1930-40s - the period of the triumph of socialist realism. Although there were other directions. The main themes in the depiction of nudity remained "models in the studio" and water procedures- beaches, swimming and sauna. Except in the studio - for the sake of art, with hygienic washing and healing sunbathing Soviet people, of course, it was unsuitable to flaunt naked.
So let's start with the swimmers.
K. Somov. "Bathers in the sun", 1930.
In Kovalenko, "On the beach", 1930.
Now let's move to the artists' studios.
The painting by V. Bukovetsky is called "In the Studio". 1930
Pyotr Konchalovsky. "The Model" (study). 1930.
Sometimes the models could not stand it, and fell asleep. N.Tyrsa. Sleeping Model, 1930.
This one doesn't seem to be asleep. But on the edge. Nikolai Mako, Reclining Nude, 1930.
G. Gorelov. "Nude from behind", 1930.
Alexander Samokhvalov. "Girl with a Towel", 1930. The picture is harmless, but now, I'm afraid, the poor artist would be accused of what the hell ...
Yuri Annenkom in 1930 painted a picture for the 10th anniversary of his death Amedeo Modigliani. "In memory of Modigliani".
Vladimir Lebedev, "Nude", 1932.
And another painting by the same artist, the same year and with the same title.
In addition to studio and water scenes, images of the "nude" genre began to appear, with the theme "morning". This direction will become especially popular later, starting from the post-war years.
K.Somov, " Summer morning", 1932.
Alexander Deineka, where without him. "Bathing girls", 1932.
And again - "Morning". Our Alexander Deineka, 1933.
Sometimes artists painted male nature. P. Konchalovsky. "Pupils in the workshop", 1932. Interestingly, they had classes there. But then people were uncorrupted, and nothing like that could have occurred to anyone.
But still, the artists preferred female nature. G. Gorelov. "Reclining girl", 1934.
And here socialist realism did not spend the night. David Burliuk, "Nude", 1933.
A. Samokhvalov, "After the cross-country race", 1935. An athlete, and for sure - a Komsomol member ...
B. Yakovlev. "Girl on a rock", 1936.
Painting by Vl. Pebedev with the unexpected name "Cashier", 1936.
A year later, the artist draws the same cashier, but with the title "Woman with Crossed Arms."
Nikolai Tyrsa, Seated Model, 1937.
The artist Tatyana Mavrina has clearly departed from the principles of socialist realism and has undergone alien influences. "Nudes with a blue teapot", 1936.
Her own, "Portrait of Olga Hildebrant", 1937. Nothing like a portrait, right?
Olga Amosova-Bunak, "Dandelion", 1939.
And again water-washing affairs. N. Bogdanov-Belsky, "Tug of war", 1939.
Alexander Gerasimov, apparently, was a lover of the bath. Especially female. "In the bath", 1940.
His own "Bath", dated somehow strangely: 1938-1956.
V. Dreznina, "Rest on the Shore", 1940.
And again Alexander Deineka, "Running Girls", 1941.
Arkady Plastov, "Tractor Drivers", 1942. Men fought, and women mastered professions that were not at all feminine ...
Let's take a look at 7 more artists who create their works of art using the naked human body.
In one of her most famous performances, Rhythm 0, Abramović stood motionless in the center of the room. At the disposal of the spectators were many objects that cause pleasure or pain, which they could dispose of according to own will and do whatever you want with the motionless Marina Abramovich. The performance ended with the artist's clothes being torn and her body full of cuts and thorns from roses.
In a performance called “Relationships in Space”, a naked Abramovich and her lover were spinning and beating each other to the point of exhaustion, trying to show what they lead to serious relationship between man and woman. Another outrageous trick of Abramovich is the idea of placing naked people at the entrance to the exhibition in such a way that visitors had to squeeze between them.
At one of the latest actions, the artist came out completely naked in the center of Cologne with a poster « Respect us! We are not targets of attack, even when naked!”, thus expressing his attitude towards migrants attacking civilians. However, back in 2014, she became famous for her performance, in which she painted with the help of her vagina. Muare pumped up chicken eggs paint with a syringe, put them in her vagina and dropped them onto the canvas from a height. The result is a painting in the genre of abstract painting.
In addition, the artist ridiculed the love of many inhabitants of the Earth for selfies, inviting the townsfolk in Paris and Berlin to take a picture with her in the city center. Moire was photographed, of course, naked.
