Biography of Zinaida Evgenievna Serebryakova

(1884-1967)

Zinaida Serebryakova was born on November 28, 1884 in the Neskuchnoye family estate near Kharkov. Her father was a famous sculptor. Mother came from the Benois family, and in her youth she was a graphic artist. Her brothers were no less talented, the younger was an architect, and the older master monumental painting and charts.

His artistic development Zinaida is primarily obliged to her uncle Alexander Benois - mother's brother and older brother.

The artist spent her childhood and youth in St. Petersburg in the house of her grandfather, the architect N. L. Benois, and in the Neskuchny estate. Zinaida's attention was always attracted by the work of young peasant girls in the field. Subsequently, this is reflected more than once in her work.

In 1886, after the death of his father, the family moved from the estate to St. Petersburg. All family members were busy with creative activities, Zina also painted with enthusiasm.

In 1900 Zinaida graduated women's gymnasium and entered art school, founded by Princess M. K. Tenisheva.

In 1902-1903, during a trip to Italy, she created many sketches and studies.

In 1905 she marries Boris Anatolyevich Serebryakov, her cousin. After the wedding, the young went to Paris. Here Zinaida attends the Academy de la Grande Chaumière, works hard, draws from nature.

A year later, the young return home. In Neskuchny, Zinaida works hard - she creates sketches, portraits and landscapes. In the very first works of the artist, it is already possible to discern her own style, to determine the circle of her interests. In 1910, Zinaida Serebryakova was waiting for real success.

In 1910, at the 7th exhibition of Russian artists in Moscow, the Tretyakov Gallery acquired a self-portrait "Behind the Toilet" and gouache "Green in Autumn". Her landscapes are magnificent - pure, bright tones of colors, perfection of technique, unprecedented beauty nature.

The flowering of the artist's work occurs in 1914-1917. Zinaida Serebryakova created a series of paintings dedicated to the Russian village, peasant labor and Russian nature - "Peasants", "Sleeping Peasant Woman".

In the painting "Whitening of the Canvas", Serebryakova's bright talent as a muralist was revealed.

In 1916, A. N. Benois was entrusted with painting the Kazansky railway station in Moscow, he also attracted Zinaida to work. The artist took up the theme of the countries of the East: India, Japan, Türkiye. She allegorically represented these countries in the form beautiful women. At the same time, she began work on compositions on the themes ancient myths. Self-portraits occupy a special role in the work of Zinaida Serebryakova.

During civil war, Zinaida's husband was on a survey in Siberia, and she and her children were in Neskuchny. It seemed impossible to move to Petrograd, and Zinaida went to Kharkov, where she found work in the Archaeological Museum. Her family estate in "Neskuchny" burned down, all her works perished. Boris later died. Circumstances force the artist to leave Russia. She goes to France. All these years the artist lived in constant thoughts about her husband. She painted four portraits of her husband, which are kept in the Tretyakov Gallery and the Novosibirsk Art Gallery.

In the 1920s, Zinaida Serebryakova returned with her children to Petrograd, in former apartment Benoit. Zinaida's daughter Tatyana began to study ballet. Zinaida, together with her daughter, visit the Mariinsky Theater, they also go backstage. In the theater, Zinaida constantly painted. In 1922 she created a portrait of D. Balanchine dressed as Bacchus. Creative communication with ballerinas throughout three years reflected in an amazing series of ballet portraits and compositions.

family is going through Hard times. Serebryakova tried to paint paintings to order, but she did not succeed. She loved to work with nature.

In the first years after the revolution, a lively exhibition activity began in the country. In 1924 Serebryakova became an exhibitor of a large exhibition of Russian visual arts in America. All the paintings presented to her were sold. With the proceeds, she decides to go to Paris to arrange an exhibition and receive orders. She leaves in 1924.

The years spent in Paris did not bring her joy and creative satisfaction. She yearned for her homeland, sought to reflect her love for her in her paintings. Her first exhibition took place only in 1927. She sent the money she earned to her mother and children.

In 1961 in Paris she was visited by two Soviet artist- S. Gerasimov and D. Shmarinov. Later in 1965, they arrange an exhibition for her in Moscow.

In 1966, the last, large exhibition of Serebryakova's works took place in Leningrad and Kyiv.

In 1967, in Paris, at the age of 82, Zinaida Evgenievna Serebryakova died.

... A sun-drenched stone city that grew up among soft purple mountains, a golden luminous beach and a gentle sea, full of freshness of a girl's life, colorful Moroccan women in bright dresses, portraits of a son, daughter, acquaintances and strangers who look at the viewer ... with children's eyes, full of purity, joy and surprise. IN Tretyakov Gallery at the beginning of this year, an exhibition of works by Zinaida Serebryakova and the works of her children, Ekaterina and Alexander, was held.

Serebryakova, one of the first Russian women who entered the history of painting, the heiress of the beautiful and famous artistic families of Benoit-Lansere, had a difficult fate. Shortly after the revolution, she lost her husband, left alone with four small children. The need to earn money made Zinaida go to France, but return to Soviet Russia she could no longer, and found herself separated from her children, her mother ... But, despite all the troubles and tragedies, she did not lose the light of the soul, which now pours from her paintings.

