them of any objectivity. At first they had bright hues, and in the 1960s they were filled with brown, purple, thickening to black by the time of the artist's death. Mark Rothko warned against looking for any meaning in his paintings. The author wanted to say exactly what he said: only the color that dissolves in the air, and nothing more. He recommended looking at the works from a distance of 45 cm, so that the viewer is "dragged" into the color, like into a funnel. Caution: viewing in accordance with all the rules can lead to the effect of meditation, that is, the awareness of infinity gradually comes, complete immersion in oneself, relaxation, purification. The color in his paintings lives, breathes and has a strong emotional impact (sometimes it is said to be healing). The artist said: "The viewer should cry looking at them" - and there really were such cases. According to Rothko's theory, at this moment people live the same spiritual experience that he had in the process of working on the picture. If you managed to understand it at such a subtle level, then do not be surprised that these works of abstractionism are often compared by critics with icons.
The work "Orange, Red, Yellow" expresses the essence of Mark Rothko's painting. Its initial cost at Christie's auction in New York is 35-45 million dollars. An unknown buyer offered a price twice the estimate. The name of the happy owner of the painting, as is often the case, was not disclosed.
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"Triptych"
Author
Francis Bacon
A country
Great Britain
Years of life 1909–1992
Style expressionism
The adventures of Francis Bacon, a full namesake and, moreover, a distant descendant of the great philosopher, began when his father disowned him, unable to accept his son's homosexual inclinations. Bacon went first to Berlin, then to Paris, and then his traces are confused all over Europe. Even during his lifetime, his works were exhibited in the leading cultural centers of the world, including the Guggenheim Museum and the Tretyakov Gallery.
147.5x198 cm (each)
1976
price
$86.2 million
sold in 2008
on the auction Sotheby's
Prestigious museums strove to possess paintings by Bacon, but the prim English public was in no hurry to fork out for such art. The legendary British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said of him: "The man who paints these horrific pictures."
The starting period in his work, the artist himself considered the post-war period. Returning from the service, he again took up painting and created the main masterpieces. Prior to the participation of "Triptych, 1976" in the auction, Bacon's most expensive work was "Study for a Portrait of Pope Innocent X" (52.7 million dollars). In the "Triptych, 1976" the artist depicted the mythical plot of the persecution of Orestes by the furies. Of course, Orestes is Bacon himself, and the furies are his torments. For more than 30 years, the painting was in a private collection and did not participate in exhibitions. This fact gives it a special value and, accordingly, increases the cost. But what is a few million for a connoisseur of art, and even generous in Russian? Roman Abramovich began to create his collection in the 1990s, in this he was significantly influenced by his girlfriend Dasha Zhukova, who has become a fashionable gallery owner in modern Russia. According to unofficial data, the businessman owns works by Alberto Giacometti and Pablo Picasso, bought for amounts exceeding $100 million. In 2008, he became the owner of the Triptych. By the way, in 2011, another valuable work by Bacon was acquired - "Three sketches for a portrait of Lucian Freud." Hidden sources say that Roman Arkadievich again became the buyer.
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"Pond with water lilies"
Author
Claude Monet
A country France
Years of life 1840–1926
Style impressionism
The artist is recognized as the founder of impressionism, who "patented" this method in his canvases. The first significant work was the painting "Breakfast on the Grass" (the original version of the work of Edouard Manet). In his youth, he drew caricatures, and took up real painting during his travels along the coast and in the open air. In Paris, he led a bohemian lifestyle and did not leave it even after serving in the army.
210x100 cm
1919
price
$80.5 million
sold in 2008
on the auction Christie's
Besides the fact that Monet was a great artist, he was also enthusiastically engaged in gardening, adored wildlife and flowers. In his landscapes, the state of nature is momentary, objects seem to be blurred by the movement of air. The impression is enhanced by large strokes, from a certain distance they become invisible and merge into a textured, three-dimensional image. In the painting of the late Monet, a special place is occupied by the theme of water and life in it. In the town of Giverny, the artist had his own pond, where he grew water lilies from seeds specially brought by him from Japan. When their flowers bloomed, he began to paint. The Water Lilies series consists of 60 works that the artist painted over almost 30 years, until his death. His vision deteriorated with age, but he did not stop. Depending on the wind, season and weather, the view of the pond was constantly changing, and Monet wanted to capture these changes. Through careful work, an understanding of the essence of nature came to him. Some of the paintings of the series are kept in the leading galleries of the world: National Museum of Western Art (Tokyo), Orangerie (Paris). The version of the next "Pond with water lilies" went into the hands of an unknown buyer for a record amount.