Poppy Jackson
Poppy Jackson once sat on a rooftop in London for four hours. According to her, with this action she wanted to get people out of virtual reality V real life. As Jackson said, correspondence in social networks has replaced normal communication for people, and in order to bring “closeness” back to life, she arranged this performance. Indeed, the inhabitants of London could take a break from the monitor for a while and admire the naked body of Poppy Jackson in the window.
Casey Jenkins
Feminist Casey Jenkins became famous with her vaginal knitting in one of the galleries in Australia. For a month, she daily pushed a ball of woolen threads into herself and knitted a sweater from them, without stopping even during menstruation. Thus, the artist tried to speak out against the wrong, in her opinion, society's perception of female genital organs. Casey Jenkins believes that women should not be embarrassed and bashfully hide them.
Spencer Tunick
The American artist is best known for his large-scale performances, in which sometimes thousands of naked people take part. The record for him was the action in Mexico City in 2007, for which the artist managed to gather 18,000 volunteers. Then almost the entire Constitution Square of the Mexican capital was filled with naked people. At the same time, for your installation from human bodies Tunick had his volunteers curl up in a fetal position on the ground.
Sarah Small
The most famous action of the artist was the production of Tableau Vivant, which can be translated as a "living picture". The performance was attended by about 120 people of different sexes, nationalities, ages and weight categories, most of whom were completely naked. At the same time, the artist partly acted as the creator of the musical series, and also played in the production leading role. living picture Sarah Small reminded many at the same time of the works of the surrealists and the work of Bosch.
Hilda Kron Hughes
One of the performances by the Norwegian artist Hilda Krohn Hughes, whose work was seen at the Bloomberg New Art Exhibition, turned out to be embarrassing. To make a video installation, Hughes turned on the camera, climbed a tree in the forest and dangled from it on a rope head down. However, Hughes could not get out on her own, so she had to hang in this way for more than three hours, until she was finally rescued. Despite the fact that the performance did not go as planned, the artist was not at a loss and came up with a new concept for her installation, which, according to Hughes, now demonstrated the impotence of the artist, which is the key to understanding true art.
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World history visual arts remembers many amazing cases related to the creation and further adventures famous paintings. This is because for real artists, life and work are too closely connected.
The Scream by Edvard Munch
Year of creation: 1893
Materials: cardboard, oil, tempera, pastel
Where is: National Gallery,
The famous painting "The Scream" by the Norwegian expressionist artist Edvard Munch is a favorite subject of discussion for mystics around the world. It seems to some that the canvas predicted terrible events XX century with its wars, environmental disasters and the Holocaust. Others are sure that the picture brings misfortune and illness to its offenders.
The life of Munch himself can hardly be called prosperous: he lost many relatives, was repeatedly treated in a psychiatric clinic, and was never married.
By the way, the artist reproduced the painting “The Scream” four times.
There is an opinion that she is the result of a manic-depressive psychosis from which Munch suffered. Somehow, the sight of a desperate man with a big head, open mouth and hands attached to the face, and today shocks everyone who examines the canvas.
"The Great Masturbator" Salvador Dali
Year of establishment: 1929
Materials: oil, canvas
Location: Reina Sofia Center for the Arts,
The general public saw the painting “The Great Masturbator” only after the death of the shocking master and the most famous surrealist Salvador Dali. The artist kept it in own collection at the Dalí Theatre-Museum in Figueres. It is believed that an unusual canvas can tell a lot about the personality of the author, in particular about his painful attitude towards sex. However, we can only guess what motives are actually hidden in the picture.
This is akin to solving a rebus: in the center of the picture there is an angular profile looking down, similar either to Dali himself or to a rock on the coast of a Catalan city, and a naked female figure rises in the lower part of the head - a copy of the artist's mistress Gala. The picture also contains locusts, which caused Dali an inexplicable fear, and ants - a symbol of decomposition.
"Family" by Egon Schiele
Year of establishment: 1918
Materials: oil, canvas
Location: Belvedere Gallery,
At one time a fine painting Austrian artist Egon Schiele was called pornography, and the artist was imprisoned for allegedly seducing a minor.
At such a price he was given the love of the model of his teacher. Schiele's paintings are one of best examples expressionism, while they are naturalistic and full of frightening despair.