The life and work of Zinaida Serebryakova is told by her great-granddaughter, Anastasia Nikolaeva, through whose efforts this exhibition “Zinaida Serebryakova. Parisian period. Alexander and Ekaterina Serebryakova.

Zinaida Serebryakova had such a strong love for the world, love for everything that surrounds her, that she is transferred to people who then look at her paintings. She had a gift of love, which manifested itself in love for art and for people ...

She was the youngest in the family. Her father died very early, when she was not yet three years old, and they went to her grandfather, famous architect Nicholas Benois. So from childhood, she was surrounded by the world, for whom the most important thing was the service of art. So for her daughter, Ekaterina Serebryakova, serving art has always been the most important thing. I look at Aunt Katya, who recently turned 100 years old, she has no idea at all that you can lie down to rest during the day: “No, I have to work!” Even at her age, she is always trying to do something. Love for his work, plus a huge capacity for work - this was passed down from the family.

When you look at the portraits of the artist's children, whom Zinaida Serebryakova painted a lot, you see how deeply and tenderly she loved them. How did she get over the breakup?

Of course, she was very worried about all this. When she left for France in 1924, she did not think she was leaving forever. She expected to stay there for a short time in order to somehow earn some money. After she was widowed, she had to feed her family - her mother and four children. She could only draw, and these were hungry years, and no one needed her painting. Moreover, she did not adapt to any fashion trends that time. The only way to make money was custom-made portraits, and the people who could make these orders had already left the country.

Her brother, Alexandre Benois, wrote to her from Paris, saying that perhaps by going there she could find orders. But when she arrived in Paris, she turned out to be of no use to anyone here either, at that time a different kind of painting was in vogue. And then, Zinaida had absolutely no business acumen, she was almost not adapted to life, in France she turned out to be very helpless. When she made portraits, she was not always paid money, they did not always fulfill what they promised. She hardly ate, all the money that she managed to earn, she sent to Russia. And, of course, she suffered in separation from her children.

By using Alexandra Benois managed to transport the eldest son, Alexander, to France. He arrived as a 16-year-old boy and immediately began to earn money, took on everything - he helped his uncle, Alexandre Benois, sketched views of Paris, made illustrations for books and magazines, painted some lampshades, drew postcards, maps of Paris for tourist guides to help family.

- Did all the children of Serebryakova also draw?

Yes, since childhood. It was a family in which it was like air - how to breathe and how to draw. Alexander and Ekaterina became artists, Evgeny Serebryakov was an architect-restorer. My grandmother, Tatyana, was theater artist…

In 1928, one of the women whose portraits were painted by Zinaida, having learned that the artist had children in Russia, offered her help. I managed to bring Katya, the youngest, to Paris. She was traveling alone on the train, she was fifteen years old. Aunt Katya said that her mother worked very hard, did not go into the kitchen, did not cook, and the 15-year-old girl had to take care of household chores, cooking, shopping, and cleaning. It turned out that Katya devoted her whole life to the talent of Zinaida Serebryakova, despite the fact that she herself was a talented artist. But for her, her mother and her work were always in the first place.

Of course, the fate of Ekaterina Borisovna Serebryakova was fully reflected in the biblical “Honor your father and mother, may it be good for you, and you will live long on earth.” Now she is over a hundred years old, but she is in good health. Neither she nor her brother Alexander had families of their own. Best years Katya was always close to her mother, she sacrificed her life to her mother and art.

But it turned out, she does not have a lonely old age. The family of her sister, Tatyana, became her family. And I live with her, and my children and grandchildren, her great-great-grandchildren, come to her. And to see "the children of their children" is the highest good. Suddenly, in her old age, the Lord gave her all this.

- Ekaterina Borisovna - a believer?

Zinaida Serebryakova was from a French, Catholic family. Mom was a Catholic, father at some point wanted to convert to Orthodoxy, but did not have time. They were not very religious people, but, of course, they went to church. And Zinaida herself had an Orthodox husband, and according to Russian rules their children were to be baptized in Orthodoxy.

When Boris Serebryakov died, the children, together with their grandmother and mother, began to go to catholic church They considered themselves Catholics all their lives. And once in France, being not very close to the Russian emigration, they went to Catholic churches. But when I began to raise the documents, it turned out that all the children of the Serebryakovs were baptized in Orthodoxy. A priest from the Parisian Church of the Three Hierarchs, who comes to visit her, admitted to me that his acquaintance and conversation with Aunt Katya became one of the strongest impressions of his life, that she deeply Orthodox person in spirit and attitude.

After the death of Zinaida big period when she hardly went to church, but in last years priests from the Three Saints Metochion come to her, she regularly takes communion, she even went to church for Paschal Vespers. On a spiritual level, it seems to me that this coming to the Church was the end of her path, her sacrificial life in the service of beauty and art.

One artist friend said that Zinaida Serebriakova can be called a "confessor in art." Finding herself in a hostile revolutionary environment that did not recognize real art, then in France, she managed to remain herself all her life, and she continued to carry these ideals of beauty, love all her life, despite the fact that she did not receive money for her work, even though no one knew her. Sometimes it seemed to her that no one needed her.