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False Star t
Author
Jasper Johns
A country USA
Year of birth 1930
Style pop Art
In 1949, Jones entered the design school in New York. Along with Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning and others, he is recognized as one of the main artists of the 20th century. In 2012, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States.
137.2x170.8 cm
1959
price
$80 million
sold in 2006
at private auction
Like Marcel Duchamp, Jones worked with real objects, depicting them on canvas and in sculpture in full accordance with the original. For his works, he used simple and understandable objects for everyone: a beer bottle, a flag or maps. There is no clear composition in the False Start picture. The artist seems to be playing with the viewer, often “incorrectly” signing the colors in the picture, turning the very concept of color upside down: “I wanted to find a way to depict the color so that it could be determined by some other method.” His most explosive and "insecure", according to critics, painting was acquired by an unknown buyer.
12
"Seatednudeon the couch"
Author
Amedeo Modigliani
A country Italy, France
Years of life 1884–1920
Style expressionism
Modigliani was often ill from childhood, during a feverish delirium, he recognized his destiny as an artist. He studied drawing in Livorno, Florence, Venice, and in 1906 he left for Paris, where his art flourished.
65x100 cm
1917
price
$68.962 million
sold in 2010
on the auction Sotheby's
In 1917, Modigliani met 19-year-old Jeanne Hebuterne, who became his model and later his wife. In 2004, one of her portraits sold for $31.3 million, the last record before the sale of Seated Nude on a Sofa in 2010. The painting was purchased by an unknown buyer for the maximum price for Modigliani at the moment. Active sales of works began only after the death of the artist. He died in poverty, suffering from tuberculosis, and the next day, Jeanne Hebuterne, who was nine months pregnant, also committed suicide.
13
"Eagle on a Pine"
Author
Qi Baishi
A country China
Years of life 1864–1957
Style guohua
Interest in calligraphy led Qi Baishi to paint. At the age of 28, he became a student of the artist Hu Qingyuan. The Ministry of Culture of China awarded him the title of "Great Artist of the Chinese People", in 1956 he received the International Peace Prize.
10x26 cm
1946
price
$65.4 million
sold in 2011
on the auction China Guardian
Qi Baishi was interested in those manifestations of the surrounding world, which many do not attach importance to, and this is his greatness. A man without education became a professor and an outstanding creator in history. Pablo Picasso said about him: "I'm afraid to go to your country, because there is Qi Baishi in China." The composition "Eagle on a Pine Tree" is recognized as the largest work of the artist. In addition to the canvas, it includes two hieroglyphic scrolls. For China, the amount for which the product was bought is a record - 425.5 million yuan. Only the scroll of the ancient calligrapher Huang Tingjian was sold for 436.8 million dollars.
14
"1949-A-#1"
Author
Clifford Still
A country USA
Years of life 1904–1980
Style abstract expressionism
At the age of 20, he visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and was disappointed. Later, he signed up for a student arts league course, but left 45 minutes after the start of the class - it turned out to be “not his”. The first personal exhibition caused a resonance, the artist found himself, and with it recognition
79x93 cm
1949
price
$61.7 million
sold in 2011
on the auction Sotheby's
All his works, which are more than 800 canvases and 1600 works on paper, Still bequeathed to the American city, where a museum named after him will be opened. Denver became such a city, but only the construction was expensive for the authorities, and four works were put up for auction to complete it. Still's works are unlikely to be auctioned ever again, which raised their price in advance. Painting "1949-A-No.1" sold for a record amount for the artist, although experts predicted the sale of a maximum of 25-35 million dollars.