Schiele's models were often teenagers and prostitutes. In addition, the artist was fascinated by himself - his legacy includes a wide variety of self-portraits. The canvas "Family" Schiele wrote three days before own death, depicting his pregnant wife who died of the flu and their unborn child. Perhaps this is far from the strangest, but definitely the most tragic work of the painter.
"Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer" by Gustav Klimt
Year of establishment: 1907
Materials: oil, canvas
Where is: New gallery,
History of creation famous painting Austrian artist Gustav Klimt's "Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer" can rightfully be called shocking. The wife of the Austrian sugar magnate Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer became the artist's muse and mistress. Wanting to take revenge on both of them, the wounded husband decided to resort to an original method: he ordered a portrait of his wife from Klimt and harassed him with endless nit-picking, forcing him to make hundreds of sketches. In the end, this led to the fact that Klimt lost his former interest in his model.
Work on the painting lasted several years, and Adele watched her lover's feelings fade away. Ferdinand's insidious plan was never revealed. Today " Austrian mona Lisa" is considered a national treasure of Austria.
Black Supermatic Square by Kazimir Malevich
Year of establishment: 1915
Materials: oil, canvas
Location: State Tretyakov Gallery,
Almost a hundred years have passed since the Russian avant-garde artist Kazimir Malevich created his famous creation, and disputes and discussions do not stop until now. Appearing in 1915 at the futuristic exhibition "0.10" in the "red corner" of the hall intended for the icon, the picture shocked the public and forever glorified the artist. True, today few people know that supermatic paintings are non-objective painting, in which color rules the ball, and the “Black Square” is actually not black and not at all square.
By the way, one of the versions of the history of the creation of the canvas says: the artist did not have time to finish the work on the painting, so he was forced to cover the work with black paint, at that moment his friend came into the workshop and exclaimed: “Brilliant!”.
"The Origin of the World" by Gustave Courbet
Year of creation: 1866
Materials: oil, canvas
Location: Musee d'Orsay,
The painting by the French realist painter Gustave Courbet was considered extremely provocative for a very long time and was not known to the general public for more than 120 years. A naked woman lying on a bed with outstretched legs, and today causes an ambiguous reaction from the audience. For this reason, in the Musee d'Orsay, one of the employees guards the painting.
In 2013, a French collector announced that he had stumbled upon the part of the painting in which the head of the model is visible in one of the antique shops in Paris. Experts confirmed the assumption that Joanna Hiffernan (Joe) posed for the artist. While working on the picture, she was in love affair with Courbet's student, artist James Whistler. The picture provoked their separation.
"Man and woman in front of a pile of excrement" by Joan Miro
Year of establishment: 1935
Materials: oil, copper
Location: Joan Miro Foundation,
A rare viewer when looking at a picture Spanish artist and the sculptor Joan Miro would have been associated with horror civil war. But it was precisely the period of pre-war unrest in 1935 in Spain that served as the subject of the picture with the promising title "Man and Woman in front of a pile of excrement." This picture is a premonition.
It depicts a ridiculous "cave" couple who are drawn to each other, but cannot budge. Enlarged genitals, poisonous colors, scattered figures on a dark background - all this predicted, according to the artist, approaching tragic events.
Most of Joan Miro's paintings are abstract and surrealistic works, and the mood they convey is joyful.
"Water Lilies" by Claude Monet
Year of creation: 1906
Materials: oil, canvas
Location: private collections
iconic painting french impressionist Claude Monet's "Water Lilies" has a bad reputation - it is no coincidence that it is called "fire hazardous." This string of suspicious coincidences continues to surprise many skeptics. The first case happened right in the artist's studio: Monet and his friends were celebrating the end of work on the painting, when a small fire suddenly broke out.
The picture was saved, and soon the owners of the cabaret in Montmartre bought it, but less than a month later, the institution also suffered from a strong fire. The next “victim” of the canvas was the Parisian philanthropist Oscar Schmitz, whose office caught fire a year after the “Water Lilies” were hung there. And again the picture managed to survive. This year private collector purchased the Water Lilies for $54 million.
