Stories of famous paintings. Ten entertaining stories about paintings from the Tretyakov Gallery

Interesting stories and facts from the world visual arts.

Facts about painting

• It took Michelangelo only 4 years to create the famous ceiling of the Sistine Chapel (1500s), but restoration in the late 1900s dragged on for almost 20 years.
• Briton Tim Knowles leans painted tree branches against the canvas, letting the wind do the rest.
• In the museum contemporary art(New York) work Le Bateau (Henri Matisse) hung “head down” for 46 days until the error was discovered.
  
  
• Claude Monet's father did not approve of his son's work, wanting him to work as a grocer.
  
  
• The first painting is believed to have been created approximately 40,000 years ago. Prehistoric cave work used a stencil. Other artists whose drawings date back to this time used hollow bird bones to spray paint onto walls.
• The Greek philosopher Plato first discovered that mixing two colors various colors leads to the creation of a third.
• The first painters' union was formed in London in 1502.
• John James Audubon painted 435 birds in watercolor.
  
  
• Many Indians depicted life with black paint and death with yellow paint.
• About 10% of all paint purchased in the US ends up being thrown away.
• Some scientists believe, and painters take it into account, that different colors can heal certain ailments. For example, red helps relieve depression and restore strength, while green relieves stress.
• Among the Aztecs, red dyes were considered more valuable than gold.
• The first word Pablo Picasso spoke was "pencil".
• Pablo Picasso made more than 100 preliminary sketches of the painting “Les Demoiselles d'Avignon,” which was considered immoral by critics.
  
• For the painting “American Gothic,” Grant Wood used his sister, dressed in her mother’s apron, and a 62-year-old dentist as models.
• Although the intrepid surrealist Salvador Dalí was keen to never explain the content of his work, he did say that the idea for his iconic clock (The Persistence of Memory) came from pieces of Camembert cheese melting in the sun.
  
  

When visiting a city or country, travelers do not ignore famous museums. There they closely examine famous paintings, trying to understand what is special about them. Some facts will help you understand this.

The most mysterious smile in the world: “Mona Lisa” by Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)

• Most mysterious picture in the world they consider “La Gioconda (Mona Lisa)”.
• It is not known for certain who the model was and for whom the painter painted. There is an opinion that the painting was commissioned by a wealthy Florentine. But who would wait that long for a job? Other researchers believe that the woman depicted is the ideal of the Renaissance. There is an opinion that Leonardo da Vinci painted the picture from himself.

• No one knows exactly when the painting was started.
• The canvas is not finished.
• The title is a spelling error. "Mona" - short form"Madonna".
• The Mona Lisa is not entirely perfect. The woman has no eyebrows.

• Damaged painting. In 1956, a stone was thrown at the area above the woman's left elbow.
• Leonardo da Vinci was an unusual person. He is not only a painter, but also an inventor, scientist, sculptor, engineer, and architect. He even came up with designs for handbags!
• The artist made personal notes from right to left, with his left hand and in a mirror manner, dismembering corpses to understand the structure of muscles.

• The painter left behind a small artistic legacy - only 20 canvases.
• Leonardo da Vinci played the lyre very well and sang well.
• Most often the master depicted women.

“The first day for the Russian brush”: Karl Bryullov (1799-1852) and “The Last Day of Pompeii”

• Thousands of people besieged the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts in 1834 to see The Last Day of Pompeii.
• The artist devoted six whole years to creating this painting.
• There was one more thing in the first drafts actor- robber. But then the artist removed it.

• K. Bryullov created the picture for Demidov. The breeder then gave her as a gift.
• A walk through the ruins of Pompeii greatly inspired the painter. He even participated in archaeological excavations.
• Bryullov made himself one of the characters - a man with a sketchbook on his head.
• Several women in the picture have the features of the creator’s beloved, Yulia Samoilova.