And only in the last years of her life, when in 1960 her daughter Tatyana had the opportunity to come to her from Russia, she was able to convince herself of the opposite. Through the efforts of Tatyana, my grandmother, in 1966 two large exhibitions were held in Moscow. And Zinaida Serebryakova saw that she had not lived her life in vain. A year later, in 1967, she died.

- How was the meeting with children after 36 years of separation?

It wasn't easy for everyone. Of course, there was a fear of the first meeting, but there was also confirmation of the closeness that had been between them all these years. After all, Zinaida corresponded with children all her life, they were in close spiritual connection. My grandmother sent my mother all the books on art that came out in Russia, described all the exhibitions. They had the same view of many ongoing events in the art world.

After a trip to her mother, her grandmother, Tatyana Borisovna, began work on organizing an exhibition of Serebryakova in Russia. Yes, her works were in the permanent exhibition of the Russian Museum, but they did not talk about the artist. Her name was hushed up after she left for Paris. Thanks to the efforts of Tatyana Borisovna, a large exhibition of Serebryakova's works was able to take place in Moscow. The daughter ministry of Tatyana and Ekaterina made it possible to preserve the legacy of Serebryakova both in Russia and in France.

- Works were kept in the family?

The family survived the difficult 1930s when the children's grandmother died of starvation. Tatyana was left alone with her older brother Eugene when she was still a little girl. Sometimes they had to exchange mother's works from collectors for a loaf of bread, but at the same time they were able to save many works. And Catherine in France, despite the fact that they lived very modestly, tried to save everything. Careful attitude children to the heritage of the mother made it possible to bring it to our days in integrity.

The exhibition presents virtuoso, subtle architectural watercolors Alexandra, live gentle still lifes and landscapes of Catherine... In your opinion, did the children continue the artistic traditions of their mother?

Alexander and Catherine rather continued artistic tradition the Benoit-Lancere family. Perhaps, due to the scale of her personality, the originality of the language, the work of Zinaida herself stands a little apart from the traditions of the family. Alexander and Catherine lived in France, were forced to work a lot to order, were close to the world of art, to which their uncle, Alexandre Benois, belonged. Art is European, but on the other hand - deeply Russian. After all, they didn’t even study anywhere, but simply entered family tradition when a person began to draw from childhood.

Of course, everyone had talent, but it manifested itself in completely different ways. The works of Zinaida, Alexander, Catherine are very different from each other, but at the same time they all have something in common - a careful and loving attitude towards nature and some very deep sense of reality. Yes, the style is realism, but not photographic. In each work there is an inner feeling of nature, revealing its true beauty.

The works of Ekaterina Borisovna are similar, perhaps, to the paintings of Fyodor Tolstoy, made in the manner of Russian painting XVII century, but they do not have the slightest dryness, excessive punctuality. The works are realistic, but they are alive, they have color, light, and space. Catherine spoke in a language that was closer to her. Zinaida Serebryakova herself is, of course, a realist, but by no means a socialist realist...

- Realist Silver Age, poetic realist ...

She painted how she saw, how she felt, how she breathed...

It must also be said that Zinaida turned out to be surprisingly faithful in her love for her husband, who died when she was very young. She was left alone with four children, and was very interesting woman, and there were men who looked after her. But Serebryakova remained faithful to her husband, never remarried. And it was a revelation for me to find portraits of her husband, drawn from his photographs already in the 50s. And she signed with her hand: "Beloved Borechka" ... It seems to me that this is evidence of the integrity of her nature, which is visible both in life and in art: love, which is one for life.

- Tell us a little about the works presented at the exhibition.

Many write that french period was a kind of decline in the work of Serebryakova, that nothing equal to what she created at home was not done abroad. Of course, in Russia Serebryakova had the opportunity to paint large monumental works, such as "Whitening the Canvas", she had the material opportunity to devote herself to creativity that did not require immediate earning money, she could write for her own pleasure.

She was worried that in France she did not have the conditions to work on big pictures. But I am sure that her sketches, Parisian portraits, cannot be called decadent. The continuation, the development of the line of creativity that began in Russia, has reached the highest skill in portrait work. Looking at a person with love, Serebryakova looks deep inside each time. And then, when you look at the portraits painted by her, there is a feeling of contact not only with a work of art, but also with the person himself. Outwardly, they are very simple, but affect many levels.

One Old Believer, with such extreme views, seeing a portrait-sketch of sleeping children, which Zinaida did, asked: “Who wrote this? You look like an icon! And it was just a sketch of sleeping children. A sense of calm and love comes from her work.

- Have your children inherited this gift?

Yes, of course, we all draw. My dad Ivan Nikolaev, Tatyana's son - Honored Artist of the Russian Federation, Corresponding Member of the Academy of Arts, long years was chairman of the monumental section in Moscow. He is the author of projects for several Moscow metro stations - Otradnaya, Borovitskaya, Dostoevskaya. In the 60s he made a very good painting in the National Hotel and Restaurant. He has many great works in Moscow, other cities of Russia, in Europe. Then he worked on the murals of several churches.

My sister Liza and I graduated from Stroganovka. Lisa became an icon painter, working in the workshops of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. I work more in oils, I also paint icons.