15
"Suprematist composition"
Author
Kazimir Malevich
A country Russia
Years of life 1878–1935
Style Suprematism
Malevich studied painting at the Kyiv Art School, then at the Moscow Academy of Arts. In 1913, he began to paint abstract geometric paintings in a style that he called Suprematism (from Latin “dominance”).
71x 88.5 cm
1916
price
$60 million
sold in 2008
on the auction Sotheby's
The painting was kept in the city museum of Amsterdam for about 50 years, but after a 17-year dispute with Malevich's relatives, the museum gave it away. The artist painted this work in the same year as The Manifesto of Suprematism, so Sotheby`s even before the auction announced that it would not go into a private collection for less than $60 million. And so it happened. It is better to look at it from above: the figures on the canvas resemble an aerial view of the earth. By the way, a few years earlier, the same relatives expropriated another "Suprematist composition" from the MoMA Museum in order to sell it at Phillips for $17 million.
16
"Bathers"
Author
Paul Gauguin
A country France
Years of life 1848–1903
Style post-impressionism
Until the age of seven, the artist lived in Peru, then returned to France with his family, but childhood memories constantly pushed him to travel. In France, he began to paint, was friends with Van Gogh. He even spent several months with him in Arles, until Van Gogh cut off his ear during a quarrel.
93.4x60.4 cm
1902
price
$55 million
sold in 2005
on the auction Sotheby's
In 1891, Gauguin arranged a sale of his paintings in order to use the proceeds to go deep into the island of Tahiti. There he created works in which one can feel the subtle connection between nature and man. Gauguin lived in a thatched hut, and a tropical paradise blossomed on his canvases. His wife was a 13-year-old Tahitian Tehura, which did not prevent the artist from engaging in promiscuity. Having contracted syphilis, he left for France. However, Gauguin was cramped there, and he returned to Tahiti. This period is called the "second Tahitian" - it was then that the painting "Bathers" was painted, one of the most luxurious in his work.
17
"Daffodils and a tablecloth in blue and pink"
Author
Henri Matisse
A country France
Years of life 1869–1954
Style Fauvism
In 1889, Henri Matisse had an attack of appendicitis. When he recovered from the operation, his mother bought him paints. First, out of boredom, Matisse copied colored postcards, then - the works of great painters that he saw in the Louvre, and at the beginning of the 20th century he came up with a style - fauvism.
65.2x81 cm
1911
price
$46.4 million
sold in 2009
on the auction Christie's
The painting "Daffodils and a Tablecloth in Blue and Pink" belonged to Yves Saint Laurent for a long time. After the death of the couturier, his entire collection of art passed into the hands of his friend and lover Pierre Berger, who decided to put it up for auction at Christie's. The pearl of the sold collection was the painting "Daffodils and a tablecloth in blue and pink", painted on an ordinary tablecloth instead of canvas. As an example of Fauvism, it is filled with the energy of color, the colors seem to explode and scream. Of the well-known series of tablecloth paintings, today this work is the only one that is in a private collection.
18
"Sleeping Girl"
Author
RoyLee
chtenstein
A country USA
Years of life 1923–1997
Style pop Art
The artist was born in New York, and after graduating from school, he went to Ohio, where he went to art courses. In 1949, Liechtenstein received his Master of Fine Arts degree. Interest in comics and the ability to be ironic made him a cult artist of the last century.
91x91 cm
1964
price
$44.882 million
sold in 2012
on the auction Sotheby's
Once, chewing gum fell into Liechtenstein's hands. He redrawn the picture from the insert on the canvas and became famous. This plot from his biography contains the whole message of pop art: consumption is the new god, and there is no less beauty in a gum wrapper than in Mona Lisa. His paintings are reminiscent of comics and cartoons: Lichtenstein simply enlarged the finished image, drew rasters, used screen printing and silkscreen printing. The painting "Sleeping Girl" belonged to collectors Beatrice and Philip Gersh for almost 50 years, whose heirs sold it at auction.
19
"Victory. Boogie Woogie"
Author
Piet Mondrian
A country Netherlands
Years of life 1872–1944
Style neoplasticism
His real name - Cornelis - the artist changed to Mondrian when he moved to Paris in 1912. Together with the artist Theo van Doesburg, he founded the neoplastic movement. The Piet programming language is named after Mondrian.
