The Traditional English Five-O-Clock Tea Party (1880), artist Mary Cassatt

Van Gogh, Matisse, Gauguin, Dali... And hundreds of other men, the geniuses of painting, who are well known to everyone, whom we know and love since childhood. But the representatives of the beautiful half of humanity seem to remain on the sidelines ... How often can one hear an offensive, unfair question: “Why are there no famous artists among women? Maybe they don't have it?"

Of course, this is not so. Today we will remember the grandiose artists, Russian and foreign, whose paintings are rightfully considered world masterpieces. Seven great names, seven difficult female destinies in the world of fine arts, which is considered to be masculine...

Natalia Goncharova(1881-1962) - the great-granddaughter of the same Natalya Nikolaevna Goncharova, the wife of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin (at one time the artist designed The Tales of Tsar Saltan, thus paying tribute to the famous kinship).

She studied painting under the guidance of the outstanding artist and teacher Konstantin Korovin. Together with her husband, M. F. Larionov, one of the founders of the Russian avant-garde, she organized the Donkey's Tail association. In 1915 she received an invitation from Sergei Diaghilev to work on the Russian Seasons, a tour of opera and ballet dancers in Paris.

Natalya Goncharova outdid all the artists of the world with today's cost of her canvases. In 2008, the painting “Flowers”, sold at Christie's auction for more than $ 10 million, broke the price record in the “female classification”. The work is one of the key works of the Russian avant-garde, as it combines elements of European impressionism and an absolutely innovative direction , created by Goncharova and her husband - the so-called "Rayism". Like, all the objects that we see are the sum of the rays refracted from these same objects. The artist also experimented with primitivism, using icon painting.

In 2010, at the London auction, the painting "Spanish Flu" set another price record - its lucky owner parted with $ 1.216 million.

Today, most of the works of Natalia Goncharova are in the Tretyakov Gallery.

Natalya Goncharova. "Peacock under the bright sun." 1911.

Frida Kahlo(1907-1954) - the most famous Mexican artist, who was glorified by colorful self-portraits. Mexican culture and the art of the peoples of pre-Columbian America had a noticeable influence on her work. The artistic style of Frida Kahlo is characterized as folk art or naive art.

Frida was in poor health all her life - she suffered from polio at the age of six, and also suffered a serious car accident as a teenager, after which she had to undergo numerous operations that affected her for the rest of her life. It was after the tragedy that she first asked her father for brushes and paints. The first picture was a self-portrait, which forever determined the main direction of creativity. She wrote in her diary: "I write myself because I spend a lot of time alone and because I am the topic that I know best."

In 1929, Kahlo married the painter Diego Rivera. Their stormy life together has become a legend.

In 1937, in the house of Diego and Frida, who adhere to communist views, the Soviet revolutionary leader Leon Trotsky briefly found refuge; they began an affair with Frida.

In the forties, paintings by Frida Kahlo appear in several notable exhibitions. At the same time, her health problems are getting worse. Medicines and drugs designed to reduce physical suffering change her state of mind, which is vividly reflected in the diary, which has become a cult among her fans. In 1953, her first solo exhibition took place in her homeland. By that time, Frida could no longer get out of bed, and she was brought to the opening of the exhibition in a hospital bed. A year later, the cult artist and style icon passed away, but her very life, vivid image and amazing paintings became an inspiring legend for millions of people around the world...

Frida Kahlo. "Self-portrait (Diego in thought)". 1943.

Maria Bashkirtseva(1858 - 1884) - was born in the Poltava province. She is the first of the Russian artists whose paintings, "Jean and Jacques" and "Rally", adorned the walls of the Louvre. However, most of her works did not survive the First World War. In addition to 150 paintings, 200 drawings and numerous watercolors, Maria Bashkirtseva left behind her literary heritage - "Diary", which she kept from the age of 15 in French. After her death, it was translated into all European languages, and soon published in America. It is noteworthy that the mother tore out from the diary all the pages on which her daughter's feminist views were mentioned. It is known that Maria Bashkirtseva actively advocated for the rights of women. Her nature seemed cramped and the academic canons of painting. She preferred to work en plein air, painted the faces of Parisian women snatched from everyday street landscapes.

The age of the artist, unfortunately, was not long: she died of tuberculosis at only 25 years old. In the last years of her life, the artist corresponded with Guy de Maupassant, who said on her grave: “It was the only Rose in my life, whose path I would strew with roses, knowing that it would be so bright and so short!”. And the great Marina Tsvetaeva dedicated the collection of early lyrics "Evening Album" to Bashkirtseva.

Maria Bashkirtseva. "Rain Umbrella" 1883.

Mary Cassatt(1844—1926) – famous American artist and graphic artist who painted in the style of impressionism. She lived most of her life in France, was friends with Edgar Degas and Berthe Morisot. Her paintings are inspired by images of the social and private lives of women, with particular emphasis on the close bond between mothers and children.

Although Mary's family objected to her desire to become a professional artist, she began studying painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. Intolerant of the slow pace of learning and the patronizing attitude of the male students and teachers, she decided to continue her studies on her own, and in 1886 she moved to Paris.