My brother, Hieromonk Innokenty, also graduated from the icon-painting school at the Moscow Academy of Arts, and is now ascetic in one of the Lavra sketes. Sister Tatyana used to draw, but now there is almost no time, she has eight children, her husband is a priest - Father Valery Gurin, a cleric of St. Nicholas Church in Pyzhy.

- But you also continued the maternal line of the family, raised four children. Are they also artists?

Senior, Vasily -. Varvara is also an icon painter, she graduated from the Lavra icon painting school. Despite the fact that she already has two children, she tries to write. Peter works in our Foundation, actively helps in all activities, and in particular, in the organization of this exhibition. And the youngest, Kolya, did not go along artistic line, studies at the Higher School of Economics. But it is necessary that someone was in the father ...

Now, Anastasia, are you continuing the work of Ekaterina and Tatyana, are you engaged in the storage and dissemination of the legacy of Zinaida Serebryakova?

Alexander and Ekaterina sought to preserve the entire collection of Serebryakova's works, they tried to do everything so that it would not go to pieces. It was decided to organize a French State Fund Zinaida Serebryakova. Its work is supervised by the French Ministry of Culture, which helps to achieve many goals. The Foundation includes many members of our family. And the aspirations of the Foundation's leaders, of course, coincide with the desire of the family to preserve Serebryakova's legacy, so that people know this artist. The maximum task is to create a museum where Serebryakova's works would be presented in a permanent exhibition. But, thank God, temporary exhibitions can also be held.

Now is a time when many around are dissatisfied, they like to criticize everything, they see life in darkness and dirt. I really wanted this exhibition to bring light and joy into people's lives, which radiate the work of Zinaida Serebryakova. And after all, even in a very difficult life situation you can not lose heart and not grumble, but engage in creativity, creative work, give people love.

Interviewed by Alisa Strukova

Biography of Zinaida Evgenievna Serebryakova

Zinaida Serebryakova was born on November 28, 1884 in the Neskuchnoye family estate near Kharkov. Her father was famous sculptor. Mother came from the Benois family, and in her youth she was a graphic artist. Her brothers were no less talented, the younger one was an architect, and the older one was a master of monumental painting and graphics.

Zinaida owes her artistic development primarily to her uncle Alexander Benois, mother's brother and older brother.

The artist spent her childhood and youth in St. Petersburg in the house of her grandfather, the architect N. L. Benois, and in the Neskuchny estate. Zinaida's attention was always attracted by the work of young peasant girls in the field. Subsequently, this is reflected more than once in her work.

In 1886, after the death of his father, the family moved from the estate to St. Petersburg. All family members were busy creative activity, Zina also painted with enthusiasm.

In 1900, Zinaida graduated from the women's gymnasium and entered the art school founded by Princess M. K. Tenisheva.

In 1902-1903, during a trip to Italy, she created many sketches and studies.

In 1905 she marries Boris Anatolyevich Serebryakov, her cousin. After the wedding, the young went to Paris. Here Zinaida attends the Academy de la Grande Chaumière, works hard, draws from nature.

A year later, the young return home. In Neskuchny, Zinaida works hard - she creates sketches, portraits and landscapes. In the very first works of the artist, you can already see her own style to determine the scope of her interests. In 1910, Zinaida Serebryakova was waiting for real success.

In 1910, at the 7th exhibition of Russian artists in Moscow, the Tretyakov Gallery acquired a self-portrait "Behind the Toilet" and gouache "Green in Autumn". Her landscapes are magnificent - pure, bright tones of colors, the perfection of technology, the unprecedented beauty of nature.

The flowering of the artist's work occurs in 1914-1917. Zinaida Serebryakova created a series of paintings dedicated to the Russian village, peasant labor and Russian nature - "Peasants", "Sleeping Peasant Woman".

In the painting "Whitening of the Canvas", Serebryakova's bright talent as a muralist was revealed.

In 1916, A. N. Benois was entrusted with painting the Kazansky railway station in Moscow, he also attracted Zinaida to work. The artist took up the theme of the countries of the East: India, Japan, Türkiye. She allegorically represented these countries in the form of beautiful women. At the same time, she began work on compositions on the themes of ancient myths. Self-portraits occupy a special role in the work of Zinaida Serebryakova.

During the civil war, Zinaida's husband was on a survey in Siberia, and she and her children were in Neskuchny. It seemed impossible to move to Petrograd, and Zinaida went to Kharkov, where she found work in the Archaeological Museum. Her family estate in "Neskuchny" burned down, all her works perished. Boris later died. Circumstances force the artist to leave Russia. She goes to France. All these years the artist lived in constant thoughts about her husband. She painted four portraits of her husband, which are kept in the Tretyakov Gallery and the Novosibirsk Art Gallery.

In the 1920s, Zinaida Serebryakova returned with her children to Petrograd, to Benois's former apartment. Zinaida's daughter Tatyana began to study ballet. Zinaida, together with her daughter, visit the Mariinsky Theater, they also go backstage. In the theater, Zinaida constantly painted. In 1922 she created a portrait of D. Balanchine dressed as Bacchus. Creative communication with ballerinas over the course of three years was reflected in an amazing series of ballet portraits and compositions.