• The dead woman in the foreground is a symbol of the fall of Antiquity.
• Bryullov was the one who opened the way Russian artists. His paintings were exhibited as a guide for beginning painters. · After painting “The Last Day of Pompeii,” the master began to be called “the divine Charles.”

• The painting became the first Russian painting to make a splash throughout the world.
• The artist was deaf in one ear due to a slap in the face that his father gave him.
• “And the “Last Day of Pompeii” became the first day for the Russian brush,” so exclaimed the poet E. A. Baratynsky.

• In Bryullov’s studio one could often hear poetry; reading aloud made it easier for the artist to work.
• Some of the painter’s paintings were completed by his students.
• He even dedicated a poem to this picture.

Union of 14 best artists: the Wanderers

• Their story began in 1863, when graduates of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts demanded the right to freely choose the topic of their competition work in order to receive gold medal. They were refused. Then the "Artel of Artists" appeared, including painters from Moscow and St. Petersburg.
• More famous name connections - "Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions".

• The artists were dissatisfied with the slogan of the Academy of Arts - “Art for art’s sake.” They proclaimed that art should be for people.
• The first exhibition took place in St. Petersburg in 1871.
• One of the founders of the community was. His most famous paintings are “Unknown” and “Inconsolable Grief.”

• There are many opinions about the canvas “Unknown” by I. N. Kramskoy. Some believe that I. N. Kramskoy portrayed Anna Karenina. Others suggest that this is the wife of the Decembrist. Sometimes you hear the idea that this is an actress or the daughter of an artist. Many people confuse the woman with the heroine of the poem “The Stranger”.
• The artists were actively supported by P. Tretyakov, many works of the Peredvizhniki are now stored in his gallery - one of the largest and famous museums Russia. It is in it that you can see the canvas “Ivan the Terrible and his son Ivan”, “Morning Streltsy execution" , "Above eternal peace"I. I. Levitan and much more.

• I. N. Kramskoy often worked in portrait direction, painted with his brush, M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, I. I. Shishkin, P. A. Tretyakov.
• Characters genre works I. N. Kramskoy often paints women, and portraits are often men.
• V.I. Surikov preferred to create paintings where the main character was the whole people, as in the painting “The Morning of the Streltsy Execution.”

• Almost all the paintings feature a church.
• It was Isaac Levitan who considered “the best Russian landscape painter.”
• Most of all, I. I. Levitan was inspired by the Volga. He especially liked the town of Ples, whose church is visible in the painting “Above Eternal Peace.”

• V. I. Surikov great importance gave details. To such big paintings, like “Lady Morozova,” he always did a lot of sketches.
• The painting “Mermaids” by I. N. Kramskoy was created based on “May Night”.

Song of the Sea: Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky (1817 – 1900)

• One of the most talented artists was a philanthropist and collector.
• He was born in Feodosia, and since childhood he saw the sea and ships.
• “I.K. Aivazovsky” really became the artist’s real name in 1841. Before that, he was officially addressed as Hovhannes Ayvazyan.

• The artist played the violin beautifully.
• He became the first Russian painter whose paintings were exhibited at the Louvre.
• The artist had four daughters. He was very worried that his last name had not been passed on to his grandchildren. And so he adopted the son of his eldest daughter.

• Some paintings are signed "Guy". After all, the marine painter’s father, having arrived in Feodosia, changed his surname to “Gayvazovsky”.
• The abyss and ships most often appear in the paintings of this artist. But there are also canvases with landscapes of the East, and on a religious theme.
• During his lifetime, the painter was called the pioneer of the genre of marine painting in Rome.

• The creator was adored by the fleet for his battle paintings of sea battles.
• In 1846, during the tenth anniversary exhibition creative activity I.K. Aivazovsky’s squadron of warships under the command of V.A. Kornilov arrived in Feodosia to congratulate the hero of the day.
• The most famous painting by I.K. Aivazovsky is “The Ninth Wave”. In terms of skill, it was compared to Karl Bryullov’s painting “The Last Day of Pompeii.”