Seeing Edgar Degas' pastels in the window of an art shop, she wrote to a friend: “I had to go up and press my nose against the window to soak up everything I could from his painting. It changed my life. I saw art the way I wanted to see it.” She met Degas in 1874. He invited her to participate in the Impressionist exhibition, and Mary Cassatt's work was exhibited in 1879.

Cassatt became extremely adept at using pastels, eventually executing many of her canvases in this technique.

A series of strictly written, subtly noticed, not sentimental paintings about mother and child is the main theme of her most famous works.

The 1890s were for Cassatt the busiest and most creative period in her life. She was imitated by young American artists who needed her advice and support. In recognition of her contribution to the arts, she received the Legion of Honor in 1904.

Mary Cassatt died in 1926 at the Château de Beaufren, near Paris, and was buried in the family vault.

Mary Cassat. "Women admiring the child." 1897.

Zinaida Serebryakova(1884-1967) - Russian realist artist. Her grandfather and great-grandfather devoted themselves to architecture, her father was engaged in sculpture and painting, and the famous artist and critic Alexander Benois was among her uncles, so Zinaida became friends with the brush and canvas from childhood.

Serebryakova married her cousin; relatives did not approve of this union, and the artist and her husband had to emigrate, leaving their children in Russia. Zinaida Serebryakova was lucky enough to see her son only 36 years later ...

Today, the artist's canvases are sold for fabulous money. And while living in Paris, she tried to earn a living by painting portraits, but very often she simply gave them to customers. Due to poverty, Serebryakova was even forced to make paints on her own. She was never able to return to Russia: World War II cut her off from her homeland.

The most famous painting by Zinaida Serebryakova is the self-portrait of the artist “Behind the toilet” (1909). For the first time, the public started talking about the author's talent after the presentation of the work at the 7th exhibition of the "Union of Russian Artists" (1910). Today, a self-portrait of the 25-year-old artist is kept in the Tretyakov Gallery. And the painting "At Breakfast" (1914), the heroes of which were the children of Serebryakova, is called one of the best children's portraits in the history of painting.

Zinaida Serebryakova. "Behind the toilet." Self-portrait. 1909.

Berthe Morisot(1841-1895) French Impressionist painter. She was the great-niece of the famous artist, master of the Rococo style, Jean Honore Fragonard, she was married to Eugene Manet, brother of her friend and colleague Edouard Manet. Bertha's facial features are well known to connoisseurs of impressionism, since Manet often painted her.

Morisot was born in Bourges, into a wealthy bourgeois family. She and her sister Edma Morisot became artists. The family, after Berta decided on her choice of profession, did not interfere with her career. She studied painting with K. Corot, working with him in the open air.

In 1864, she exhibited her work for the first time at one of the most prestigious art exhibitions in France, the Paris Salon. Her work was selected for participation in six Salons in a row, until in 1874 she joined the group of "outcast" Impressionists created by Cezanne, Degas, Monet, Morisot, Pissarro, Renoir and Sisley, and took part in their first exhibition in the studio of the photographer Nadar .

Light, filled with light and a joyful feeling of life, B. Morisot's painting creates alluring images that evoke a feeling of harmony and beauty in the soul. There are no social motives and outbursts of emotions in her paintings, but they made us take a fresh look at the ordinary and familiar events of everyday life, they exuded warmth, comfort and quiet family happiness. This direction of painting turned out to be in demand, Berta's paintings were willingly bought, they invariably aroused the interest of viewers at exhibitions. The artist had a lot of followers around the world, especially among women painters.

Berthe Morisot. "Butterfly Catching" 1874.

Elena Polenova(1850 - 1898) - sister of the famous Russian painter Vasily Polenov. An artist who created a fairy-tale world on canvases.

Born in St. Petersburg, in the family of a historian. Interest in mythical subjects comes from childhood: little Lily, as her family called her, was always read Russian folk tales. Together with her brother, she studied drawing with the famous artist and teacher, the author of the “broad look” method, Pavel Chistyakov. Since at that time the path to the Academy of Arts was ordered for women, the girl studied with Ivan Kramskoy at the St. Petersburg School of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts.

Elena Polenova's personal life did not work out. In contrast to the creative life: Tretyakov himself acquired several works for the collection. Fabulous plots of paintings came to her in a dream. And she worked on canvases in the estate of the patron Mamontov, Abramtsevo. Here, for example, the "Beast" was born - a monster that steals the soul from the realm of bright dreams.

In the last years of her life, the artist made many sketches of fantastic floral ornaments for framing icons, embroideries, and ceramics. Drawing floral ornaments, Polenova showed an inexhaustible imagination, each time finding a new arrangement of flowers, a new rhythm, creating a stormy and dynamic flow of forms. Elena Polenova died on November 19, 1898 in Moscow, in the prime of life and talent, without fulfilling many plans. So, she had to decorate the Russian pavilion at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900...

Elena Polenova. Ivan Tsarevich and the Firebird. 1896.

In Russian rental Tim Burton's new film "Big Eyes" is released - the story of American artist Margaret Keane. Margaret's work, however, was known by the name of her husband, who convinced his wife that canvases created by men were of much greater commercial value. This story is real and really conditioned by the situation in the art world. We understand why we know so little about female artists and why their works are still worth much less than those created by men.

