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The fate of beauties famous portraits

We know them by sight and admire beauty in the prime of youth. But how did these women live after the painting was finished? Sometimes their fate is surprising. We remember with Sofia Bagdasarova.

Sarah Fermor

AND I. Vishnyakov. Portrait of Sarah Eleonora Fermor. Around 1749–1750. Russian Museum

Vishnyakov's painting is one of the most charming examples of Russian Rococo and one of the most famous portraits of the era of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna. The contrast between the childish charm of a 10-year-old girl and the fact that she is trying to do everything “like an adult” is especially effective: she takes the right posture, holds the fan according to etiquette, diligently maintains her posture in the corset of court dress.

Sarah is the daughter of General Willim Fermor, a Russified Scot in the Russian service. It was he who took Königsberg and all of East Prussia to us, and in the civil service after the fire he rebuilt the classic Tver in the form that delights us now. Sarah's mother was also from a Scottish family - from the Bryuses, and she was the niece of the famous Jacob Bruce, "the sorcerer from the Sukharev Tower."

Sarah was married at that time late, at the age of 20, to her peer Jacob Pontus Stenbock, a representative of a Swedish count family (one Swedish queen even came out of it). Stenbocks by that time had moved to Russian Estonia. The couple lived, frankly, not bad: suffice it to say that it is in their palace in Tallinn that the premises of the Estonian Prime Minister and the government meeting room are now located. Sarah, according to some instructions, became the mother of nine children and died already under Emperor Alexander I - either in 1805, or even in 1824.

Maria Lopukhina

V.L. Borovikovsky. Portrait of M.I. Lopukhina. 1797. Tretyakov Gallery

Borovikovsky painted many portraits of Russian noblewomen, but this one is the most charming. In it, all the techniques of the master are applied so skillfully that we don’t even notice exactly how we are bewitched, how the charm of this young lady is created, to whom Yakov Polonsky dedicated poems almost a hundred years later (“... but Borovikovsky saved her beauty”).

Lopukhina in the portrait is 18 years old. Her ease and slightly haughty look seem either the usual pose for such a portrait of the era of sentimentalism, or signs of a melancholy and poetic disposition. But what her character really was, we do not know. At the same time, Mary, it turns out, was sister Fyodor Tolstoy (American), known for his defiant behavior. Surprisingly, if you look at the portrait of her brother in his youth (the State Museum of Leo Tolstoy), we will see the same impressiveness and relaxation.

The portrait was commissioned by her husband, Stepan Lopukhin, shortly after their marriage. Lopukhin was older than Mary for 10 years and came from a rich and noble family. Six years after painting the picture, the girl died - from consumption. Her husband also died 10 years later. Since they were childless, the painting was inherited by the only surviving daughter of Fyodor Tolstoy, from whom Tretyakov bought it in the 1880s.

Giovannina Pacini

K.P. Bryullov. Rider. 1832. Tretyakov Gallery

Bryullov's "Horsewoman" is a brilliant ceremonial portrait in which everything is luxurious - the brightness of colors, the splendor of draperies, and the beauty of models. Russian academism has much to be proud of.

Two girls with the surname Pacini are written on it: the eldest Giovannina is sitting on a horse, the youngest Amacilia is looking at her from the porch. But whether they had the right to this surname is still not clear. A picture of Karl Bryullov - her long-term lover - ordered them foster mother, Countess Yulia Samoilova, one of beautiful women Russia and heiress to the colossal fortunes of the Skavronskys, Litt and Potemkin. Leaving her first husband, Samoilova went to live in Italy, where both Rossini and Bellini visited her salon. The countess had no children of her own, although she married twice more, once to a young and handsome Italian singer Peri.

By official version, Giovannina and Amazilia were sisters - daughters of the author of the opera "The Last Day of Pompeii", composer Giovanni Pacini, a friend (and, according to rumors, lover) of the Countess. She took them to her house after his death. However, according to the documents, Pacini had only one daughter, the youngest of the girls. Who was the eldest? There is a version that she was born out of wedlock by the sister of that same tenor Peri, the second husband of Samoilova. Or maybe the countess and the girl had a closer family relationship ... It was not for nothing that the "Horsewoman" was first considered a portrait of the countess herself. Growing up, Giovannina married an Austrian officer, captain of the hussar regiment Ludwig Aschbach, and went with him to Prague. Samoilova guaranteed her a large dowry. However, since the countess went bankrupt in her old age (she had to pay huge alimony to her third husband, a French aristocrat), both “daughters” collected the promised money from the old “mother” through a lawyer. Samoilova died in poverty in Paris, but the fate of her pupils is unknown.

Elizaveta Martynova

K.A. Somov. Lady in blue. 1897–1900 Tretyakov Gallery

Somov's "Lady in Blue" is one of the symbols of Silver Age painting, in the words of the art historian Igor Grabar - "Gioconda of modernity." As in the paintings of Borisov-Musatov, here is not only the enjoyment of beauty, but also admiration for the fading charm of landlord Russia.

Elizaveta Martynova, who posed for Somov in the portrait, was apparently one of the few female sympathies of the artist. The artist met her, the daughter of a doctor, while studying at the Imperial Academy of Arts - she was among the students of the 1890 enrollment, when women were first allowed to enter this educational institution. Surprisingly, the works of Martynova herself, it seems, have not been preserved. However, her portraits were painted not only by Somov, but also by Philip Malyavin and Osip Braz. Anna Ostroumova-Lebedeva studied with her, who in her memoirs casually noted that although Martynova was always written as a tall, stately beauty, in fact she was small in stature. The character of the artist was emotional, proud and easily hurt.