• The name “Ninth Wave” appeared because in many countries sailors consider this wave to be the most destructive.
• Tretyakov liked the painting “The Ninth Wave” so much that he wanted to buy it for his gallery, but the canvas is kept in the Russian Museum. In the Tretyakov Gallery you can see more than two dozen paintings by the marine painter, including “Rainbow” and “Black Sea”.

• The painter created about 6,000 paintings in a variety of formats during his life.
• Aivazovsky never painted from life, he only thoughtfully and carefully examined the object, and then painted it in his studio.
• Aivazovsky didn’t do well with people, so the painting “Pushkin’s Farewell to the Sea” was painted in a duet with Repin.

• On any artist’s canvas, be it a storm or a battle, there is always an image of hope.
• The artist's canvases often become targets of theft.
• The Marinist received ten orders. He threw five of them (those that were given to him in Turkey) into the sea.

Admiring still lifes, we can hardly imagine what was depicted in the first paintings painted in this genre. And on them, in fact, the products of decay were painted: rotting fruits, withering flowers. Very often such works were decorated with a human skull. The artists once again wanted to remind us that we are all just guests in this world...

The most expensive painting in the world is considered to be “The Massacre of the Innocents” by Rubens. The painting wanders from one rich man to another, and its price is steadily rising. Last time it was purchased for more than 73 million euros. It is not surprising that the buyer wished to remain anonymous...

The artist most offended by “grateful” fans can be called Henri Matisse. In 1961, the Museum of Modern Art, located in New York, presented his painting “The Boat” to visitors. And only after almost a month and a half, a casual art connoisseur noticed that the masterpiece was hanging not as it should be for a masterpiece, but upside down. The confusion was terrible...

Even during the life of Ilya Repin on his famous Ivan An assassination attempt was made against Ivan the Terrible, who had just killed his son. The mad icon painter, unable to withstand the king’s terrible gaze, cut the canvas with a knife. Not only the best restorers were involved in the restoration, but also Repin himself. But the master did not want to return to the original Ivan the Terrible, who appeared 20 years ago, and painted the tsar’s face in a new way. As a result, it turned out purple. The restorers, secretly from Repin, returned the face of Ivan IV to its original color. When the picture was shown to the artist, he did not pay attention to such “arbitrariness.”

Can Christ and Judas have the same face? Maybe if it's the sitter's face. Painting " last supper"cost Leonardo da Vinci titanic efforts. The artist found the person who posed for him as “Christ” quite quickly - a singer was perfect for his role church choir. But the search for “Judas” took three years. One day, walking down the street, the master saw a drunkard who could not get out of the cesspool. The lover of the green serpent was still young, but due to regular libations he looked much older than his years. Leonardo brought him to the nearest drinking establishment, sat him down at the table and began to draw. Imagine the artist’s amazement when the sober drunk said that he had already posed for him several years ago! This was the same singer...

Manet and Monet are confused not only by modern art lovers - they were also confused by their contemporaries. Artists not only lived at the same time and wore similar surnames, but also borrowed ideas from each other. After Manet presented the painting “Luncheon on the Grass” to the public, Monet, without thinking twice, painted his own, and under the same name.

Many of Vasnetsov’s “colleagues” did not like either him or the paintings he painted. They nicknamed the battlefield strewn with corpses, left after the battle between Prince Igor and the Polovtsians, nothing less than “Carrion.” Another painting by the master, “Flying Carpet,” received an even more malicious name: “Carpet with Ears.”

The great masterpieces of painting that you encounter every day in museums, books, games, movies and even advertising are not just Nice picture, but also a code with a lot of details and semantic interpretations.

Therefore, it is not surprising that pictures that everyone has already seen a million times can test your logic, attention, intelligence and knowledge of history more than once. Look for picturesque scenes, expose homegrown myths. This is not just a mental training, but also a good way to outshine all the annoying smart guys in the next conversation. And impress a pretty person with a faint glimmer of thought in her bottomless eyes.