Text: Katya Savchenko

Maria Bashkirtseva "In the studio", 1881

Since the mid-60s, artists began to think about what distinguishes them from their male colleagues.

The realm of the beautiful and immaterial today seems to us to be a completely natural habitat for women, but for centuries in art they have been assigned the role of a muse, a faithful wife or patron of an artist. Women existed "next to" art, while the creation of masterpieces was the prerogative of men. The names of the famous philanthropist Marquise Isabella d'Este and Botticelli's muse Simonetta Vespucci are inscribed in the history of Renaissance art, but how many of us will remember Sofonisba Anguissola, the first Renaissance artist? Why has the world artistic culture retained so few references to female artists? What is it - a historical accident, deliberate discrimination or a logical result of centuries of male dominance in society?

In 1971, American art historian Linda Nochlin addressed these questions in her essay "Why There Haven't Been Great Women Artists". Since the mid-1960s, female artists began to really think about what distinguishes them from their male colleagues, and actively claim the right to express their special, feminine, vision of the world in art. Written on a hot topic at that time, Linda Nochlin's article became one of the key texts of feminist art.

Nokhlin does not give an unequivocal answer to the question posed in the title of the study, and suggests that the essence of the problem lies in a whole complex of different causes. One of the most common and logical arguments for the weak presence of female artists in the history of art is the lack of access to art education. In the Middle Ages, it was possible to learn the skill of an artist, mainly by adopting knowledge from the family line, or by being hired as an apprentice to famous artists. Both scenarios in the fate of girls were rather an exception to the rule, not to mention the possibility of admission to art schools, access to which for women became relatively open only in the 19th century. Nevertheless, it was these rare cases that gave the world a number of talented artists.

One of the most widely known women in classical painting, the Italian Baroque painter and follower of Caravaggio Artemisia Gentileschi was the daughter of the painter Horatio Gentileschi. Having entered her father's workshop as a child, she quickly demonstrated her superiority over her brothers and subsequently became the first woman admitted to the Florentine Academy of Arts. Her contemporary and compatriot Fede Galicia also learned painting skills from her father, a miniature painter, and became famous for her expressive portraits and masterfully executed still lifes.

Another important obstacle that did not allow female artists to compete on equal terms in skill with men was the ban on nude drawings. The ban was in effect until the end of the 19th century, and even after it was canceled, such sketches were not encouraged for a long time. British artist Laura Knight was the first to dare to paint her self-portrait at an easel in front of a nude model, which provoked a scandal in British society. It happened in 1913. It is not surprising that in such conditions it was difficult for women to compete with men in depicting the human body and they worked mainly in the genres of portrait, landscape and still life.

Another popular explanation is the social restrictions that controlled a woman's life in society. Moderation in manners, high morality and serving the interests of her husband were valued in a girl much higher than a creative impulse. In his essay, Nokhlin cites an 1848 manual for well-mannered maidens, according to which "it is much more valuable for a girl to be able to do several things decently than to demonstrate skill in one thing." Finally, a number of theorists were of the opinion that women, in principle, cannot be geniuses because of their weakness and excessive emotionality. Similar statements are found, for example, in the philosophy of Rousseau, Kant and Schopenhauer.

Left: Laura Knight, Nude Self Portrait, 1913. Right: Laura Knight, Dawn, 1936

Moderation in manners and serving the interests of her husband were valued in a girl much higher than a creative impulse.

Natalia Goncharova "Green Forest", 1911

The alignment of forces on the art scene began to change only with the onset of the 20th century, when women began to more actively designate their place in society. The world of art also fell into their field of vision. At the beginning of the 20th century, the suffragette movement committed a series of acts of sabotage in art galleries in Great Britain. The most famous of these acts of sabotage was the attack on Sargent's portrait of Sir Henry James at the Royal Academy of Arts. On May 4, 1914, suffragette Mary Wood, armed with a butcher's knife, shouted "Voices for women!" attacked the portrait in front of the public. She later explained her act as a desire to draw attention to the determination of women to fight for the right to vote and commented on the amount of compensation imputed to her by saying: "This picture would not be worth so much if a woman painted it." By the way, since its founding in 1768 (despite the fact that among the founders were two artists: Angelica Kaufmann and Mary Moser), not a single woman was admitted to the Royal Academy for 160 years.

In parallel, at the beginning of the 20th century, the international artistic community was stirred up by the birth of the Russian avant-garde. In an effort to break with academicism in any of its manifestations, the avant-garde provided an opportunity for artists to speak out, just as the Soviet system gave them the right to vote. Among the main avant-garde artists, Natalia Goncharova, Lyubov Popova and Alexandra Exter are revered on a par with Mikhail Larionov and Vladimir Tatlin.

The next stage in the conquest of the art world by women came with the formation of the feminist art movement in the United States in the 70s. Joining the general wave of protest moods, feminist artists, together with activists of the movements for free love, the rights of national minorities and against the Vietnam War, demanded a revision of the picture of the world.

