Venetian landscape painters of the 18th century
By the beginning of the 18th century, the once mighty Venice had lost its significance as the political center of the Mediterranean, becoming a peculiar center of pilgrimage. Rich travelers…

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Barbizon School of Painting
Barbizon School of Painting Far from the noise of the capital, the French painters of the last century have chosen the area around the royal residence of Fontainebleau, which since…

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Antoine Bourdelle and Aristide Maillol - antiquity in the works
Antoine Bourdelle and Aristide Mayol. What binds them? That they were born in the same year - 1861st? That both are French? Or that they are outstanding sculptors and are…

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Vincent van Gogh in Holland
In 1879, when the epidemic of typhoid fever and fever in a multitude mowed people, Borinage’s miners marveled at the young lord, who fearlessly avoided the infected shacks, nursing the…

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"The Adoration of the Magi" by Sandro Botticelli and Leonardo Da Vinci
In March 1481, the monks of the Florentine monastery of San Donato and Scopetto turned to the notary Pietro of Vinci with a request to find an artist who could…

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constant companions

“Denial of confession” by Ilya Repin

Vasily Ivanovich Surikov is a great Russian historical painter, but all he has to say about him is not enough: the national genius embodied in the art of Surikov. The value of his work is not immediately realized, but only with the passage of life, when a person acquires experience, knowledge, develops his mind, develops spiritual wisdom in himself. Comprehension of the art of Surikov is as joyful and difficult as comprehension of Pushkin’s poetry. Continue reading

“Boris Godunov” and “Vasily Shuisky” by Ivan Shtenglin

In the middle of the 18th century, the interest of the Russian society in national history increased. Ivan Shtenglin, a master from Augsburg, Germany, who worked in Russia, completed from 1742 to 1780 a series of engraved portraits of Russian tsars. Among them are the images of Boris Godunov and Vasily Shuisky, the images of which subsequently attracted the attention of Pushkin. Continue reading

Ernest Seton-Thompson – writer, artist, naturalist

Eighty-six years of life – a considerable time. Exactly so many wonderful Canadian writer, artist, naturalist Ernest Seton-Thompson lived. But who was he in the first place? A rare case – all three professions were happily combined in it.

Seton-Thompson was born in England in 1860, from childhood he dreamed of becoming a naturalist. However, the parents had other plans for this. Naturalist … “Is this a profession?” – Father argued. And he decided: the son will certainly have to become an artist, especially since the boy really has an extraordinary ability to draw. Continue reading

Luca della Robbia - devotional service to art
The whole long life of Luke della Robbia was dedicated to serving the arts. The sculptor was born in Florence in 1399 or 1400. He made many works that rightfully…

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Kanoplasta from Tanagra
The Greek words "tanagra", "tanagryanka" about a hundred years ago entered the Russian language. They are now used to denote everything fragile, feminine and plastic. The artist V. Serov invented…

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Anton Refrigier - born in Moscow
Refrege was born in Moscow in the year of the first Russian revolution. This fact would seem irrelevant to the biography of an American artist: after all, his father took…

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