BOTTICELLIAN MOOD

Botticelli Sandro. Birth of Venus, 1482-1486.

Uffizi, Florence

Style: early Renaissance

At first sight Just born from foam marine Venus, chastely covering her chest and womb, swims to the shore on a shell. On the left, Zephyr and his wife Chloris are blowing roses at her. On the shore, the nymph Ora for some reason hurries to cover the nakedness of Venus with a purple cloak. But the naked shameless woman feels great and in what her mother gave birth to, she does not pay attention to worries and looks forward, through the viewer. A light sadness froze in the eyes of the goddess, as if she was going into earthly life to earn money... sorry, she was going to suffer torment.

In fact The painting illustrates the myth of the birth of Venus. Main role played by Simonetta Vespucci - the first beauty of Florence, the lover of Giuliano Medici and, according to rumors, the secret passion of Botticelli himself. Need I say that the most noble Simonetta was married to a third, stranger? The gestures and proportions of Venus's body are written in accordance with the canons of classical Greek sculpture. The mantle in Ora’s hands symbolizes the border between two worlds, and the shell symbolizes purity and purity, but as soon as she steps ashore...

That's it! Thanks to Botticelli watering the painting protective layer made from egg yolk, “The Birth of Venus” has been preserved much better than many masterpieces.

CHEESE HOUR

Dali Salvador. The Persistence of Memory, 1931.

Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Style: surrealism.

At first sight The clock melts against the sultry backdrop of the landscape from Port Ligat.

In fact The molten clock is an image of the relativity and gluttony of time, which devours itself and everything else, and the clock covered with ants symbolizes death. On the deserted shore, personifying the inner emptiness, sleeps the head of Dali himself, who is the main prisoner of all-consuming time.

That's it! Inspired by melted Camembert cheese, Dali decided to melt a clock on his canvas. The artist often gave funny explanations for his paintings in order to deliberately mislead people. And this is no exception.

MAGICAL REALISM

Rene Magritte. Son of Man, 1964.

Private collection

Style: surrealism.

At first sight A neatly dressed yuppie is about to get hit in the face with an apple... but he doesn't.

In fact In Magritte’s paintings, the most interesting thing is always, as luck would have it, hidden by some simple object. IN in this case this is an apple symbolizing temptation. It persistently levitates in the face of a reserved businessman, in whose face the artist depicted the “son of Adam” and himself. Therefore, we are not so offended, because we know what Magritte’s face looks like.

EYES, LIPS, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, HANDS

Mona Lisa, 1503-1505.

Louvre, Paris

Style: High Renaissance

At first sight A curvaceous woman with shaved eyebrows and sparse breasts, turning half-turn, sits in a chair against the backdrop of a mysterious landscape. In fact, the miracle of the picture is in a technique called sfumato: thanks to smooth transitions from light to shadow and light shading of the eye sockets, corners of the lips and graceful hands, it develops controversial image a bashful girl and a voluptuous mistress. The second advantage of the picture is contrast fantastic landscape and a very real figure. Plucked eyebrows and a shaved forehead are not a sign of extremism, but just a tribute to the fashion of the Quattrocento era.

That's it! Contrary to the abyss of nonsense written by art critics, Da Vinci's main task was to revive the model's face.

REVELATION OF THE "PROFESSOR OF NIGHTMARES"

Bosch Jerome. Garden earthly pleasures, 1500-1510.

Prado Museum, Madrid

Style: Northern Renaissance

At first sight Triptych on biblical themes, reminiscent huge collection kinder surprises.

In fact On the left, in Paradise, God introduces Eve to the stunned Adam. Peaceful life animals are disrupted by the lion's meal, and an owl, a messenger of misfortune, sticks out from the source of Life (the building in the center). In the center is a prototype of hippie erotic parties - a garden of pleasures, where everyone lets out divine instructions through the forest: they play, eat and indulge in carnal pleasures. According to psychoanalysis: cherries, strawberries, strawberries and grapes, which are eaten here, mean sinful sexuality, fish - lust, and birds - lust and debauchery. On the right, as an inevitable result, are monsters led by Satan the Eggshell and torture machines. Bosch shows us the corrupting influence of lust. And it all started so well!

