"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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Egyptian ostracon drawings
In the art of ancient Egypt there are monuments that make up a special group. These are works of graphics - drawings on the boards. The Greek word "ostracon" literally…

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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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Two portraits of the actress Strepetova
There are destinies that strike the imagination with unusualness and inner completeness — such is the life of Pelageya Antipevna Strepetova (1850–1903), difficult and bright, full of dramatic turns. At…

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Two portraits of the actress Strepetova
There are destinies that strike the imagination with unusualness and inner completeness — such is the life of Pelageya Antipevna Strepetova (1850–1903), difficult and bright, full of dramatic turns. At…

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festivity and beauty

Mexican painting of the first half of the 20th century

In the 20th century, the art of Latin America, primarily Mexico, unexpectedly became one of the most significant phenomena of world culture. The dramatic history of this country is replete with brutal conquests, murders, merciless oppression of the masses – starting from the invasion of the Aztec warrior people, who later created a formidable state later in Central Mexico, in the XII century.

In the first half of the 16th century, Spanish conquerors conquered Mexico, seized the ancient civilization that had developed here, spread Christianity with fire and sword, and turned the Indians into slaves. Continue reading

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 the term “tanagretika” on their basis, meaning beneath it artless, elegant, opposite to the cold and rational in art.

The ancient city of Tanagra in Boeotia, in the northeast of the Balkan Peninsula, has gained wide popularity in recent times thanks to an archaeological sensation – finds of Tanagrian figurines. Continue reading

Chinese classical painting

Painting of China, flourishing in the era of the Middle Ages – IV – XIX centuries of our era, it was not by chance that it took an honorable place in the world history of art. In this area of ​​artistic culture, Chinese masters managed to leave a particularly bright mark. With extraordinary conviction, they embodied the beauty of nature, the ideas of harmony and majesty of the universe. They invested in the picture-scrolls not only personal moods, but also wisdom understandable to subsequent generations. Continue reading

Konstantin Meunier - an artist who glorified the proletariat
The life of the Belgian master Constantin Meunier is not eventful. But his creative biography is unusual. He began as a sculptor, visiting the class of the Academy of Fine…

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"David of Sasun" Yervand Kochar
Anyone who has visited Yerevan at least once will remember for a long time the sculptural monument to David of Sassun, made by the USSR People's Artist Yervand Kochar. A…

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Fritz Kremer: “I had the good fortune to create many monuments that stand on the street”
The essence of understanding of the creative tasks of Kremer is to appeal to the broad masses of the people. “I feel it my duty,” says the artist, “to speak…

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