The family is going through hard times. Serebryakova tried to paint paintings to order, but she did not succeed. She loved to work with nature.

In the first years after the revolution, a lively exhibition activity began in the country. In 1924 Serebryakova became an exhibitor of a large exhibition of Russian fine arts in America. All the paintings presented to her were sold. With the proceeds, she decides to go to Paris to arrange an exhibition and receive orders. She leaves in 1924.

The years spent in Paris did not bring her joy and creative satisfaction. She yearned for her homeland, sought to reflect her love for her in her paintings. Her first exhibition took place only in 1927. She sent the money she earned to her mother and children.

In 1961, two Soviet artists, S. Gerasimov and D. Shmarinov, visited her in Paris. Later in 1965, they arrange an exhibition for her in Moscow.

In 1966, the last, large exhibition of Serebryakova's works took place in Leningrad and Kyiv.

In 1967, in Paris, at the age of 82, Zinaida Evgenievna Serebryakova died.

The modern generation knows very little or very superficially about Zinaida Serebryakova. Of course, not everyone, but most people know this famous “self-portrait of the artist at the mirror”, the real name of which is “Behind the toilet”. It is from him that the work of the artist becomes widely known. But there are many, many other masterpieces that remain for many years in the shadow of the glory of one famous canvas... And the self-portraits themselves - so much narcissism in painting can only be found in Zinaida Serebryakova ...

In the history of Russian painting, women became famous only on canvases, and as a rule female images were written by men ... A woman artist in modern world art is a familiar phenomenon, but it was not always so.

Today we will get acquainted with the works of one of the first Russian women who entered the history of painting - Zinaida Evgenievna Serebryakova, whose paintings are now sold at the most prestigious world auctions and auctions.

So for example, one of recent works artist, written in Russia - the painting "Sleeping Girl". In 2015, it was sold for 3.85 million pounds ($5.9 million). This amount is almost eight times higher than the estimated cost, which was 400-600 thousand pounds ($609-914 thousand). Buyers who participated in the auction by phone fought hard for the work.

The fate of this painting is noteworthy. There is a version that the painting depicts the youngest daughter of the artist Ekaterina, who also became famous artist. Ekaterina Serebryakova died relatively recently - in 2014. The painting "Sleeping Girl" was part of the collection former ambassador of the Provisional Government of Russia in the USA Boris Bakhmetyev (1880-1951), who lived in exile in America after the October Revolution. He acquired it at an exhibition of Russian artists in New York in 1923.

• It is known that with the money received for its sale, the artist went to France, from where she never returned.

Reading the biography of Serebryakova, it is very difficult to imagine a different path for little Zinaida, because in this artistic family everyone was born with pencils in their hands. Her grandfather Nicholas Benois was famous architect, father Yevgeny Lansere is a famous sculptor, and mother Ekaterina Nikolaevna, daughter of architect Nikolai Benois, sister of architect Leonty Benois and artist Alexander Benois, was a graphic artist in her youth. The brothers of Zinaida Lansere Nikolai, a talented architect, another, Eugene, played important role in the history of Russian and Soviet art monumental painting and graphics.

It is not surprising that on December 12, 1884, a talented girl, whose future was already a foregone conclusion, will be born in one of the most famous Benoit-Lansere families in art. Not by fate, but by family ...

By the way, Zinaida will become world famous already at the age of 25, having written one of the brightest and most cheerful self-portraits of all time - “Self-portrait in front of a mirror” (1909).

It is amazing how cheerful and bright canvases could be created by a person who was distinguished by isolation and wildness, and this against the backdrop of friendly and cheerful brothers and sisters. But it only seemed so, because the real inner world modest, weak and sickly girl was on canvas. Painting will become the most joyful occupation and vocation in the life of little Zinusha (as her relatives called her). And any directions will be portraits, landscapes and nudes.

Masterpieces by Zinaida Serebryakova

Bath. 1913 State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg

At breakfast. 1914

Harvest. 1915

Canvas bleaching. 1917 State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

Illuminated by the sun. 1928

Sleeping model. 1941 Kyiv National Museum Russian art, Ukraine

Maiden name Zinaida - Lansere, and she became Serebryakova at marriage. This story deserves a mention.

With Boris, her cousin, Zina had known each other since childhood, over time, friendship grew into love. The young decided to get married, but they did not succeed immediately. Parents were in favor, but the church opposed because of the relationship of lovers. However, 300 rubles and an appeal to a third, after two refusals, the priest was allowed to solve the problem. In 1905 they got married.

Peasant woman with pots. 1900s

Portrait of Olga Konstantinovna Lansere. 1910, Private collection

Bather. 1911, State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg

There is an assumption that The Bather is another self-portrait of the artist. Direction of gaze, face, hair, lips - the girl in this picture is very similar to the "Self-portrait in Pierrot's costume" - she is lower.