27x127 cm
1944
price
$40 million
sold in 1998
on the auction Sotheby's
The most "musical" of the artists of the 20th century made a living with watercolor still lifes, although he became famous as a neoplastic artist. He moved to the USA in the 1940s and spent the rest of his life there. Jazz and New York - that's what inspired him the most! Painting "Victory. Boogie Woogie is the best example of this. "Branded" neat squares were obtained through the use of adhesive tape - Mondrian's favorite material. In America, he was called "the most famous immigrant." In the sixties, Yves Saint Laurent produced the world-famous "Mondrian" dresses with a large colored check print.
20
"Composition No. 5"
Author
BasilKandinsky
A country Russia
Years of life 1866–1944
Style avant-garde
The artist was born in Moscow, and his father was from Siberia. After the revolution, he tried to cooperate with the Soviet authorities, but soon realized that the laws of the proletariat were not created for him, and emigrated to Germany not without difficulties.
275x190 cm
1911
price
$40 million
sold in 2007
on the auction Sotheby's
Kandinsky was one of the first to completely abandon object painting, for which he received the title of genius. During Nazism in Germany, his paintings were classified as "degenerate art" and were not exhibited anywhere. In 1939, Kandinsky took French citizenship, in Paris he freely participated in the artistic process. His paintings “sound” like fugues, which is why many are called “compositions” (the first was written in 1910, the last in 1939). “Composition No. 5” is one of the key works in this genre: “The word “composition” sounded like a prayer to me,” the artist said. Unlike many followers, he planned what he would depict on a huge canvas, as if writing notes.
21
"Study of a Woman in Blue"
Author
Fernand Léger
A country France
Years of life 1881–1955
Style cubism-post-impressionism
Leger received an architectural education, and then was a student at the School of Fine Arts in Paris. The artist considered himself a follower of Cezanne, was an apologist for cubism, and in the 20th century he also had success as a sculptor.
96.5x129.5 cm
1912–1913
price
$39.2 million
sold in 2008
on the auction Sotheby's
David Normann, president of Sotheby's International Impressionism and Modernism, believes the huge sum paid for The Lady in Blue is entirely justified. The painting belongs to the famous Leger collection (the artist painted three paintings on one plot, the last of them is in private hands today. - Ed.), and the surface of the canvas has been preserved in its original form. The author himself gave this work to the Der Sturm gallery, then it ended up in the collection of Hermann Lang, a German collector of modernism, and now belongs to an unknown buyer.
22
"Street scene. Berlin"
Author
Ernst LudwigKirchner
A country Germany
Years of life 1880–1938
Style expressionism
For German expressionism, Kirchner became a landmark person. However, local authorities accused him of adherence to "degenerate art", which tragically affected the fate of his paintings and the life of the artist, who committed suicide in 1938.
95x121 cm
1913
price
$38.096 million
sold in 2006
on the auction Christie's
After moving to Berlin, Kirchner created 11 sketches of street scenes. He was inspired by the bustle and nervousness of the big city. In the painting, sold in 2006 in New York, the artist's anxiety is especially acute: people on a Berlin street resemble birds - graceful and dangerous. She was the last work from the famous series, sold at auction, the rest are kept in museums. In 1937, the Nazis brutally treated Kirchner: 639 of his works were seized from German galleries, destroyed or sold abroad. The artist could not survive this.
23
"Restingdancer"
Author
Edgar Degas
A country France
Years of life 1834–1917
Style impressionism
The history of Degas as an artist began with the fact that he worked as a copyist in the Louvre. He dreamed of becoming "famous and unknown", and in the end he succeeded. At the end of his life, deaf and blind, 80-year-old Degas continued to attend exhibitions and auctions.
64x59 cm
1879
price
$37.043 million
sold in 2008
on the auction Sotheby's
“Ballerinas have always been for me just an excuse to depict fabrics and capture movement,” said Degas. The scenes from the life of the dancers seem to be peeped: the girls do not pose for the artist, but simply become part of the atmosphere caught by Degas's gaze. Resting Dancer sold for $28 million in 1999, and less than 10 years later it was bought for $37 million - today it is the artist's most expensive work ever put up for auction. Degas paid much attention to frames, he designed them himself and forbade changing them. I wonder what frame is installed on the sold painting?
