An artist Vasily Perov, who continued in the traditions of Pavel Fedotov, devoted his work to portraying the life of Russia’s democratic strata of society.
An artist Perov was one of the founders of the famous Society of Travelling Art Exhibitions (“Peredvizhniki”), a union of the most progressive Russian artists, whose aim was to serve the people through their art. His canvases, which were at time mordant satirical exposures as“ Sermon in the Village” (1861), “A Religious Procession in a Village at Easter” (1861), or ones that revealed profound grief, as “Seeing off the Dead Man” (1865) proved of great value in revolutionizing public opinion.
Vasily Vereshchagin is an original personality in Russian art. His life was crowded with memorable events and heroic episodes.
The artist travelled a great deal in the Caucasus, the Crimea, Central Asia and visited many Russian and European cities, journeyed to India twice, was in America, Japan, Syria, Palestine, the Philippines and Cuba. Читать далее An artist — Vereshchagin→
Visitors to the Tretyakov Art Gallery often stop to admire Vasily Tropinin’s remarkable picture “The Lace-maker”. Holding up her bobbins, a lovely young girl looks out of the frame with all the charm of youth and beauty, showing the graceful movements of her busy hands. This was the first Russian picture to depict the city working girl.
But the most popular picture ever created by Tropinin is probably his portrait of Alexander Pushkin for which the poet sat in 1827. The remarkable likeness was stressed by contemporaries. The portrait reflects the powerful mind and inspiration of the poet.
Pavel Andreyevich Fedotov, an eminent artist, was a pioneer of critical realism in Russian art.
Fedotov began to draw and paint while he was an officer in a guards’ regiment, from which he retired in 1843 in order to devote himself to art.
He is at his best in genre painting. His great sympathy for “small people”, his bitter irony, the indignation he showed at times in the presentation of the privileged strata of Russian society are combined in his work with keen observation, depth of psychological characterization and exactitude in the detail of surroundings.
Michelangelo Buonarroti was one of the most famous artists in history. He was a painter, a sculptor, an architect, and a poet. He created some of the world’s most beautiful and most famous paintings and statues.
Michelangelo was born in 1475 in the Italian town of Caprese, near Florence. His family didn’t want him to become an artist. But at the age of twelve, he began to study art with a well-known artist. He learned to draw by copying paintings by other artists. He soon became interested in sculpture, too. At age 21, he went to Rome and began to create the works of art that made him famous. Читать далее Michelangelo→
Leonardo da Vinci was an amazing man of almost unlimited interests and talents. He was a scientist, an inventor and a musician. Leonardo was also one of the world’s most famous painters.
Leonardo was born in 1452 in the town of Vinci in Italy. His name means “Leonardo of Vinci”. As a boy, he studied reading, writing, mathematics, and Latin.
Leonardo lived during a period known as the Renaissance. This was a time of renewed interest in art, science, and learning. Leonardo’s father saw his son’s artistic talent and sent him to the nearby city of Florence to study art. Читать далее Leonardo da Vinci→
(1799-1852)The art of “the genius Karl”, as Bryullov was called by his contemporaries, was marked by virtuosity in brushwork, unusual mastery in drawing and a brilliant knowledge of the laws of composition.
Karl Bryullov was essentially an adherent of the Russian Romantic Movement. Like the French romantic painter Delacroix he often chose as his theme a dramatic historical event. Читать далее Karl Pavlovich Bryullov→
I.N. Kramskoi (1837-1887), the famous painter, was also a publicist, art critic and theorist, the ideologist of the progressive artists of the latter half of the 19th century in Russia.He was also one of the organizers of the Society of Travelling Art Exhibitions, to which the best of the realistic artists belonged.
Kramskoi was born in Ostrogozhsk, Voronezh Gubernia. As he was the son of a scribe, he had to start working early, and found employment as a retouched in a photographer’s studio. In 1857 he was accepted in the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg. Читать далее Kramskoi Ivan Nikolayevich→