Pierrot (Self-portrait dressed as Pierrot). 1911, Odessa Art Museum, Ukraine

Girl with a candle. Self-portrait. 1911, State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg

Zinaida traveled a lot. First Italy, where she went for treatment, then Paris, where she is engaged in a prestigious art academy de la Grand Chaumière. But as an artist, she was formed in St. Petersburg. First notable works created here - in the city on the Neva. It was the heyday of creativity of a talented artist. Endless exhibitions, hangouts in the famous society "World of Arts", the first recognition of talent - famous painting“Behind the toilet”, shown for the first time at a large exhibition, brings wide popularity.

The self-portrait was followed by Bather (1911, Russian Museum), Peasants (1914-1915, Russian Museum), Harvest (1915, Odessa Art Museum) and others… The most important of these works was Whitening the Canvas (1917 , State Tretyakov Gallery).

Nurse with a child. 1912 Nizhny Novgorod State Art Museum

Peasant woman (with a yoke). 1916-1917, State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg

Sleeping peasant woman. 1917, Private collection

Self-portrait in red. 1921, Private collection

In the ballet dressing room ("Big Ballerinas"). 1922, Ballet Ts. Pugni "Pharaoh's Daughter", Private collection

Ballet restroom. Snowflakes. 1923, Ballet by P.I. Tchaikovsky "The Nutcracker", State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg

By the way, canvases with ballerinas are the so-called dialogue with another no less famous artist — French painter Edgar Degas, whom she admired all her life. His ballerinas delighted and inspired to write “their own”, so different from everyone else, in the manner of conveying grace, plasticity, thin lines, grace peculiar only to her…

Pay attention to the following picture - it is very symbolic.

House of cards. 1919 , State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg

The picture shows the children of Zinaida and Boris Serebryakov. This period in the artist's life is akin to a house of cards. October Revolution, the death of a spouse from typhus. She is left with four children and a sick mother without a livelihood. Hunger. No oil paints - you have to switch to charcoal and pencil. "House of Cards", showing all four orphaned children - the most tragic work in all her work.

Further, everything is very typical for the whole creative intelligentsia- life under a command, you can’t write it, it’s possible. Advice to switch to a different style, unambiguous hints to paint portraits of commissars, but she refuses to accept the statutes of the "new masters of life."

In December 1920, Zinaida moved to Petrograd to her grandfather's apartment. She was lucky - the artists of the Moscow Art Theater Theater were settled in this apartment "for compaction". During this period, she paints on themes from the theatrical life.

Self-portrait with daughters. 1921 Rybinsk State Historical and Architectural and art museum-reserve, Yaroslavl region

Katya with dolls. 1923 Private collection

Bath. 1926, Private collection

In 1923, her works were included in an exhibition of Russian artists in the United States. She made $500, but they couldn't patch up the gaps in the family budget. Zinaida decides to leave for Paris in order to improve her financial situation.

She failed to earn money in a year, as planned. “No one understands that it is insanely difficult to start without a penny. A time is running, and I still fight in the same place, ”she writes to her mother in despair.

She was going to return to Russia, where her mother and children remained. However, she failed to return, and she finds herself cut off from her homeland and children. All the little money that she manages to earn, she sends back to Russia. She lives at this time on a Nansen passport (passport for refugees) and only in 1947 receives French citizenship.

The eldest daughter Tatyana Serebryakova recalled that she was 12 years old when her mother left. She left for a short time, but Tate was very scared. As if she had a presentiment that the next time they could see each other only after 36 years.

On the beach. 1927, Private collection

Once Zinaida Serebryakova received tempting offer- go to creative journey to depict the nude figures of oriental maidens. But it turned out that it was simply impossible to find models in those places. An interpreter for Zinaida came to the rescue - he brought his sisters and his bride to her. No one before and after that was able to capture the closed Oriental women naked.

Contrary to her efforts, the artist did not manage to realize herself immediately in Paris. The city of changeable moods and romance was in endless fashion trends and the style of a Russian emigrant did not suit this city. The demand for paintings was extremely negligible. On top of that, she simply did not know how to "do business."

The artist, who repeatedly helped Zinaida Serebryakova in Paris, said: “She is so pathetic, unhappy, inept, everyone offends her.”

Lonely and irritated, she withdraws more and more into herself. Paris was shrouded in vengeance and new fashion trends in art. The local public, unable to distinguish the beautiful from the bad, liked everything tasteless and mediocre in the theater, music, and literature.

“Life now seems to me a meaningless fuss and a lie - now everyone’s brains are very clogged, and now there is nothing sacred in the world, everything is ruined, debunked, trampled into the dirt”

But with her children in mind, she continues to work hard. Soon, Katya manages to be discharged to her, and a little later, her son Alexander comes to her. And then the iron curtain falls.

Serebriakova does not dare to return, because her two children are in Paris, and she does not risk taking them to the USSR, where they can be declared "enemies of the people". In Paris, she cannot fully engage in new life, because half of her heart remained there - with Zhenya, Tanya and with her mother, whom the government refuses to let go abroad.

At the slightest opportunity, Serebryakova sends them money, but this is not always possible. In 1933, her mother in the Union dies of starvation.

Girl in pink. 1932, Private collection

It is possible to meet with the children who remained at home only after 36 years - during the Khrushchev thaw. In 1960, her daughter Tatyana (Tata), who became a theater artist at the Moscow Art Theater, visits her. In 1966, large exhibitions of Serebryakova's work were shown in Moscow, Leningrad and Kyiv.