24
"Painting"
Author
Juan Miro
A country Spain
Years of life 1893–1983
Style abstract art
During the Spanish Civil War, the artist was on the side of the Republicans. In 1937, he fled from fascist power to Paris, where he lived in poverty with his family. During this period, Miro paints the painting "Help Spain!", Drawing the attention of the whole world to the dominance of fascism.
89x115 cm
1927
price
$36.824 million
sold in 2012
on the auction Sotheby's
The second name of the painting is "Blue Star". The artist wrote it in the same year when he announced: “I want to kill painting” and mercilessly mocked the canvases, scratching the paint with nails, gluing feathers to the canvas, covering the work with garbage. His goal was to debunk the myths about the mystery of painting, but, having coped with this, Miro created his own myth - a surreal abstraction. His "Painting" refers to the cycle of "pictures-dreams". Four buyers fought for it at the auction, but one incognito phone call settled the dispute, and "Painting" became the artist's most expensive painting.
25
"Blue Rose"
Author
Yves Klein
A country France
Years of life 1928–1962
Style monochrome painting
The artist was born into a family of painters, but studied oriental languages, navigation, the craft of a gilder of frames, Zen Buddhism and much more. His personality and impudent antics were many times more interesting than monochrome paintings.
153x199x16 cm
1960
price
$36.779 million
sold in 2012
at Christie's auction
The first exhibition of solid yellow, orange, pink works did not arouse public interest. Klein was offended and the next time he presented 11 identical canvases, painted with ultramarine mixed with a special synthetic resin. He even patented this method. The color went down in history as the "International Klein Blue". The artist also sold emptiness, created paintings by exposing paper to rain, setting fire to cardboard, making prints of a human body on canvas. In a word, I experimented as best I could. To create the "Blue Rose" I used dry pigments, resins, pebbles and a natural sponge.
26
"Looking for Moses"
Author
Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema
A country Great Britain
Years of life 1836–1912
Style neoclassicism
Sir Lawrence himself added the prefix "alma" to his surname in order to appear first in art catalogs. In Victorian England, his paintings were so in demand that the artist was awarded a knighthood.
213.4x136.7 cm
1902
price
$35.922 million
sold in 2011
on the auction Sotheby's
The main theme of Alma-Tadema's work was antiquity. In the paintings, he tried to depict the era of the Roman Empire in the smallest detail, for this he even engaged in archaeological excavations on the Apennine Peninsula, and in his London house he reproduced the historical interior of those years. Mythological stories became another source of inspiration for him. The artist was in great demand during his lifetime, but after his death he was quickly forgotten. Now interest is reviving, as evidenced by the cost of the painting "In Search of Moses", seven times higher than the pre-sale estimate.
27
"Portrait of a sleeping naked official"
Author
Lucian Freud
A country Germany,
Great Britain
Years of life 1922–2011
Style figurative painting
The artist is the grandson of Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis. After the establishment of fascism in Germany, his family emigrated to the UK. Freud's works are in the Wallace Collection in London, where no contemporary artist has previously exhibited.
219.1x151.4 cm
1995
price
$33.6 million
sold in 2008
on the auction Christie's
While the fashionable artists of the 20th century created positive "color spots on the wall" and sold them for millions, Freud painted extremely naturalistic paintings and sold them for even more. “I capture the cries of the soul and the suffering of withering flesh,” he said. Critics believe that all this is the "legacy" of Sigmund Freud. The paintings were so actively exhibited and successfully sold that the experts had a doubt: do they have hypnotic properties? Sold at auction, "Portrait of a sleeping naked official", according to the Sun, was acquired by connoisseur of beauty and billionaire Roman Abramovich.
28
"Violin and Guitar"
Author
Xone gris
A country Spain
Years of life 1887–1927
Style cubism
Born in Madrid, where he graduated from the School of Arts and Crafts. In 1906 he moved to Paris and entered the circle of the most influential artists of the era: Picasso, Modigliani, Braque, Matisse, Leger, also worked with Sergei Diaghilev and his troupe.