That's it! Despite the BDSM bacchanalia depicted here, this painting fully complies with strict biblical canons and is liked by church authorities.

Style: Baroque.

At first sight A stylish young man with a crowd of boys flew in on a winged horse to flirt with a naked fetishist.

In fact The beautiful Andromeda, chained to a rock, was planning to be eaten by a sea monster. But while it was rummaging with seasonings, young Perseus, shod latest fashion into winged sandals, turned the monster to stone. Here we see all the trendy attributes of the ancient Greek hipster: an invisibility helmet, a mirror shield with the head of the Gorgon Medusa and the winged horse Pegasus. But ancient myths Rubens served more as a pretext for depicting naked female charms. It is not for nothing that Andromeda’s light, slightly overweight body is the dominant part of the picture, to which the viewer first of all pays attention. Is not it so?

That's it! Despite Rubens's great contribution to the depiction of naked beauties, he also has his share of ill-wishers who accuse him of being overly enthusiastic about the blooming beauty of the nude. female body. Isn't it stupid?

CHAIROSHADOW MARTYR...

Rembrandt van Rijn. The night Watch, 1642.

Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

Style: Baroque

At first sight Captain Cock (center) gave the order to march to Lieutenant Reitenburg (right), and everyone immediately began to fuss.

In fact Even the details of the shooters’ clothing move in the picture. Notice the masterful play of light and shadow: the contrast of the dark alley (behind) and the illuminated square. A girl in a bright golden dress compensates for Reitenburg's bright camisole, and his halberd sets the direction of movement for the entire canvas.

That's it! Because of the soot that covered the painting, for a long time no one had any idea that the action was taking place during the day - look at the shadow of Captain Cock's left hand.

NORTHERN MONA LISA

Vermeer Jan. Girl with a Pearl Earring, ca. 1565.

Mauritshuis, The Hague.

Style: Baroque

At first sight An ordinary face of an ordinary girl.

In fact The artist sought to convey the moment of spontaneous movement when the girl turns her head, noticing our presence. According to the name and statements of art critics, the viewer's attention is primarily attracted by the pearl earring. In our opinion, captivated by the attractive gaze and sensual lips, which have remained mysteriously silent for more than three hundred years, the discerning viewer is unlikely to remember the earring.

That's it! This painting has a modern, very indecent “reproduction”, but we didn’t tell you about it!

ANCIENT ROMAN DISASTER WITH A HEAP OF MALOA

Bryullov Karl. The last day of Pompeii, 1830-1833.

State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg.

Style: romanticism

At first sight The city is in a sea of ​​fire, chaos reigns all around. In the center of the composition lies the body of a rich woman, who fell to her death from a chariot, which the horses carry into the depths of the picture. On the right, two brothers save their elderly father. Everyone is panicking.

In fact In the distance, the volcano Vesuvius, the culprit of the disaster, is burning. But the main scene is illuminated not by his flame, but by Bryullov’s remarkable find - a second flash of lightning. The color scheme of the painting is blue, red and yellow colors, illuminated by white light, was very brave for its time.

That's it! Bryullov conceived “Pompeii” as quick way to become famous and did not fail - the painting became the object of universal worship of the Russians, Italians and French.

Today we present to your attention twenty paintings that are worthy of attention and recognition. These paintings were painted by famous artists, and not only those who engage in art should know them, but also ordinary mortals, since art colors our lives, aesthetics deepens our view of the world. Give art its due place in your life...

1. “The Last Supper.” Leonardo Da Vinci, 1495 - 1498

Monumental painting by Leonardo da Vinci depicting the scene of Christ's last meal with his disciples. Created in 1495-1498 in the Dominican monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan.