Suddenly she becomes popular in Russia, her albums are printed in millions of copies, and her paintings are compared with Botticelli and Renoir.

On September 19, 1967, Zinaida Serebryakova died in Paris at the age of 82. She was buried in the Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois cemetery. Her dream - international fame came to her during her lifetime, but did not have time to gain financial well-being and independence.

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Zinaida Serebryakova, a Russian artist who became famous in the early 20th century for her self-portrait, lived a long and eventful life, most of which took place in exile in Paris. Now, in connection with the holding of a huge exhibition of her works in the Tretyakov Gallery, I would like to remember and tell about her difficult life, about the ups and downs, about the fate of her family.

Zinaida Serebryakova: biography, first successes in painting

She was born in 1884 into the famous artistic Benoit-Lancere family, which became famous for several generations of sculptors, painters, architects and composers. Her childhood passed in a wonderful creative atmosphere in the circle big family surrounding her with tenderness and care.

The family lived in St. Petersburg, and in the summer they always moved to the Neskuchnoye estate near Kharkov. Zinaida Evgenievna Serebryakova studied painting privately, first with Princess Tenishcheva in St. Petersburg, then with the portrait painter O. Braz. She later continued her education in Italy and France.

Upon returning from Paris, the artist joins the World of Art society, which united artists of those times, later called the Silver Age. The first success came to her in 1910, after showing her self-portrait "Behind the toilet" (1909), immediately bought by P. Tretyakov for the gallery.

The painting depicts a beautiful young woman standing in front of a mirror doing her morning toilet. Her eyes look kindly at the viewer, women's little things are laid out on the table nearby: perfume bottles, a jewelry box, beads, there is an unlit candle. In this work, the artist's face and eyes are still full of joyful youth and sun, expressing a bright emotional life-affirming mood.

Marriage and children

She spent all her childhood and youth with her chosen one, constantly communicating both in Neskuchny and in St. Petersburg with the family of her relatives Serebryakov. Boris Serebryakov was her cousin, they loved each other since childhood and dreamed of getting married. However, this did not work out for a long time due to the church's disagreement with closely related marriages. And only in 1905, after an agreement with a local priest (for 300 rubles), relatives were able to arrange a wedding for them.

The interests of the newlyweds were completely opposite: Boris was preparing to become an engineer railways, loved risk and even went to practice in Manchuria during Russo-Japanese War, and Zinaida Serebryakova was fond of painting. However, they were very tender and strong love relationship, bright plans for the future life together.

Their living together began with a year's length, where the artist continued to study painting at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière, while Boris studied at high school bridges and roads.

Returning to Neskuchnoye, the artist is actively working on landscapes and portraits, while Boris continues his studies at the Institute of Communications and does housework. They had four children-weather: first two sons, then two daughters. During these years, many works were dedicated to her children, which reflect all the joys of motherhood and growing up babies.

The famous painting "At Breakfast" depicts a family feast in a house where love and happiness live, depicts children at the table, surrounding household trifles. The artist also paints portraits, her own and her husband's, sketches economic life in Neskuchny, draws local peasant women in the works “Whitening of the Canvas”, “Harvest”, etc. locals the Serebryakov family was very fond of, respected for their ability to manage the household, and therefore they posed for the artist's paintings with pleasure.

Revolution and famine

The revolutionary events of 1917 also reached Neskuchny, bringing fire and disaster. The Serebryakov estate was burned down by the “fighters of the revolution”, but the artist herself and her children managed to get out of it with the help of local peasants, who warned her and even gave her a few sacks of wheat and carrots for the journey. The Serebryakovs move to Kharkov to live with their grandmother. Boris during these months worked as a road specialist, first in Siberia, then in Moscow.

Not receiving any news from her husband, greatly worried about him, Zinaida Serebryakova goes to look for him, leaving the children with her mother. However, after their reunion on the road, Boris contracted typhus and died in the arms of loving wife. Zinaida is left alone with 4 children and an elderly mother in hungry Kharkov. She works part-time at the archaeological museum, making sketches of prehistoric skulls and buying food for the children with this money.

Tragic "House of Cards"

The painting “House of Cards” by Zinaida Serebryakova was painted a few months after the death of her husband Boris, when the artist lived starving with her children and her mother in Kharkov, and became the most tragic among her works. Serebryakova herself perceived the title of the painting as a metaphor for her own life.

She was written oil paints, which were the last in that period, because. all the money went to ensure that the family did not die of hunger. Life fell apart like a house of cards. And ahead of the artist there were no prospects in her creative and personal life, the main thing at that time was to save and feed the children.

Life in Petrograd

There was no money in Kharkov, no orders for painting, so the artist decides to move the whole family to Petrograd, closer to relatives and cultural life. She was invited to work in the Petrograd Department of Museums as a professor at the Academy of Arts, and in December 1920 the whole family was already living in Petrograd. However, from teaching activities she refused to work in her workshop.

Serebryakova paints portraits, views of Tsarskoye Selo and Gatchina. However, her hopes better life failed: in northern capital there was also hunger, even had to eat potato peelings.

