“Have you tried to visit such people unexpectedly?”- a young writer I. Goncharov asked the artist, presenting the idea of the picture. The idea of poor aristocracy, real emotions and life as it is. A young man was going to have his scarce breakfast, when an unexpected guest knocked at his door. Hiding a piece of bread, he tried to hide the truth.
It is considered to be one of artist’s greatest works and one of his most famous. The painting depicts 12-year-old Vera Mamontova, a daughter of Russian patron of the arts Savva Mamontov. The portrait was painted at Abramtsevo, an estate not far from Moscow. The colours of the picture are very bright but soft. You can fully feel the atmosphere of a sunny summer, breathe in the warm but fresh air of that day, and hear the smell of sweet fruit.
This is a painting by Russian artists ___________ and Konstantin Savitsky. The bears were painted by Savitsky, but the art collector Pavel Tretyakov effaced his signature, stating that "from idea until performance, everything discloses the painting manner and creative method peculiar just to ________________", so the painting is now credited solely to ______________. The painting turned very popular, being reproduced on various items, including the "Clumsy Bear" chocolates by Krasny Oktyabr. It is considered, that the painting is the second most popular in Russia behind Bogatyrs by Viktor Vasnetsov. The artist’s similar paintings are the Forest in Spring (1884) and The Sestroretsk Forest (1896). It is believed that the artist painted this painting near Narva-Jõesuu in Estonia, where he often liked to rest in summers.
This is one of the most famous paintings by the artist. It shows the artist’s muse. This portrait distorts the existing traditions in painting – previously on horseback only crowned people were portrayed. Perhaps, it was all due to the influence of the artist’s muse – Countess Samoilova. A recognized beauty, the center of attraction at any ball, Samoilova was extremely independent. She hosted a group of freethinkers at her residence. Because of that, she eventually had to move to Italy, where she met the artist. An absolutely calm face of an older girl – Giovanina, confidently sitting on a hot horse. Giovanina cannot show her emotions in front of Amacilia who adores her. Wonderful years of childhood and adolescence.
This artist was one of the most important- of all the 19th century - Russian landscape painters, considered the creator of the lyrical landscape style. A trully emblematic work is the artist’s most famous painting, a lovely elegy to the spring announced by the birds return. The canvas shows the artist’s love for the rural Russian landscape, very influenced by John Constable. One of his most famous pupils is Isaac Levitan. The painting was painted by Savrasov near Ipatiev Monastery in Kostroma. This painting is considered by many critics to be the high point in the artist’s artistic career. Using a common, even trivial, episode of birds returning home, and an extremely simple landscape, the artist emotionally showed the transition of nature from winter to spring. It was a new type of lyrical landscape painting, called later by critics the mood landscape. The painting brought him fame.
The picture depicts a wedding ceremony scene of an old man and a young girl. The girl in the white wedding dress is highlighted compared to the rest of dim part. She is quite young and pretty, but no happiness can be seen on her face. She bows her head and her eyes look red as if she was crying for all night the day before. Her left hand is holding a candle. It should have been the happiest moment in her life, for every girl dreams to be the most beautiful bride. But she seems so unhappy, sad and numb, because she is going to marry an elderly, high-ranking official who would almost be her grandfather. The bridegroom stands beside her, baldheaded with thin white hair. Around the groom are his relatives with fateful faces who have the same status. Obviously, she hates this marriage, but she has no choice and she can’t escape from her fate in the corruption of bureaucracy society, and she reaches out her right hand to accept the ring from the priest. There is a young man in the right side of the oil painting, with two hands crossed ahead of his chest. He is the image of the painter himself. He is looking at this hilarious marriage and feeling pity for the girl.
This picture is famous not only because of how well it is painted, but also because of the popularity of hunting in the 19th century. The artist himself was an avid hunter, and in this painting he accurately reflects the emotional state of the characters, while also alluding to national character traits and the perception of nature. Not surprising, therefore, that art critic Vladimir Stasov compared it to the finest hunting stories of Ivan Turgenev. It undoubtedly has a literary element, a characteristic feature of Russian painting in the second half of the 19th century. You can see three men having a rest after a long hunt and sharing stories.
The painting was a response to the critics who stated that the artist’s "improvised" brushwork paintings were not up to date, and his talent went down. The canvas was created in 1873 and became a new stage in the work of the painter. At first glance, we see typical of the artist’s image of "shipwreck". But on the other hand, this work is very different from previous canvases - especially the color palette of the picture. Instead of bright colors he uses more restrained ones. We see the raging sea with the ship perishing at the rocky shore. Perhaps the underwater reef caused the crash. The ship is gradually descending to the bottom. The sailors try to escape on boats gliding on the water. One of them shows the direction. People are exhausted by the struggle with the sea. They leaned to the sides, in order to save the force to change the paddlers. Rainbow appears in the sky. It is like a mirage, that then disappears. Waves become calmer and no longer carry any particular risk. A colorful range of paintings, picturesque execution were a completely new phenomenon in Russian painting of the seventies of the nineteenth century.
"This is dedicated to all great conquerors, past, present, and future. Really seems like the artist was one of those guys who goes to a party and over-explains why all his jokes are funny, and why all his paintings are morbidly soul-crushing. Still, the artist believed in the power of this painting's message to ask for peace. While the military leaders of Europe's were banning their soldiers from going to the artist's exhibitions, the artist was offering free admission to servicemen to view and digest the material.
The work was originally going to be named after Tamerlane, the Mongol ruler of Samarkand (today known as Uzbekistan). Tamerlane controlled an empire that stretched from present day India across Asia's Steppes and into Europe. In addition to conquest, Tamerlane was into long walks on the beach, volunteering at animal shelters, and ordering giant pyramids made from the skulls of soldiers. And of course, no painting like this can escape the 20th century without becoming the cover art to a heavy metal album. This time, the cover art belongs to Rapid Force's 1993 LP "_____________".
These three men are the heroes of many legends: Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya Nikitich and Aliosha Popovich. Each of the character has his own set of legends. Though every hero had his own adventures, every one defended his land, the poor, and fought the enemies of Russia; and they were all adored by the people. Here the painter depicted them all together, guarding the Russian borders. The creative work of the artist is familiar to every Russian because every child has been exposed to it from early childhood. It has so often been reproduced in school textbooks to illustrate an education in patriotism that every Russian pupil recognizes it.
Who are then these three epic heroes?
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