The painting was commissioned by Leonardo from his patron, Duke Ludovico Sforza and his wife Beatrice d'Este. The lunettes above the painting, formed by a ceiling with three arches, are painted with the Sforza coat of arms. The painting began in 1495 and was completed in 1498; work proceeded intermittently. The date of the start of work is not certain, since "the archives of the monastery were destroyed, and the negligible part of the documents that we have dates back to 1497, when the painting was almost completed."

The painting became a milestone in the history of the Renaissance: the correctly reproduced depth of perspective changed the direction of the development of Western painting.

It is believed that many secrets and hints are hidden in this picture - for example, there is an assumption that the image of Jesus and Judas was copied from the same person. When Da Vinci painted the picture, in his vision Jesus personified good, while Judas was pure evil. And when the master found “his Judas” (a drunkard from the street), it turned out that, according to historians, this drunkard several years earlier served as a prototype for painting the image of Jesus. Thus, we can say that this picture captures a person in different periods his life.

2. “Sunflowers”. Vincent Van Gogh, 1887

The title of two cycles of paintings by the Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh. The first series was made in Paris in 1887. It is dedicated to lying flowers. The second series was completed a year later, in Arles. She depicts a bouquet of sunflowers in a vase. Two Parisian paintings purchased by van Gogh's friend Paul Gauguin.

The artist painted sunflowers eleven times. The first four paintings were created in Paris in August - September 1887. Large cut flowers lie like some strange creatures dying before our eyes.

3. “The Ninth Wave.” Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky?, 1850.

One of the most famous paintings by the Russian marine painter Ivan Aivazovsky is kept in the Russian Museum.

The painter depicts the sea after a severe night storm and shipwrecked people. The rays of the sun illuminate the huge waves. The largest of them - the ninth shaft - is ready to fall on people trying to escape on the wreckage of the mast.

Despite the fact that the ship is destroyed and only the mast remains, the people on the mast are alive and continue to fight the elements. The warm colors of the picture make the sea not so harsh and give the viewer hope that people will be saved.

Created in 1850, the painting “The Ninth Wave” immediately became the most famous of all his marinas and was acquired by Nicholas I.

4. “Makha naked.” Francisco Goya, 1797-1800

Painting Spanish artist Francisco Goya, painted around 1797-1800. Pairs with the painting “Maja Dressed” (La maja vestida). The paintings depict Macha, a Spanish townswoman of the 18th-19th centuries, one of the artist’s favorite subjects. "Maha Nude" is one of early works Western art depicting a fully nude woman without mythological or negative connotations.

5. “Flight of Lovers.” Marc Chagall, 1914-1918

Work on the painting “Above the City” began back in 1914, and finishing touches The master applied it only in 1918. During this time, Bella turned from a lover not only into an adored wife, but also the mother of their daughter Ida, forever becoming the painter’s main muse. The union of the rich daughter of a hereditary jeweler and a simple Jewish youth, whose father made a living by unloading herring, can only be called a misalliance, but love was stronger and overcame all conventions. It was this love that inspired them, lifting them to heaven.

Karina portrays Chagall’s two loves at once – Bella and Vitebsk, dear to her heart. The streets are presented in the form of houses separated by a high dark fence. The viewer will not immediately notice a goat grazing to the left of the center of the picture, and a simple man with his pants down in the foreground - humor from the painter, breaking out of the general context and romantic mood of the work, but this is all Chagall...

6. “The Face of War.” Salvador Dali, 1940.

Painting by Spanish artist Salvador Dali, painted in 1940.

The painting was created on the way to the USA. Impressed by the tragedy unfolding in the world and the bloodthirstiness of politicians, the master begins work on the ship. Located in the Boijmans-van Beuningen Museum in Rotterdam.

Having lost all hope for normal life in Europe, an artist from his beloved Paris leaves for America. War covers the Old World and seeks to take over the rest of the world. The master does not yet know that his stay in the New World for eight years will make him truly famous, and his works will become masterpieces of world painting.