5x100 cm
1913
price
$28.642 million
sold in 2010
on the auction Christie's
Gris, in his own words, was engaged in "planar, colored architecture." His paintings are precisely thought out: he did not leave a single accidental stroke, which makes creativity related to geometry. The artist created his own version of cubism, although he had great respect for Pablo Picasso, the founding father of the movement. The successor even dedicated his first Cubist work, Tribute to Picasso, to him. The painting "Violin and Guitar" is recognized as outstanding in the artist's work. During his lifetime, Gris was known, favored by critics and art historians. His works are exhibited in the world's largest museums and are kept in private collections.
29
"PortraitFields of Eluard»
Author
Salvador Dali
A country Spain
Years of life 1904–1989
Style surrealism
“Surrealism is me,” Dali said when he was expelled from the Surrealist group. Over time, he became the most famous surrealist artist. Dali's work is everywhere, not just in galleries. For example, it was he who came up with the packaging for Chupa-Chups.
25x33 cm
1929
price
$20.6 million
sold in 2011
on the auction Sotheby's
In 1929, the poet Paul Eluard and his Russian wife Gala came to visit the great provocateur and brawler Dali. The meeting was the beginning of a love story that lasted more than half a century. The painting "Portrait of Paul Eluard" was painted just during this historic visit. “I felt that I was entrusted with the duty to capture the face of the poet, from whose Olympus I stole one of the muses,” the artist said. Before meeting Gala, he was a virgin and was disgusted at the thought of having sex with a woman. The love triangle existed until the death of Eluard, after which it became the Dali-Gala duet.
30
"Anniversary"
Author
Marc Chagall
A country Russia, France
Years of life 1887–1985
Style avant-garde
Moishe Segal was born in Vitebsk, but in 1910 he emigrated to Paris, changed his name, and became close to the leading avant-garde artists of the era. In the 1930s, when the Nazis seized power, he left for the United States with the help of an American consul. He returned to France only in 1948.
80x103 cm
1923
price
$14.85 million
sold in 1990
at Sotheby's auction
The painting "Jubilee" is recognized as one of the best works of the artist. It has all the features of his work: the physical laws of the world are erased, the feeling of a fairy tale is preserved in the scenery of petty-bourgeois life, and love is in the center of the plot. Chagall did not draw people from nature, but only from memory or fantasizing. The painting "Jubilee" depicts the artist himself with his wife Bela. The painting was sold in 1990 and has not been bid since. Interestingly, the New York Museum of Modern Art MoMA keeps exactly the same, only under the name "Birthday". By the way, it was written earlier - in 1915.
draft prepared
Tatyana Palasova
rating compiled
according to the list www.art-spb.ru
tmn magazine №13
(May-June 2013)
The biggest complaint against contemporary artists at all times was not that their art was ugly and incomprehensible. And the fact that these artists are most often uneducated, impatient, do not know how to read books, and do not want to know that everything has already been invented before them; only better, prettier and with a slimmer aesthetic base. And the bright artists of the past, whom they are guided by, exist in the sky of art not alone, but in the form of constellations.
For example, Joseph Beuys belonged to the New Wilds movement, which she described in two related texts. Natalie Nikolenko . The first post is devoted, in fact, to the movement and the story of what methods its representatives were guided by in search of expressive means. Here are excerpts from it:
Since the 60s of the 20th century, interest in expressionism and fauvism has revived among European artists, which took shape in the early 80s in the New Wilds movement (the name recalls the Fauvists - the Old Wilds). The goal of the current is to renew the artistic vision based on the work of the older generation masters, resorting to various means, even aesthetic shock.
Especially consistent in their search for new expressive means and themes were German and Austrian artists, who gravitated towards impulsiveness, emotionality, and opposed themselves to conceptuality and hyperrealism. Their painting, while retaining figurativeness, is distinguished by a kind of "barbaric lyricism", includes a lot of mysterious signs, and often merges with the graffiti style.