Interview with curator and participant of the exhibition "WACK: Art & The Feminist Revolution", 2007

The avant-garde gave artists the right to speak out in the same way that the Soviet system gave them the right to vote

Historically, art was created by men and assumed a view of reality from a male perspective. John Berger described the absurdity of this situation in his famous book The Art of Seeing, which criticizes the standard approach to the perception of painting. He rightly remarked: “Take any classical work depicting a naked woman. Try to imagine a man instead of a woman and think about how it will look. Feminist artists saw it as their task to redefine this perspective. From an object of contemplation, a woman aspired to become a contemplator, to reflect in art her sphere of interests, in particular, observation of herself. In their work, they often wondered what it means to be a woman in modern society, to have a female body, to be a mother, and to experience monthly menstrual cycles.

The struggle for equal positions of women and men in art was also directed against the dominance of male artists in museum collections. In 1977, the Brooklyn Museum hosted the Women Artists: 1550-1950 exhibition dedicated exclusively to women's art. The exhibition featured works by 83 artists from 12 countries. Two women also served as curators, one of whom was the aforementioned Linda Nochlin. The scale of the exhibition for the first time clearly demonstrated the number of female artists in the history of art.

It would seem that balance has finally arrived. Women artists have achieved their right to study art on an equal footing with men, to express in any art form any issues that concern them, to depict nudes and openly show their bodies to the public, to receive prestigious art awards and to arrange retrospective exhibitions in the largest museums of the world. However, the results of many studies prove that the power of men and women in the art world is still not equal.

For example, in the list of the hundred most expensive works ever sold at auction, compiled by one of the main analytical resources of the art market ArtNet, there is still not a single work created by the artist. The most expensive painting by a woman who went under the hammer was Georgia O'Keeffe's Datura (White Flower No. 1), which sold for $44.4 million. In comparison, the most expensive work ever sold at auction was created by Paul Cezanne and is valued at $250 million. The problem lies not in the degree of talent of "female" and "male" art, but in the fact that the second has been institutionalized for much longer, and not least this affects its value.

The fairness of the market value of art can be questioned, but the facts remain: for example, that in the London National Gallery, out of a collection of 2,300 works, only 11 were created by women, and among the number of artists represented by Tate, 83 percent are men. However, there is reason to believe that the situation is changing and will change, and for a start it would not hurt us to at least know more about the women who left their mark on art.

Guerrilla Girls "Do women have to be naked to be in a museum?", 2004

Van Gogh, Matisse, Gauguin, Dali... And hundreds of other men, the geniuses of painting, who are well known to everyone, whom we know and love since childhood. But the representatives of the beautiful half of humanity seem to remain on the sidelines ... How often can one hear an offensive, unfair question: "Why are there no famous artists among women? Maybe they are not given?" Of course, this is not so. Today we will remember the grandiose artists, Russian and foreign, whose paintings are rightfully considered world masterpieces. Seven great names, seven difficult female destinies in the world of fine arts, which is considered to be masculine...

Natalia Goncharova(1881−1962) - the great-granddaughter of the very same Natalya Nikolaevna Goncharova, the wife of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin (at one time the artist designed The Tales of Tsar Saltan, thus paying tribute to the famous kinship).
She studied painting under the guidance of the outstanding artist and teacher Konstantin Korovin. Together with her husband, M. F. Larionov, one of the founders of the Russian avant-garde, she organized the Donkey's Tail association. In 1915 she received an invitation from Sergei Diaghilev to work on the Russian Seasons, a tour of opera and ballet dancers in Paris.
Natalya Goncharova outdid all the artists of the world with today's cost of her canvases. In 2008, the painting “Flowers” ​​broke the price record in the “female category”, sold at Christie's for more than $10 million. The work is one of the key works of the Russian avant-garde, as it combines elements of European impressionism and an absolutely innovative direction created Goncharova and her husband - the so-called. "radiance". Like, all the objects that we see are the sum of the rays refracted from these same objects. The artist also experimented with primitivism, using iconography.
In 2010, at the London auction, the painting "Spanish Flu" set another price record - its lucky owner parted with $ 1.216 million.
Today, most of the works of Natalia Goncharova are in the Tretyakov Gallery.

Natalya Goncharova. "Peacock under the bright sun". 1911.

Frida Kahlo(1907-1954) - the most famous Mexican artist, who was glorified by colorful self-portraits. For her creativity had a significant impact on Mexican culture and art of the peoples of pre-Columbian America. The artistic style of Frida Kahlo is characterized as folk art or naive art..
All her life, Frida had poor health - she suffered from polioat the age of six, and also suffered a serious car accidentas a teenager, after which she had to undergo numerous operationsthat influenced her for the rest of her life. It was after the tragedy that she first asked her father for brushes and paints. The first picture was a self-portrait, which forever determined the main direction of creativity. She wrote in her diary:“I write myself because I spend a lot of time alone and because I am the subject that I know best.”
In 1929Kahlo married the artist Diego Rivera.Their stormy life together has become a legend.
In 1937 in the house of Diego and Frida, who adhere to communist views, the Soviet revolutionary leader Leon Trotsky briefly found refuge; they began an affair with Frida.
In the forties paintings by Frida Kahlo appear in several notable exhibitions. At the same time, her health problems are getting worse. Medicines and drugs designed to reduce physical suffering change her state of mind, which is vividly reflected in the diary, which has become a cult among her fans. In 1953 her first solo exhibition took place in her homeland. By that time, Frida could no longer get out of bed, and she was brought to the opening of the exhibition in a hospital bed. A year later, the cult artist and style icon passed away, but her very life, vivid image and amazing paintings became an inspiring legend for millions of people around the world...