7. "Scream" Edvard Munch, 1893

“The Scream” (Norwegian Skrik) is a series of paintings by Norwegian expressionist artist Edvard Munch created between 1893 and 1910. They depict a human figure screaming in despair against a blood-red sky and an extremely generalized landscape background. In 1895, Munch created a lithograph on the same subject.

The red, fiery hot sky covered the cold fjord, which, in turn, gives birth to a fantastic shadow, similar to some kind of sea monster. Tension has distorted space, lines are broken, colors are inconsistent, perspective is destroyed.

Many critics believe that the plot of the picture is the fruit of the sick imagination of a mentally ill person. Some people see in the work a premonition of an environmental disaster, others decide which mummy inspired the author to create this work.

8. “The Girl with a Pearl Earring.” Jan Vermeer, 1665

The painting “Girl with a Pearl Earring” (Netherlands: “Het meisje met de parel”) was painted around 1665. IN given time stored in the Mauritshuis Museum, The Hague, the Netherlands, and is business card museum. The painting, nicknamed the Dutch Mona Lisa, or Mona Lisa of the North, is painted in the Tronie genre.

Thanks to Peter Webber's film "The Girl with a Pearl Earring" in 2003, a huge number of people far from painting learned about the wonderful Dutch artist Jan Vermeer, as well as about him famous painting"Girl with a pearl earring."

9. "Tower of Babel." Pieter Bruegel, 1563

Famous painting by artist Pieter Bruegel. The artist created at least two paintings based on this subject.

The painting is located in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.

There is a story in the Bible about how the inhabitants of Babylon tried to build a high tower to reach heaven, but God made them speak in various languages, stopped understanding each other, and the tower remained unfinished.

10. "Algerian women." Pablo Picasso, 1955

“Women of Algeria” is a series of 15 paintings created by Picasso in 1954–1955 based on the paintings of Eugene Delacroix; the paintings are distinguished by the letters assigned by the artist from A to O. “Version O” was painted on February 14, 1955; for some time it belonged to the famous American art collector of the 20th century, Victor Ganz.

Pablo Picasso's painting "Women of Algeria (Version O)" sold for $180 million.

11. "New Planet". Konstantin Yuon, 1921

Russian Soviet painter, master of landscape, theater artist, art theorist. Academician of the USSR Academy of Arts. People's Artist THE USSR. Laureate Stalin Prize first degree. Member of the All-Union Communist Party since 1951.

This is an amazing painting, created in 1921 and not at all typical of the realist artist Yuon, “ New planet” is one of the brightest works that embodied the image of the changes that became in the second decade of the 20th century October Revolution. New system new way And new image thinking of the newly emerging Soviet society. What awaits humanity now? Bright future? They didn’t think about it then, but what Soviet Russia and the whole world is entering an era of change, obviously, as is the rapid birth of a new planet.

12. “Sistine Madonna.” Raphael Santi, 1754

A painting by Raphael, which has been in the Old Masters Gallery in Dresden since 1754. It belongs to the generally recognized peaks of the High Renaissance.

Huge in size (265 × 196 cm, this is how the size of the painting is indicated in the catalog Dresden gallery) the canvas was created by Raphael for the altar of the church of the monastery of St. Sixtus in Piacenza, commissioned by Pope Julius II. There is a hypothesis that the painting was painted in 1512-1513 in honor of the victory over the French who invaded Lombardy during the Italian Wars, and the subsequent inclusion of Piacenza into the Papal States.

13. “Repentant Mary Magdalene.” Titian (Tiziano Vecellio), painted around 1565

Painting painted around 1565 Italian artist Titian Vecellio. Belongs State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. Sometimes the date of creation is given as "1560s".

The model for the painting was Julia Festina, who amazed the artist with her shock of golden hair. The finished canvas greatly impressed the Duke of Gonzaga, and he decided to order a copy of it. Later, Titian, changing the background and posing of the woman, wrote a couple more similar works.