The exhibition, held in Berlin in 1982, aimed to look at the artistic heritage of the past from the perspective of postmodern culture. They wanted to free themselves through their art from the oppressive limitations of the intellect in art in the last decade. This desire was so obsessive that even in some German critical articles the direction, New Wild, is called "obsessive painting"
One of the most influential artists and theorists of postmodernism of the 20th century, a participant in the 1982 Exhibition in Berlin was Joseph Beuys (German Joseph Beuys, 1921-1986), a former Luftwaffe pilot who had been in Russian and English captivity, a former and dismissed professor at the Düsseldorf Art Academy, leftist oppositionist who adhered to anarcho-utopian principles
The second post is a continuation of the list of Neue Wilde artists, with an additional slideshow to psychedelic music:
Expressionism and abstract painting were the hallmarks of the German avant-garde at the beginning of the 20th century, but then Germany not only lost its general modernist aesthetic context, but also lost its cultural continuity during the period of National Socialism. The significance of the "New Wilds", the post-war generation of West German artists - representatives of neo-expressionism, is that they returned to European art the world glory lost in the post-war period, which passed for a while to American abstract expressionism. The New Wilds phenomenon is a synthesis of German expressionism, abstract painting and American abstract expressionism revived at a new historical stage, with certain allusions to romantic traditions in German culture. It can be safely called an epoch-making event in the history of culture of the 20th century.
Let's continue our story about several "New Wild" - the leading representatives, in my opinion, of this trend in painting.
Hans Peter Adamski (Hans_Peter_Adamski, 1947), German artist and graphic artist, a prominent representative of the "New Wild" of the 80s in Cologne, studied in Münster and Düsseldorf, traveled for 5 years in India, Afghanistan and Indonesia, worked in Italy, France and the USA . Today he works at the Academy of Fine Arts in Dresden.
Something happened to the brains of the Germans in the 20th century ... More precisely, their roof was torn off. All the Burliuks of the Soviet Union did not generate such an amount of beautiful nonsense.
Max Ernst. Oedipus Rex. 1922
Cesar Klein. Plakat zur Wahl der Nationalversammlung: Arbeiter Burger Bauern Soldaten
Christian Rohlfs. Dancers (Zwei Tanzende). 1913
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. Vor den Menschen. 1905
Ernst Barlach. Magdeburger Ehrenmal (Magdeburg cenotaph). 1929
Fritz Skade. Schlafendes Kind (Child, sleeping)
George Grosz. Artist and Model. 1928
Herbert Bayer. Einsamer Grosstadler (The Lonely Metropolitan). 1932
Johannes Itten. Spruch. 1921
Lovis Corinth. Ecce Homo. 1925
Lovis Corinth. Samson Blinded. 1912
Max Ernst. Ohne Title
Raoul Hausmann. The Art Critic. 1919-1920
Werner Scholz. Prostitute
Joseph Charles. L "art pour l" art
What's funny are the paintings (except for Scholz, about whom I'm not sure, and Charl - that one later), which the Nazis called entartete Kunst - Degenerate Art and branded as "not only modernist, anti-classical, but also Jewish-Bolshevik, anti-German, and therefore dangerous for the nation and for the entire Aryan race", in addition to what I included in the post, we can mention that there were Chagall, Kandinsky, Kokoschka, Klee, Munch, from the composers Schoenberg and Bartok, and so on ...
But all this seems extremely funny in the light of one fact: in the thirties, out of 32 museums in Germany, the Nazis confiscated and took away about 650 works, and made an exhibition, which was opened on July 19, 1937 in the Munich "House of Art".
Until April 1941, she traveled to 12 more cities, she was visited by 3 million spectators
I believe that it was the triumph of the Zionist-Bolshevik sabotage! In some places they write that this is an absolute record for an exhibition of fine arts - no one has ever managed to gather more people.
This is just a fabulous picture - 1937, Germany, hell begins - and among all these red-white-black banners - the Germans themselves carry and show a high-quality selection of the most beautiful paintings of those who will become classics of the avant-garde.
It is probably very romantic to assume that it was this act, conceived as propaganda, that spread the virus of subtle aestheticism and decay, which will break the spirit of the Ubermensha five years later.
