Interesting facts about artists and their paintings. Interesting facts about paintings

About famous artists you can find a huge amount of information - how they lived, how they created their immortal works.

Many people usually do not think about the characteristics of the artist’s character and lifestyle. But some facts from the biography or the history of the creation of this or that picture are sometimes very entertaining and even provocative.

Salvador Dali

• - “Salvador Dali’s nickname was “Avida Dollars” ...” - which is an anagram of his first and last name.
• — Arriving in New York in 1934, he carried a 2-meter-long loaf of bread in his hands as an accessory, and while visiting an exhibition of surrealist creativity in London, he dressed in a diver’s suit.
• — Dali wrote the canvas “The Persistence of Memory” (“Soft Hours”) under the impression of Einstein’s theory of relativity. The idea in Salvador's head took shape while he was looking at a piece of Camembert cheese one hot August day.
• — Salvador Dali often went to bed with a key in his hand. Sitting on a chair, he fell asleep with a heavy key clutched between his fingers. Gradually the grip weakened, the key fell and hit a plate lying on the floor. Thoughts that arose during naps could be new ideas or solutions complex problems.
• — great artist During his lifetime, he bequeathed to be buried in such a way that people could walk on the grave, so his body was walled up in a wall in the Dali Museum in Figueres. Flash photography is not permitted in this room.
• — Salvador Dali’s nickname was “Avida Dollars,” which translated means “passionately loves dollars.”
• — The Chupa Chupsa logo with a chamomile was drawn by Salvador Dali. In a slightly modified form, it has survived to this day.
• — In each of Dali’s works there is either his portrait or a silhouette.
• - “Salvador Dali often resorted to sleep with a key in his hand. Sitting on a chair, he fell asleep with a heavy key clutched between his fingers. Gradually the grip weakened, the key fell and hit a plate lying on the floor. Thoughts that arose during doze could be new ideas or solutions to complex problems."
  - In his book he wrote that this The best way get enough sleep in less than a second, so as not to waste time sleeping, but to pay more attention to work.

Pablo Picasso

• -When Pablo Picasso was born, the midwife considered him stillborn. The child was saved by his uncle, who was smoking cigars and, seeing the baby lying on the table, blew smoke in his face, after which Pablo began to roar. Thus, we can say that smoking saved Picasso's life.
• -Apparently Pablo was born an artist - his first word was PIZ, short for LAPIZ (pencil in Spanish).
• -IN early years During his life in Paris, Picasso was so poor that he was sometimes forced to burn with his paintings instead of firewood.
• -Picasso wore long clothes and also had long hair, which was unheard of at that time
• -Picasso's full name consists of 23 words: Pablo Diego Jose Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno Maria de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santisima Trinidad Martir Patricio Clito Ruiz -and-Picasso

Vincent van Gogh

• — Abundance yellow color and yellow spots different shades in his paintings are believed to be caused big amount taking medications for epilepsy, which developed from excessive consumption of absinthe. "Starry Night", "Sunflowers".
• - Vincent van Gogh's paintings are hundreds of brushstrokes different colors. He never mixed paints.
• - Sometimes Van Gogh slept in a stable, right on the ground, without any blanket!
• - There were periods in Van Gogh’s life when he was tormented by terrible toothache, but he patiently endured all the suffering. When Vincent finally went to the doctor, he removed as many as 10 of his teeth!
• - Over all the years of his life, Van Gogh wrote 670 letters to his brother Theo!
• - For my hectic life Van Gogh visited more than one psychiatric hospital with diagnoses ranging from schizophrenia to manic-depressive psychosis. His most famous painting, “Starry Night,” was painted in 1889 in a hospital in the town of San Remy.
• - Committed suicide. He shot himself in the stomach while hiding in a farm yard behind a pile of manure. He was 37 years old.
• — All his life Van Gogh suffered from low self-esteem. He sold only one of his works during his lifetime - Red Vineyard at Arles. And Glory came to him only after his death. If only Van Gogh knew how popular his work would become.
• — Van Gogh did not cut off his entire ear, but only a piece of his earlobe, which practically did not hurt. However, there is still a widespread legend that the artist amputated his entire ear. This legend was even reflected in the behavior of a patient who operates on himself or insists on a certain operation - it was called Van Gogh syndrome.

Leonardo da Vinci

• — Leonardo was the first to explain why the sky is blue. In the book “On Painting” he wrote: “The blueness of the sky occurs due to the thickness of illuminated air particles, which is located between the Earth and the blackness above.”
• - Leonardo was ambidextrous - he was equally good with his right and left hands. They even say that he could write different texts at the same time different hands. However, he wrote most of his works with his left hand from right to left.
• — He played the lyre masterfully. When Leonardo's case was heard in the Milan court, he appeared there precisely as a musician, and not as an artist or inventor.
• — Leonardo was the first painter to dismember corpses in order to understand the location and structure of muscles.
• — Leonardo da Vinci was a strict vegetarian and never drank cow's milk, because he considered it barbaric.