Rare customers helped Zinaida feed and raise children, daughter Tanya began to study choreography at the Mariinsky Theater. Young ballerinas who posed for the artist constantly came to their house. Thus, a whole series of ballet paintings and compositions was created, in which young sylphs and ballerinas are shown dressing to go on stage in a performance.

Revival begins in 1924 Several paintings by Zinaida Serebryakova were sold at an exhibition of Russian art in America. Having received a fee, she decides to leave for a while in Paris in order to earn money to support her large family.

Paris. In exile

Leaving the children with their grandmother in Petrograd, Serebryakova arrived in Paris in September 1924. However, creative life here it turned out to be unsuccessful: at first there was no own workshop, few orders, she manages to earn very little money, and even that she sends to her family in Russia.

In the biography of the artist Zinaida Serebryakova, life in Paris turned out to be a turning point, after which she was never able to return to her homeland, and she would see her two children only 36 years later, almost before her death.

The brightest period of life in France is when her daughter Katya comes here, and together they visit small towns France and Switzerland, making sketches, landscapes, portraits of local peasants (1926).

Trips to Morocco

In 1928, after painting a series of portraits for a Belgian businessman, Zinaida and Ekaterina Serebryakov set out on a trip to Morocco with the money they earned. Struck by the beauty of the East, Serebryakova makes a whole series of sketches and works, drawing eastern streets and local residents.

Returning to Paris, she arranges an exhibition of "Moroccan" works, collecting a huge amount of rave reviews, but she could not earn anything. All acquaintances noted her impracticality and inability to sell her work.

In 1932, Zinaida Serebryakova again travels to Morocco, again doing sketches and landscapes there. During these years, her son Alexander, who also became an artist, was able to escape to her. He is engaged decorative activity, decorates interiors, and also makes lampshades to order.

Her two children, having arrived in Paris, help her earn money by actively engaging in various artistic and decorative works.

Children in Russia

The two children of the artist, Evgeny and Tatyana, who remained in Russia with their grandmother, lived very poorly and hungry. Their apartment was compacted, and they occupied only one room, which they had to heat themselves.

In 1933, her mother, E. N. Lansere, died, unable to withstand hunger and deprivation, the children were left on their own. They have already grown up and have also chosen creative professions: Zhenya became an architect, and Tatyana became an artist in the theater. Gradually, they arranged their lives, created families, but for many years they dreamed of meeting their mother, constantly corresponding with her.

In the 1930s, the Soviet government invited her to return to her homeland, but in those years Serebriakova worked on a private order in Belgium, and then the Second World War. After the end of the war, she became very ill and did not dare to move.

Only in 1960 was Tatyana able to come to Paris and see her mother, 36 years after the breakup.

Exhibitions Serebryakova in Russia

In 1965, during the years of the thaw in the Soviet Union, the only lifetime personal exhibition Zinaida Serebryakova in Moscow, then she went to Kyiv and Leningrad. The artist at that moment was 80 years old, and she could not come because of her state of health, but she was immensely happy that she was remembered in her homeland.

The exhibitions were a huge success, reminding everyone of the forgotten great artist who has always been devoted to classical art. Serebryakova was able, despite all the turbulent years of the first half of the 20th century, to find her own style. In those years, impressionism and art deco, abstractionism and other trends dominated in Europe.

Her children, who lived with her in France, remained devoted to her until the end of her life, equipping her life and helping financially. They never started their families and lived with her until her death at the age of 82, after which they organized her exhibitions.

Z. Serebryakova was buried in 1967 at the Saint-Genevieve de Bois cemetery in Paris.

Exhibition in 2017

The exhibition of Zinaida Serebryakova at the Tretyakov Gallery is the largest in the last 30 years (200 paintings and drawings), timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the artist's death, runs from April to the end of July 2017.

The previous retrospective of her work took place in 1986, then some projects were carried out that showed her work in the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg and in small private exhibitions.

This time the curators of the French Foundation Fondation Serebriakoff collected a large number of works to make a grandiose exhibition, which during the summer of 2017 will be located on 2 floors of the Engineering building of the gallery.

The retrospective is arranged in chronological order, which will allow the viewer to see the various creative lines of the artist Zinaida Serebryakova, starting from early portraits and ballet works of dancers Mariinsky Theater which were made in Russia in the 20s. All her paintings are characterized by emotionality and lyrics, a positive feeling of life. In a separate room, works with images of her children are presented.

The next floor contains works created in Paris in exile, including:

• Belgian panels commissioned by Baron de Brower (1937-1937), who at one time were thought to have died during the war;
• Moroccan sketches and sketches, written in 1928 and 1932;
• portraits of Russian emigrants that were painted in Paris;
• landscapes and studies of nature in France, Spain, etc.

Afterword

All the children of Zinaida Serebryakova continued their creative traditions and became artists and architects, working in various genres. Youngest daughter Serebryakova - Ekaterina lived long life, after the death of her mother, she was actively engaged in exhibition activities and work for the Fondation Serebriakoff, died at the age of 101 in Paris.

Zinaida Serebryakova was devoted to traditions classical art and found her own style of painting, demonstrating joy and optimism, faith in love and the power of creativity, capturing many beautiful moments of her own and the surrounding life.