Girls of Avignon by Pablo Picasso
Year of establishment: 1907
Materials: oil, canvas
Where is the museum contemporary art,
“It feels like you wanted to feed us tow or give us gasoline to drink,” - this is how he spoke about the picture “ Avignon maidens» Picasso's friend painter Georges Braque. The canvas really became scandalous: the public adored the old, tender and sad, works of the artist, and a sharp transition to cubism caused alienation.
Female figures with rough male faces and angular arms and legs were too far from the graceful "Girl on the ball."
Friends turned away from Picasso, Matisse was extremely dissatisfied with the picture. However, it was the “Girls of Avignon” that determined not only the direction of development of Picasso’s work, but the future of fine art in general. original name canvases - "Philosophical brothel".
"Portrait of the Artist's Son" by Mikhail Vrubel
Year of creation: 1902
Materials: watercolor, gouache, graphite pencil, paper
Location: State Russian Museum,
The brilliant Russian artist of the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, Mikhail Vrubel, succeeded in almost all types of fine arts. His first-born Savva was born with a "cleft lip", which deeply upset the artist. Vrubel portrayed the boy on one of his canvases frankly, not trying to hide his congenital deformity.
The gentle tones of the portrait do not make it serene - shock is read in it. The baby himself is depicted with a strikingly wise, unchildish look. Shortly after the completion of the painting, the child died. From that moment in the life of the artist, who was having a hard time with the tragedy, a "black" period of illness and insanity began.
Photo: thinkstockphotos.com, flickr.com
The beauty of the female body has been and remains a desirable object for depiction by artists of all times and peoples.
Most of all, picturesque nudity was given to us, of course, by the Renaissance, when the magnificence of naked bodies according to ancient canons was vigorously sung. However, the masters of a later time are in no way inferior in skillful presentation female image. Techniques changed, the places against which the virgins were depicted, and the muses themselves began to acquire other features over time. But the image of female nature is still a special topic that excites the minds of all fans of natural beauty.
Sandro Botticelli
"Birth of Venus" 1482-1486
Peter Paul Rubens
Rubens was an excellent portrait painter, painted landscapes and paintings on religious themes, founded the Baroque style, but the general public knows Rubens best of all from images of naked women and men, to put it mildly, not asthenic physique.
"Union of earth and water", 1618
"Three Graces", 1639
Francisco Goya
Maja Nude, circa 1800
Not everyone knows that Maha is not a name at all, but a name for the Spanish common townswomen of the 18-19th century.
Macha, whose image was formed in Andalusia, over time began to be perceived as the quintessential Spanish woman. Because of romanticism, picturesqueness, strong national accent and violent passion.
Eugene Delacroix
"Liberty Leading the People", 1830
Delacroix created a painting based on the July Revolution of 1830, which put an end to the Restoration regime of the Bourbon monarchy. In a letter to his brother on October 12, 1830, Delacroix writes: "If I did not fight for the Motherland, then at least I will write for her."
Bare breasts in the picture for a reason. She symbolizes selflessness french people that time, which with " bare chested' went to the enemy.
Jules Joseph Lefebvre
Lefebvre was a French salon painter who specialized in depicting beautiful girls. Thanks to the image female beauty he occupied a very prominent place as an elegant, if somewhat mannered draftsman.
"Mary Magdalene in the Grotto", 1836
The painting "Mary Magdalene in the Grotto" has its own special story. After the exhibition in 1876, Alexandre Dumas son bought it. After his death, she was sent to St. Petersburg for an exhibition in 1896. Nicholas II purchased her for Winter Palace and now "Mary Magdalene" can be seen among the treasures of the Hermitage.
Edouard Manet
On Paris Salon 1865 painting was the cause of one of the most big scandals in the history of art. Contemporaries could not see the volume of the depicted figure and considered the composition of the picture to be rough and flat. Manet was accused of immorality and vulgarity. The painting gathered hundreds of people who came to the exhibition only to curse the painting and spit on it. As a result, the painting was hung in the farthest hall of the Salon to such a height that it was almost invisible. What people were nervous in those days.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Renoir is known primarily as a master of a secular portrait, not devoid of sentimentality; he was the first of the Impressionists to succeed with wealthy Parisians. The nude was one of Renoir's favorite genres.
"Nude in sunlight", 1876
First shown at the Second Impressionist Exhibition in 1876, where it received very harsh reviews from critics: "Inspire Monsieur Renoir that the female body is not a heap of decaying flesh with green and purple spots, which indicate that the corpse is already rotting in full swing!"