Henri Matisse

• — In 1961, Henri Matisse’s painting “The Boat” (Le Bateau), exhibited at the New York Museum contemporary art, hung upside down for forty-seven days. The painting was hung in the gallery on October 17, and only on December 3 did anyone notice the mistake.
• — Henri Matisse suffered from depression and insomnia, sometimes sobbing in his sleep and waking up screaming. One day, without any reason, he suddenly had a fear of going blind. And he even learned to play the violin to earn a living street musician when he loses his sight.
• “For many years Matisse lived in poverty. He was about forty when he was finally able to support his family on his own.
• — Henri Matisse never painted rocks, clear crystals of houses, cultivated fields.
• — During the last 10 years of his life, he was diagnosed with duodenal cancer and had to remain in a wheelchair.

Edvard Munch

• — Munch was only five years old when his mother died of tuberculosis, and then he lost his older sister. Since then, the theme of death has arisen more than once in his work and life path From the very first steps, the artist declared itself as a life drama.
• — His painting “The Scream” is the most expensive work of art sold at a public auction.
• “He was obsessed with work and said this himself: “Writing for me is a disease and intoxication. An illness that I don’t want to get rid of, and an intoxication that I want to remain in.”

Paul Gauguin

• — The artist was born in Paris, but spent his childhood in Peru. Hence his love for exotic and tropical countries.
• — Gauguin easily changed techniques and materials. He was also interested in wood carving. Often experiencing financial difficulties, he was unable to buy paints. Then he took up the knife and the wood. He decorated the doors of his house in the Marquesas Islands with carved panels.
• — Paul Gauguin worked as a laborer on the Panama Canal.
• — The artist painted still lifes mostly without resorting to a model.
• — In 1889, having thoroughly studied the Bible, he painted four canvases in which he depicted himself in the image of Christ.
• — Frequent and promiscuous relationships with girls led to Gauguin falling ill with syphilis.

Renoir Pierre Auguste

• — Around 1880, Renoir breaks his right hand for the first time. Instead of being upset and grieving about this, he takes the brush with his left, and after a while no one doubts that he will be able to paint masterpieces with both hands.
• — Managed to paint about 6,000 paintings in 60 years.
• — Renoir was so in love with painting that he did not stop working even in old age, when he was sick. in different forms arthritis, and painted with a brush tied to his sleeve. One day his close friend Matisse asked: “Auguste, why don’t you give up painting, you’re suffering so much?” Renoir limited himself to answering: “La douleur passe, la beauté reste” (The pain passes, but beauty remains).

Michelangelo

• - Michelangelo was left-handed.
• - Great master possessed not only an artistic, but also a poetic gift. One of his poems about how painful the painting was Sistine Chapel.
• The artist did not care about his appearance and wore cheap shoes without socks. Working under the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, he did not take off his shoes for months, even sleeping in his shoes!

Toulouse-Lautrec

• - Toulouse-Lautrec created more than 350 lithographic posters.
• - While creating posters, Toulouse-Lautrec drew on a stone slab with lithographic pencils. After this, the posters were printed directly from the artist's drawing.
• - The artist was very fond of Japanese prints. While working on posters, he tried to copy the Japanese way of arranging images.
• - Because of his vertically challenged Toulouse-Lautrec couldn't carry briefcases, so he had a long bag that looked like a sausage.
• - Despite short legs, Toulouse-Lautrec was a very good swimmer and loved to sail and dance.

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 “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 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.

Today we present to your attention twenty paintings that are worthy of attention and recognition. These paintings were painted famous artists, and they should be known not only by those who engage in art, but also by 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. “Bal 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 Sistine Chapel ceiling.

“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

Bill Stoneham "Hands Resist Him"

1972

This work, of course, cannot be ranked among the masterpieces of world painting, but the fact that it is strange is a fact.
There are legends surrounding the painting with a boy, a doll and his hands pressed against the glass. From “people are dying because of this picture” to “the children in it are alive.” The picture looks really creepy, which gives rise to a lot of fears and speculation among people with weak psyches.
The artist assured that the picture depicts himself at the age of five, that the door is a representation dividing line between real world and the world of dreams, and the doll is a guide who can guide the boy through this world. The hands represent alternative lives or possibilities.
The painting gained notoriety in February 2000 when it was listed for sale on eBay with a backstory saying that the painting was “haunted.” “Hands Resist Him” was bought for $1,025 by Kim Smith, who was then simply inundated with letters from creepy stories and demands to burn the painting.

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.”