difficult conditions
Panorama Petersburg “Alexei Zubov
There are works of art that vividly and fully express the social content of the historical period in the life of the country. They are rare, but precisely because they rise in a series of phenomena of artistic culture. One of them is the engraving “Panorama of Petersburg” (1716) by Alexei Fedorovich Zubov, expressing the spirit of Peter’s transformations.
This master is rightly considered to be the first daily recorder of St. Petersburg. His engravings depicting the new capital are numerous and varied. Suffice it to recall the sheet “Vasilyevsky Island”. Continue reading
“Horsewoman” by Karl Brullov
Russian painter Karl Bryullov painted a portrait in real size, depicting a girl on a horse and a girl who looks at her. As far as we remember, we still have not seen a horse portrait, conceived and executed with such art … This portrait shows us a painter who speaks at once, and more importantly, a brilliant painter. ”
Such and other, not less flattering, reviews appeared in the Italian newspapers in 1832. The interest and admiration of art lovers was caused by the painting “The Horsewoman. Portrait of Amatsilii and Dzhovanina Pacini, pupils of the Countess Yu.P. Samoilova ”. Continue reading
Camille Corot: “I write with my heart”
The large, half a century long, creative life of the French artist Camille Corot (1796–1875) was, as it were, subject to the change of seasons. In the winter months he worked in the Paris workshop, often visiting the opera and the conservatory. But the happiness of communicating with wildlife meant for the master incomparably more than visiting museums and concert halls. Every year with the onset of spring, he went on a journey through various regions of France to write sketches. Many of them have become pearls of plein-air painting. Continue reading