Frida Kahlo. "Self-portrait (Diego in thought)". 1943.

Maria Bashkirtseva(1858 - 1884) - was born in the Poltava province. She is the first of the Russian artists whose paintings, "Jean and Jacques" and "Rally", adorned the walls of the Louvre. However, most of her works did not survive the First World War. In addition to 150 paintings, 200 drawings and numerous watercolors, Maria Bashkirtseva left behind her literary heritage - "Diary", which she kept from the age of 15 in French. After her death, it was translated into all European languages, and soon published in America. It is noteworthy that the mother tore out from the diary all the pages on which her daughter's feminist views were mentioned. It is known that Maria Bashkirtseva actively advocated for the rights of women. Her nature seemed cramped and the academic canons of painting. She preferred to work en plein air, painted the faces of Parisian women snatched from everyday street landscapes.
The age of the artist, unfortunately, was not long: she died of tuberculosis at only 25 years old. In the last years of her life, the artist corresponded with Guy de Maupassant, who said on her grave: “It was the only Rose in my life, whose path I would strew with roses, knowing that it would be so bright and so short!”. And the great Marina Tsvetaeva dedicated the collection of early lyrics "Evening Album" to Bashkirtseva.

Maria Bashkirtseva. "Rain umbrella" 1883.

Mary Cassatt(1844-1926) — famous American artist and graphic artist who painted in the style of impressionism. She lived most of her life in France, was friends with Edgar Degas and Berthe Morisot. Her paintings are inspired by images of the social and private lives of women, with particular emphasis on the close bond between mothers and children.
Although Mary's family objected to her desire to become a professional artist, she began studying painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. Intolerant of the slow pace of learning and the patronizing attitude of the male students and teachers, she decided to continue her studies on her own, and in 1886 she moved to Paris.
Seeing Edgar Degas' pastels in the window of an art shop, she wrote to a friend: “I had to go up and press my nose against the window to soak up everything I could from his painting. It changed my life. I saw art the way I wanted to see it.” She met Degas in 1874. Heinvited her to participate in the exhibition of the Impressionists, and the work of Mary Cassatt was exhibited in 1879.
Cassatt became extremely adept at using pastels, eventually executing many of her canvases in this technique.
A series of strictly written, subtly noticed, not sentimental paintings about mother and child is the main theme of her most famous works.
The 1890s were for Cassatt the busiest and most creative period in her life. She was imitated by young American artists who needed her advice and support.In recognition of her contribution to art, in 1904 shereceived the Order of the Legion of Honor.
Mary Cassatt died in 1926at the Château de Beaufren, near Paris, and was buried in the family vault.

Mary Cassat. "Women admiring the child." 1897.

Zinaida Serebryakova(1884−1967) - Russian realist artist. Her grandfather and great-grandfather devoted themselves to architecture, her father was engaged in sculpture and painting, and the famous artist and critic Alexander Benois was among her uncles, so Zinaida became friends with the brush and canvas from childhood.
Serebryakova married her cousin; relatives did not approve of this union, and the artist and her husband had to emigrate, leaving their children in Russia. Zinaida Serebryakova was lucky enough to see her son only 36 years later ...
Today, the artist's canvases are sold for fabulous money. And while living in Paris, she tried to earn a living by painting portraits, but very often she simply gave them to customers. Due to poverty, Serebryakova was even forced to make paints on her own. She was never able to return to Russia: World War II cut her off from her homeland.
The most famous painting by Zinaida Serebryakova is the self-portrait of the artist “Behind the toilet” (1909). For the first time, the public started talking about the author's talent after the presentation of the work at the 7th exhibition of the "Union of Russian Artists" (1910). Today, a self-portrait of the 25-year-old artist is kept in the Tretyakov Gallery. And the painting "At Breakfast" (1914), the heroes of which were the children of Serebryakova, is called one of the best children's portraits in the history of painting.

Zinaida Serebryakova. "Behind the toilet." Self-portrait. 1909.

Berthe Morisot (1841-1895) — French Impressionist painter. She was the great-niece of the famous artist, master of the Rococo style, Jean Honore Fragonard,was married to Eugene Manet, brother of his friend and colleague Edouard Manet. Bertha's facial features are well known to connoisseurs of impressionism, since Manet often painted her.
Morisot was born in Bourges, in a wealthy bourgeois family. She and her sister Edma Morisot became artists. The family, after Berta decided on her choice of profession, did not interfere with her career. She studied painting with K. Corot, working with him in the open air.
In 1864, she exhibited her work for the first time at one of the most prestigious art exhibitions in France, the Paris Salon.. Her work was selected to participate in six Salons in a row, until in 1874 she joined the group of "outcast" Impressionists created by Cezanne., Degas , Monet , Morisot, Pissarro, Renoir and Sisley , and took part in their first expositionin the studio of photographer Nadar.
Light, filled with light and a joyful feeling of life, B. Morisot's painting creates alluring images that evoke a feeling of harmony and beauty in the soul. There are no social motives and outbursts of emotions in her paintings, but they made us take a fresh look at the ordinary and familiar events of everyday life, they exuded warmth, comfort and quiet family happiness. This direction of painting turned out to be in demand, Berta's paintings were willingly bought, they invariably aroused the interest of viewers at exhibitions. The artist had a lot of followers around the world, especially among women painters.