« big bathers", 1887
And this picture marked the transition of Renoir from pure impressionism towards classicism and engrism. “Large Bathers” is made with clearer lines, colder colors, and when writing this picture, Renoir first used sketches and sketches.
Vladislav Podkovinsky
"Female orgasm", 1894
From the title it is clear that in his work he depicted Polish artist Vladislav Podkovinsky... The painting exhibition began with great scandal and continued for 36 days. Unable to withstand the pressure, on the 37th day Podkovinsky came with a knife and cut the entire canvas. The artist died of tuberculosis at the age of 29. After his death, the painting was decided to be restored.
Adolphe William Bouguereau
John Collier
The range of themes in the paintings of the English painter Collier is very wide. However, it gained the greatest popularity due to its use in true romantic tradition images of beautiful women from legends, myths, literature and history as the main theme for his paintings.
"Lady Godiva" was written according to the plot of the legend. The naked beauty depicted in the picture (Lady Godiva) begged her powerful and imperious husband (Count Leofric) to reduce taxes for the poor in his possessions. To which he offered an almost losing bet. He promised to reduce taxes if his lady passed through the village of Coventry naked on a horse, which his wife did.
Herbert James Draper
"Odysseus and Sirens", 1909
David Shterenberg
"Nude", 1908
Gustav Klimt
All details related to mythological story, are removed from the picture, leaving only the scene of fertilization by golden rain, into which Zeus turned. The choice of posture and the distorted perspective give Danae's body an extraordinary sexuality.
In no other work did the artist bring female sexuality to such hypertrophy - this is self-absorbed lust.
Herbert James Draper
Herbert James Draper was an artist, famous works to historical and mythological theme. Although Draper received recognition during his lifetime, his work is now unfairly forgotten and rarely seen at auction.
"Mountain of Mists", 1912
"Mountain of Mists" is one of the most powerful, sensual and enchanting of all the artist's images. The naked girls presented are as beautiful as Waterhouse's nymphs, although unlike his femme fatale lure men to their doom.
Boris Kustodiev
Picturesque plasticity, an emphasis on the artistry of the model and a striking appearance - these are the main features of Boris Kustodiev's work.
"Russian Venus" 1925-1926
"Russian Venus" depicts a puffy woman in a bath, but unlike the goddess, the naked girl is surrounded not by sea foam, but by the steam of a Russian bath. Iridescent bubbles on a wooden bench confirm that Venus is in front of us. The goddess was born from the foam mediterranean sea! And here, in Russia - from the foam of the bath ...
Amedeo Modigliani
Modigliani is rightfully considered a singer of the beauty of the naked female body. He was one of the first to portray the nude in a more emotionally realistic way. It was this circumstance that at one time led to the lightning-fast closure of its first personal exhibition in Paris. Modigliani's paintings, made in the nude genre, are considered the pearl of his creative heritage.
"Seated Nude", 1916
Egon Schiele
Painting and graphics by Egon Schiele are nervous, sophisticated, dramatic and very sexy. Being strongly influenced by the psychoanalysis of Sigmund Freud, Schiele in his work gave vent to his own complexes and doubts, and many of his works were frankly sexy character. It even caused imprisonment artist for "creating immoral drawings."
"Nude on her knees", 1917
"Reclining woman", 1917
Anders Zorn
Swedish painter and graphic artist, who paid special attention to the individuality of the nude model, the originality of her facial expressions, gestures, facial expressions, which are sharply captured in his works.
"In Werner's rowboat", 1917
"Reflections", 1889
Zinaida Serebryakova
Zinaida Evgenievna Serebryakova is one of the first Russian women to enter the history of painting. By means of picturesque means, the artist represented the image of a pure female body. Her models did not have an athletic physique, they do not have rigidity, sharpness, but only a smooth consonance with the environment.
In "Bath" Serebryakova depicted naked women without embellishment, the features of idealization appeared in her work later.
"Reclining Nude", portrait of Nevedomskaya, 1935
IN later work Serebryakova increasingly increased the theme of works depicting nude models, and Serebryakova remained true to the nude genre. In "Reclining Nude" she feels that she succeeds in this theme, and refers to it constantly.