14. "Mona Lisa". Leonardo Da Vinci, 1503-1505

Portrait of Mrs. Lisa del Giocondo, (Italian. Ritratto di Monna Lisa del Giocondo) - a painting by Leonardo da Vinci, located in the Louvre (Paris, France), one of the most famous works painting in the world, which is believed to be a portrait of Lisa Gherardini, wife of the Florentine silk merchant Francesco del Giocondo, painted around 1503-1505.

According to one of the put forward versions, “Mona Lisa” is a self-portrait of the artist.

15. “Morning in a pine forest”, Shishkin Ivan Ivanovich, 1889.

Painting by Russian artists Ivan Shishkin and Konstantin Savitsky. Savitsky painted bears, but the collector Pavel Tretyakov erased his signature, so that the author of the painting is often indicated alone.

The idea for the painting was suggested to Shishkin by Savitsky, who later acted as a co-author and depicted the figures of the bear cubs. These bears, with some differences in poses and numbers (at first there were two of them), appear in preparatory drawings and sketches. Savitsky turned out the animals so well that he even signed the painting together with Shishkin.

16. “We didn’t expect it.” Ilya Repin, 1884-1888

Painting by Russian artist Ilya Repin (1844-1930), painted in 1884-1888. It is part of the collection of the State Tretyakov Gallery.

The painting shown on XII traveling exhibition, is part of a narrative cycle dedicated to the fate of the Russian revolutionary populist.

17. “Ball at the Moulin de la Galette”, Pierre Auguste Renoir, 1876.

The picture painted French artist Pierre Auguste Renoir in 1876.

The place where the painting is located is the Musée d’Orsay. Moulin de la Galette is an inexpensive tavern in Montmartre, where students and working youth of Paris gathered.

18. "Starry Night." Vincent Van Gogh, 1889.

De sterrennacht- a painting by the Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh, painted in June 1889, with a view of the pre-dawn sky over a fictional town from the eastern window of the artist’s home in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. Since 1941 it has been kept at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Considered one of the best works Van Gogh and one of the most significant works of Western painting.

19. “The Creation of Adam.” Michelangelo, 1511.

Fresco by Michelangelo, painted around 1511. The fresco is the fourth of nine central compositions of the ceiling Sistine Chapel.

“The Creation of Adam” is one of the most outstanding compositions of the Sistine Chapel painting. God the Father flies in infinite space, surrounded by wingless angels, with a flowing white tunic. Right hand stretched out towards Adam's hand and almost touches it. Adam's body lying on the green rock gradually begins to move and awakens to life. The entire composition is concentrated on the gesture of two hands. The hand of God gives an impulse, and the hand of Adam receives it, giving it to the whole body vital energy. By the fact that their hands do not touch, Michelangelo emphasized the impossibility of connecting the divine and the human. In the image of God, according to the artist’s plan, it is not the miraculous principle that prevails, but gigantic creative energy. In the image of Adam, Michelangelo celebrates strength and beauty human body. In fact, what appears before us is not the creation of man itself, but the moment at which he receives a soul, a passionate search for the divine, a thirst for knowledge.

20. “Kiss in the starry sky.” Gustav Klimt, 1905-1907

Painting by the Austrian artist Gustav Klimt, painted in 1907-1908. The canvas belongs to the period of Klimt’s work, called “golden”, last piece the author in his “golden period”.

On a cliff, on the edge flower meadow, in a golden aura, lovers stand completely immersed in each other, fenced off from the whole world. Due to the uncertainty of the place of what is happening, it seems that the couple depicted in the picture is moving into a cosmic state that is not subject to time and space, on the other side of all historical and social stereotypes and cataclysms. Complete solitude and the man's face turned back only emphasize the impression of isolation and detachment in relation to the observer.

Source – Wikipedia, muzei-mira.com, say-hi.me