Berthe Morisot. "Catching Butterflies". 1874.

Elena Polenova(1850 - 1898) - sister of the famous Russian painter Vasily Polenov. X an artist who created a fairy-tale world on canvases.
Born in St. Petersburg, in the family of a historian. Interest in mythical stories comes from childhood: little Lily, as her family called her, was always read Russian folk tales. Together with her brother, she studied drawing with the famous artist and teacher, the author of the “broad look” method, Pavel Chistyakov. Since at that time the path to the Academy of Arts was ordered for women, the girl studied with Ivan Kramskoy at the St. Petersburg School of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts.
Elena Polenova's personal life did not work out. In contrast to the creative life: Tretyakov himself acquired several works for the collection. Fabulous plots of paintings came to her in a dream. And she worked on canvases in the estate of the patron Mamontov, Abramtsevo. Here, for example, the "Beast" was born - a monster that steals the soul from the realm of bright dreams.
In the last years of her life, the artist made many sketches of fantastic floral ornaments for framing icons, embroideries, and ceramics. Drawing floral ornaments, Polenova showed an inexhaustible imagination, each time finding a new arrangement of flowers, a new rhythm, creating a stormy and dynamic flow of forms. Elena Polenova died on November 19, 1898 in Moscow, in the prime of life and talent, without fulfilling many plans. So, she had to decorate the Russian pavilion at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900...

Elena Polenova. Ivan Tsarevich and the Firebird. 1896.

If you think that all great artists are in the past, then you have no idea how wrong you are. In this article, you will learn about the most famous and talented artists of our time. And, believe me, their works will sit in your memory no less deeply than the works of the maestro from past eras.

Wojciech Babski

Wojciech Babski is a contemporary Polish artist. He graduated from the Silesian Polytechnic Institute, but connected himself with. Lately he has been painting mostly women. Focuses on the manifestation of emotions, seeks to obtain the greatest possible effect by simple means.

Loves color, but often uses shades of black and gray to achieve the best impression. Not afraid to experiment with new techniques. Recently, he has been gaining more and more popularity abroad, mainly in the UK, where he successfully sells his works, which can already be found in many private collections. In addition to art, he is interested in cosmology and philosophy. Listens to jazz. Currently lives and works in Katowice.

Warren Chang

Warren Chang is a contemporary American artist. Born in 1957 and raised in Monterey, California, he graduated magna cum laude from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena in 1981 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Fine Arts. For the next two decades, he worked as an illustrator for various companies in California and New York before starting his career as a professional artist in 2009.

His realistic paintings can be divided into two main categories: biographical interior paintings and paintings depicting working people. His interest in this style of painting is rooted in the work of the 16th-century painter Jan Vermeer, and extends to objects, self-portraits, portraits of family members, friends, students, studio, classroom and home interiors. His goal is to create mood and emotion in his realistic paintings through the manipulation of light and the use of muted colors.

Chang became famous after the transition to traditional visual arts. Over the past 12 years, he has earned numerous awards and honors, the most prestigious being the Master Signature from the Oil Painters of America, the largest oil painting community in the United States. Only one person out of 50 is honored with the opportunity to receive this award. Currently, Warren lives in Monterey and works in his studio, he also teaches (known as a talented teacher) at the San Francisco Academy of the Arts.

Aurelio Bruni

Aurelio Bruni is an Italian artist. Born in Blair, October 15, 1955. Graduated with a degree in scenography from the Art Institute in Spoleto. As an artist, he is self-taught, as he independently “built the house of knowledge” on the foundation laid back in school. He began painting in oils at the age of 19. Currently lives and works in Umbria.

Bruni's early painting is rooted in surrealism, but over time he begins to focus on the closeness of lyrical romanticism and symbolism, reinforcing this combination with the exquisite sophistication and purity of his characters. Animate and inanimate objects acquire equal dignity and look almost hyper-realistic, but at the same time, they do not hide behind a curtain, but allow you to see the essence of your soul. Versatility and sophistication, sensuality and loneliness, thoughtfulness and fruitfulness are the spirit of Aurelio Bruni, nourished by the splendor of art and the harmony of music.

Aleksander Balos

Alkasandr Balos is a contemporary Polish artist specializing in oil painting. Born in 1970 in Gliwice, Poland, but since 1989 he has been living and working in the USA, in the city of Shasta, California.

As a child, he studied art under the guidance of his father Jan, a self-taught artist and sculptor, so from an early age, artistic activity received full support from both parents. In 1989, at the age of eighteen, Balos left Poland for the United States, where his schoolteacher and part-time artist Cathy Gaggliardi encouraged Alcasander to enroll in art school. Balos then received a full scholarship to the University of Milwaukee Wisconsin, where he studied painting with philosophy professor Harry Rosin.