Sleeping Model, 1941
Igor Emmanuilovich Grabar
Igor Emmanuilovich Grabar is one of the most famous artists in the history of Russian culture of the XX century. One of his most famous works is the portrait of Flora.
Alexander Mikhailovich Gerasimov
Another well-known Russian artist, who, unlike the previous one, was engaged in depicting rough and simplified erotica.
"Village bath", 1938
On the theme of the "Village Bath", the artist wrote many sketches "for himself" over the years. There are several nudes in the picture female bodies connected by a complex structural composition. Each figure is an image, an individual character.
Arkady Alexandrovich Plastov
Arkady Plastov - "singer of the Soviet peasantry." In his works, he paid special attention to the patriotic work of women during the Great Patriotic War. colorful image and the artist captured the simplicity in the painting "Tractor Drivers"
"Tractor drivers", 1943
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First of all, we know two things about the painting: its author and, possibly, the history of the canvas. But about the fate of those who look at us from canvases, we know not so much.
website I decided to talk about women whose faces are familiar to us, but their stories are not.
Jeanne Samary
Auguste Renoir, Portrait of the Actress Jeanne Samary, 1877
The actress Jeanne Samary, although she could not become a stage star (she played mainly maids), was lucky in something else: for some time she lived not far from the workshop of Renoir, who painted four portraits of her in 1877-1878, thereby glorifying much more than it could make her actor career. Zhanna played in performances from the age of 18, at 25 she got married and had three children, then even wrote a children's book. But this charming lady, unfortunately, did not live long: at the age of 33 she fell ill with typhoid fever and died.
Cecilia Gallerani
Leonardo da Vinci, Lady with an Ermine
1489-1490
Cecilia Gallerani was a girl from a noble Italian family who was already engaged at the age of 10 (!) years. However, when the girl was 14, the engagement was canceled for unknown reasons, and Cecilia was sent to a monastery, where she met (or it was all set up) the Duke of Milan, Ludovico Sforza. An affair began, Cecilia became pregnant and the duke settled the girl in his castle, but then it was time to enter into a dynastic marriage with another woman, who, of course, did not like the presence of her mistress in their house. Then, after the birth of Gallerani, the duke took his son for himself, and married her to an impoverished count.
In this marriage, Cecilia gave birth to four children, kept almost the very first in Europe literary salon, visited the duke on a visit and played with pleasure with his child from new mistress. After a while, Cecilia's husband died, the war broke out, she lost her well-being and found shelter in the house of the sister of the same wife of the duke - in such a wonderful relationship she managed to be with people. After the war, Gallerani returned to her estate, where she lived until her death at the age of 63.
Zinaida Yusupova
V.A. Serov, "Portrait of Princess Zinaida Yusupova", 1902
The richest Russian heiress, the last of the Yusupov family, Princess Zinaida was incredibly good-looking, and, despite the fact that august persons, among others, sought her favor, she wanted to marry for love. She fulfilled her desire: the marriage was happy and brought two sons. Yusupova spent a lot of time and effort on charitable activities, and after the revolution continued it in exile. The beloved eldest son died in a duel when the princess was 47 years old, and she could hardly bear this loss. With the onset of unrest, the Yusupovs left St. Petersburg and settled in Rome, and after the death of her husband, the princess moved to her son in Paris, where she spent the rest of her days.
Maria Lopukhina
V.L. Borovikovsky, “Portrait of M.I. Lopukhina", 1797
Borovikovsky painted many portraits of Russian noblewomen, but this one is the most charming. Maria Lopukhina, a member of the Tolstoy count family, is depicted here at the tender age of 18. The portrait was commissioned by her husband Stepan Avraamovich Lopukhin shortly after the wedding. Ease and a slightly haughty look seem to be either the usual pose for such a portrait of the era of sentimentalism, or signs of a melancholy and poetic disposition. The fate of this mysterious girl turned out to be sad: just 6 years after the painting, Maria died of consumption.
Giovannina and Amacilia Pacini
Karl Bryullov, Horsewoman, 1832
"Horsewoman" Bryullov - brilliant formal portrait, in which everything is luxurious: the brightness of colors, and the splendor of draperies, and the beauty of models. It depicts two girls who bore the surname Pacini: the eldest Giovannina is sitting on a horse, the youngest Amacilia is looking at her from the porch. The picture to Karl Bryullov - her long-term lover - was ordered by their adoptive mother, Countess Yulia Pavlovna Samoilova, one of beautiful women Russia and heiress to a colossal fortune. The Countess guaranteed a large dowry for her grown-up daughters. But it turned out that by old age she was practically ruined, and then adopted daughters Giovanina and Amazilia, through the courts, collected the promised money and property from the countess.