After completing his studies in 1995 with a bachelor's degree, Balos moved to Chicago to study at the School of Fine Arts, whose methods are based on the work of Jacques-Louis David. Figurative realism and portraiture made up the bulk of Balos' work in the 90s and early 2000s. Today, Balos uses the human figure to highlight the features and shortcomings of human existence, without offering any solutions.

The plot compositions of his paintings are intended to be independently interpreted by the viewer, only then the canvases will acquire their true temporal and subjective meaning. In 2005, the artist moved to Northern California, since then the scope of his work has expanded significantly and now includes freer methods of painting, including abstraction and various multimedia styles that help express the ideas and ideals of being through painting.

Alyssa Monks

Alyssa Monks is a contemporary American artist. She was born in 1977 in Ridgewood, New Jersey. She became interested in painting when she was still a child. She attended The New School in New York and Montclair State University, and graduated from Boston College in 1999 with a bachelor's degree. At the same time, she studied painting at the Lorenzo Medici Academy in Florence.

Then she continued her studies under the program for a master's degree at the New York Academy of Art, in the Department of Figurative Art, graduating in 2001. She graduated from Fullerton College in 2006. She briefly lectured at universities and educational institutions across the country, and taught painting at the New York Academy of Art, as well as Montclair State University and Lyme Academy College of Art.

“Using filters such as glass, vinyl, water and steam, I distort the human body. These filters allow you to create large areas of abstract design, with islands of color peeking through them - parts of the human body.

My paintings change the modern look at the already established, traditional poses and gestures of bathing women. They could tell an attentive viewer a lot about such seemingly self-evident things as the benefits of swimming, dancing, and so on. My characters are pressed against the glass of the shower cabin window, distorting their own body, realizing that they thereby influence the notorious male look at a naked woman. Thick layers of paint are mixed together to mimic glass, steam, water and flesh from afar. Up close, however, the amazing physical properties of oil paint become apparent. By experimenting with layers of paint and color, I find the moment when abstract strokes become something else.

When I first started painting the human body, I was immediately fascinated and even obsessed with it and felt that I had to make my paintings as realistic as possible. I "professed" realism until it began to unravel and deconstruct itself. Now I am exploring the possibilities and potential of a style of painting where representational painting and abstraction meet – if both styles can coexist at the same moment in time, I will do it.”

Antonio Finelli

Italian artist - time watcher” – Antonio Finelli was born on February 23, 1985. Currently lives and works in Italy between Rome and Campobasso. His works have been exhibited in several galleries in Italy and abroad: Rome, Florence, Novara, Genoa, Palermo, Istanbul, Ankara, New York, and they can also be found in private and public collections.

Pencil drawings " Watcher of time” Antonio Finelli send us on an eternal journey through the inner world of human temporality and the rigorous analysis of this world associated with it, the main element of which is the passage through time and the traces it inflicts on the skin.

Finelli paints portraits of people of any age, gender and nationality, whose facial expressions indicate the passage through time, and the artist also hopes to find evidence of the ruthlessness of time on the bodies of his characters. Antonio defines his works with one general title: “Self-portrait”, because in his pencil drawings he not only depicts a person, but allows the viewer to contemplate the real results of the passage of time inside a person.

Flaminia Carloni

Flaminia Carloni is a 37-year-old Italian artist, the daughter of a diplomat. She has three children. Twelve years she lived in Rome, three years in England and France. Received a degree in art history from the BD School of Art. Then she received a diploma in the specialty restorer of works of art. Before finding her calling and devoting herself entirely to painting, she worked as a journalist, colorist, designer, and actress.

Flaminia's passion for painting arose as a child. Her main medium is oil because she loves “coiffer la pate” and also plays with the material. She learned a similar technique in the works of the artist Pascal Torua. Flaminia is inspired by the great masters of painting such as Balthus, Hopper, and François Legrand, as well as various art movements: street art, Chinese realism, surrealism and renaissance realism. Her favorite artist is Caravaggio. Her dream is to discover the therapeutic power of art.

Denis Chernov

Denis Chernov is a talented Ukrainian artist, born in 1978 in Sambir, Lviv region, Ukraine. After graduating from the Kharkov Art College in 1998, he stayed in Kharkov, where he currently lives and works. He also studied at the Kharkov State Academy of Design and Arts, Department of Graphics, graduated in 2004.

He regularly participates in art exhibitions, at the moment there have been more than sixty of them, both in Ukraine and abroad. Most of Denis Chernov's works are kept in private collections in Ukraine, Russia, Italy, England, Spain, Greece, France, USA, Canada and Japan. Some of the works were sold at Christie's.

Denis works in a wide range of graphic and painting techniques. Pencil drawings are one of his favorite painting methods, the list of topics of his pencil drawings is also very diverse, he paints landscapes, portraits, nudes, genre compositions, book illustrations, literary and historical reconstructions and fantasies.

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Forerunners of the Famous: Russian Artists of the 19th Century

Russia is justifiably proud of its female artists - the “avant-garde Amazons” Goncharova or Rozanova, and before them - Serebryakova or Ostroumova-Lebedeva, and before them ... And who was before them? We tell you who paved the way for the flourishing of female creativity in the 20th century. The question was studied by Sofia Bagdasarova.

The number of women painting began to skyrocket starting in the 1900s. But in the previous century, count them on the fingers. This was due both to the low availability of female education, and to the patriarchal idea of ​​what professions are decent for ladies. The situation changed gradually.

Romanovs

The work of Maria Feodorovna, wife of Paul I. Portrait of Paul I. 1790

The first professional artists in Russia, of course, were foreign women - Dorothea Gzel (wife of the painter invited by Peter I), Marie-Anne Collot (daughter-in-law of the sculptor Falcone), Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun (wife of the artist Jean-Baptiste Lebrun) and others.

Perhaps the first Russian artist is also a foreigner - this is Empress Maria Feodorovna, the wife of Paul I. The Russian Grand Duchess since 1776, she enjoyed the fruits of her excellent German education: she wrote in pastel, drew on glass with lead pencils, and was also one of the first in the world to master turning skill. Her best cameos on jasper or agate are portraits of relatives. The daughters of the Empress also painted and sculpted bas-reliefs. And most importantly, Maria Fedorovna taught not only her children, but also educated all her female subjects in general. She founded institutes and schools, came up with curricula, that is, outlined a clear plan for the development of women's education in Russia, which the country adhered to for a century.

Her namesake, another Empress Maria Feodorovna (the wife of her great-grandson Alexander III), was also engaged in painting. Her ability to draw was inherited by her daughter, Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna. This helped her to feed her children in exile: although her watercolors are not so talented, it was nice for buyers to have something “from the Romanovs”.

Noblewomen-amateurs

Gradually, it became like in Europe: every educated young lady had to be able to dance, embroider and draw. Among the noblewomen of the Alexander and Nikolaev eras, amateur artists appeared who decorated their albums and memorial books with various sketches. The ladies worked on the model of the works of other artists: for example, the lady-in-waiting Ekaterina Bakunina (married Poltoratskaya), the subject of Pushkin's passion, created her own "self-portrait" by making a copy of a drawing by Orest Kiprensky; her portraits of her mother and husband are also copies.

Some ladies mastered the technique of pastels (daughter of General Kamensky Alexander Rzhevskaya, niece of the Counts Panin Alexander Repnin). Young ladies from the Sheremetev, Dolgoruky, Apraksin families were engaged in drawing. Painting miniatures on ivory was considered decent - as Anna Buturlina, the great-niece of Chancellor Vorontsov, did. And the most talented dared to paint in oil - a labor-intensive "male" technique. Among them is the daughter of the head of the Smolny Institute, Alexander Buhler, and Gogol's cousin, Glafira Psel, a pupil of the Governor-General of Little Russia.

G. Psyol. Sister's portrait. 1839

A. Buturlina. Self-portrait. 1817

E. Bakunina (Poltoratskaya). Mother's portrait. 1828

Daughters and sisters

Maria Durnova. Portrait of a boy. 1820

Aristocrats, of course, were taught by visiting teachers. Girls who were born in artistic families mastered the arts in a different way. The earliest examples are apparently the daughter of the historical painter Trofim Durnov Maria and the famous genre painter Alexander Venetsianov. Venetsianova's works were no longer amateurish, and she was not afraid to paint in oils. The only pity is that the dependence on a relative-teacher is obvious: of course, the girl created genre paintings. However, artists of later generations also sinned with this: take Olga Lagoda-Shishkina, who studied at the Imperial Academy of Arts in the 1870s. She became first a student, and then the wife of the famous Ivan Shishkin. Olga Lagoda-Shishkina, like her husband, wrote in the landscape genre. The work of Isaac Levitan was inspired by Sofya Kuvshinnikova, his student and long-term lover.

Toward the end of the century, women from artistic families acquire their own language. No one will reproach Polenov's talented sister Elena with her fairy tales for imitation. The daughter of Konstantin Makovsky, Elena Luksh-Makovskaya, also had her own manner.

diligent students

Vocational training for women began in the late 1830s, when drawing classes for girls were opened under the Imperial Society for the Encouragement of Arts. Evdokia Bakunina and Ekaterina Khilkova studied there. A painting by Khilkova depicting these activities has been preserved. Over time, women began to be admitted to the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. Two volunteers of the school, Antonina Rzhevskaya and Emilia Shanks, are the only women accepted into the Association of the Wanderers. In 1842, women's evening classes were opened in St. Petersburg at the St. Petersburg drawing school for volunteers.

Women were also admitted to the Imperial Academy of Arts - for the first time, as many as 30 people, including Shishkin's future wife, as volunteers. For women of the 19th century, who began to think about emancipation, the milestone was 1854, when the Academy's medal was first received by a woman - Sukhovo-Kobylin's sister Sofya. (By the way, two years earlier, a woman became the president of the Academy - the Emperor's sister, Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna.) In 1873, the Academy allowed female students to study in the same classes with students, but over time, the number of girls increased so much that they decided to make their own department. Blended learning, and even in a public institution, was an advanced phenomenon: for example,