Simonetta Vespucci
Sandro Botticelli, The Birth of Venus
1482–1486
The famous painting by Botticelli depicts Simonetta Vespucci, the first beauty of the Florentine Renaissance. Simonetta was born in rich family, at the age of 16 she married Marco Vespucci (a relative of Amerigo Vespucci, who “discovered” America and gave the continent his name). After the wedding, the newlyweds settled in Florence, were received at court Lorenzo Medici, in those years famous for magnificent feasts and receptions.
Beautiful, at the same time very modest and benevolent Simonetta quickly fell in love with Florentine men. The ruler himself tried to take care of her Florence Lorenzo, but his brother Giuliano sought it most actively. The beauty of Simonetta inspired many artists of that time, among whom was Sandro Botticelli. It is believed that from the moment they met, Simonetta was the model for all Madonnas and Venuses by Botticelli. At the age of 23, Simonetta died of consumption, despite the efforts of the best court doctors. After that, the artist depicted his muse only from memory, and in his old age he bequeathed to be buried next to her, which was done.
Vera Mamontova
V.A. Serov, "Girl with peaches", 1887
The most famous painting portrait master Valentin Serov was written in the estate of a wealthy industrialist Savva Ivanovich Mamontov. Every day for two months, his daughter, 12-year-old Vera, posed for the artist. The girl grew up and became charming girl, married mutual love for Alexander Samarin, who belongs to the famous noble family. After honeymoon trip in Italy, the family settled in the city of Bogorodsk, where three children were born one after another. But unexpectedly in December 1907, just 5 years after the wedding, Vera Savvishna died of pneumonia. She was only 32 years old, and her husband never remarried.
Alexandra Petrovna Struyskaya
F.S. Rokotov, "Portrait of Struyskaya", 1772
This portrait by Rokotov is like an airy hint. Alexandra Struyskaya was 18 when she was married to a very rich widower. There is a legend that for the wedding her husband gave her nothing less than a new church. And all his life he wrote poetry to her. Whether this marriage was happy is not known for certain, but everyone who has been in their house paid attention to how dissimilar the spouses are. For 24 years of marriage, Alexandra gave birth to her husband 18 children, 10 of whom died in infancy. After the death of her husband, she lived another 40 years, firmly managed the estate and left a decent fortune to the children.
Galina Vladimirovna Aderkas
B.M. Kustodiev "Merchant for tea", 1918
Kustodiev's "Merchant for Tea" is a real illustration of that bright and well-fed Russia, where there are fairs, carousels and "the crunch of French bread." The picture was painted in the post-revolutionary hungry year of 1918, when one could only dream of such an abundance.
Galina Vladimirovna Aderkas posed for the merchant's wife in this portrait-painting - a natural baroness from a family that traces its history back to one Livonian knight of the 18th century. In Astrakhan, Galya Aderkas was a housemate of the Kustodievs, from the sixth floor; the artist's wife brought the girl to the studio, noticing a colorful model. During this period, Aderkas was very young - a first-year medical student - and in the sketches her figure looks much thinner. After graduating from university and working for some time as a surgeon, she left the profession and Soviet years she sang in the Russian choir, participated in dubbing films, got married and began to perform in the circus.
Lisa del Giocondo
Leonardo da Vinci, Mona Lisa, 1503-1519
Perhaps one of the most famous and mysterious portraits of all times and peoples is the famous Mona Lisa by the great Leonardo. Among the many versions about who owns the legendary smile, the following was officially confirmed in 2005: the canvas depicts Lisa del Giocondo, the wife of Francesco del Giocondo, a silk merchant from Florence. The portrait may have been commissioned from an artist to mark the birth of a son and the purchase of a house.
Together with her husband, Lisa raised five children and, most likely, her marriage was based on love. When her husband died of the plague and Lisa was also struck by this serious illness, one of the daughters was not afraid to take her mother to her and let her go. Mona Lisa recovered and lived for some time with her daughters, dying at the age of 63.