Somov painted her several times: in 1893 in watercolor in profile, two years later - in pencil, and in 1897 he created a small oil portrait of her against the background spring landscape(Astrakhan Art Gallery). He created the same picture intermittently for three years: the artist spent two of them in Paris, and Martynova settled in Tyrol for a long time to treat lung disease. The treatment did not help: about four years after the end of the canvas, she died of consumption at the age of about 36 years. Apparently she didn't have a family.

Galina Aderkas

B.M. Kustodiev. Merchant for tea. 1918. Russian Museum

Although Kustodiev's The Merchant for Tea was written in post-revolutionary 1918, for us it is a real illustration of that bright and well-fed Russia, where there are fairs, carousels and the "crunch of French bread." However, after the revolution, Kustodiev did not change his favorite subjects: for a person confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life, this became a form of escapism.

Galina Aderkas, a natural baroness from a family that traces its history back to a Livonian knight of the 13th century, posed for the merchant's wife in this portrait-picture. One of the Baronesses von Aderkas was even the tutor of Anna Leopoldovna.

In Astrakhan, Galya Aderkas was a housemate of the Kustodievs, from the sixth floor; the artist's wife brought the girl to the studio, noticing a colorful model. During this period, Aderkas was very young, a first-year medical student. And to be honest, in the sketches, her figure looks much thinner and not so impressive. She studied, as they say, surgery, but her hobbies for music took her to another area. The owner of an interesting mezzo-soprano, in Soviet years Aderkas sang as part of the Russian choir in the Music Broadcasting Department of the All-Union Radio Committee, participated in dubbing films, but did not achieve much success. She married, apparently, for a certain Boguslavsky and, perhaps, began to perform in the circus. The Manuscript Department of the Pushkin House even contains handwritten memoirs by G.V. Aderkas, entitled "The circus is my world...". How her fate developed in the 30s and 40s is unknown.

How often do we admire works of art without thinking about who is depicted on them. Only the names of royal persons remain in memory, and the identity of the girl, whose foggy silhouette is visible in the corner of the picture, remains unknown. About the women who posed for artists for famous paintings will tell todayAmateur. media.

Dutch Mona Lisa

The famous "Dutch Mona Lisa", "Girl with a Pearl Earring" by Jan Vermeer was painted around 1665. For a long time, the painting was simply called "Girl in a Turban", its modern name she received only by the 20th century. The depiction of turbans in paintings has become popular since the 15th century, and Vermeer often uses this detail of the toilet in portraits. The whole picture is written in a special genre of "touch", which denoted the image of a human head.

The "Dutch Mona Lisa" has long been called "The Girl in the Turban"

True to its name, a large pearl earring draws the eye of the viewer.

According to the most common version, it is believed that Vermeer's young daughter Maria posed for the portrait, although some researchers still suggest that this could be the daughter of the artist's patron, philanthropist Ruyven. Maria was one of 15 children of Vermeer - his marriage was truly happy. The artist loved his wife, and often she herself posed for him for paintings.

Mystical portrait of young Lopukhina

The portrait of Maria Ivanovna Lopukhina, one of the representatives of the count Tolstoy family, is one of the most famous works of the Russian artist Borovikovsky. It was painted in 1797 and is now kept in the Tretyakov Gallery.

The portrait of M. I. Lopukhina is one of the most famous works Borovikovsky

The poet Yakov Polonsky dedicated his poems to the girl depicted in the portrait: “She has long passed, and there are no longer those eyes, and there is no smile that silently expressed suffering - a shadow of love, and thoughts - a shadow of sadness, but Borovikovsky saved her beauty.” The artist uses the traditional portrait painting reception - the environment of the character with objects that help to characterize him. These are the features of the Russian landscape, and a delicate shawl, and drooping rosebuds.

The portrait of Lopukhina is considered the most poetic in the work of Borovikovsky

Interestingly, the portrait of Maria Lopukhina scared young girls for a long time. The fact is that shortly after writing the picture, a young woman at the age of 21 died of consumption. Many believed that the portrait seemed to take her life, and if the girls look at the picture, they will also die soon.

Girl with an umbrella by Monet

The famous painting by Claude Monet "Field of poppies at Argenteuil" was written in 1873. This canvas appeared at the exhibition of the Impressionists in 1874, when they first announced themselves as a separate group. The two figures in the foreground are Monet's wife Camila and their son Jean.

Claude Monet's painting Field of Poppies at Argenteuil was painted in 1873

Monet painted, according to his custom, in the open air, trying to squeeze the atmosphere of airiness and movement. Interesting fact, which few people pay attention to: in the left corner of the picture is another similar couple, a woman with a child. A barely noticeable path winds between the two couples.

The painting depicts two couples, one of which is Monet's wife and son.

The love story of Monet and Camila was tragic: Monet's father repeatedly threatened to deprive his son of his maintenance if he did not part with his beloved. They lived apart for a long time, but Monet could not last long without his family. However, it was not uncommon for the artist to ask his wife to pose for him for paintings. We can see Camila both on the canvas “The Lady in Green” and among the “Women in the Garden”. Several individual portraits of Camila and their son also exist. And when Camila died, he painted her posthumous portrait, which differs from the rest of the artist's works.

Monet painted a posthumous portrait of his wife impressed by her death

Impressed by the death of his beloved wife, Monet painted her posthumous portrait

The actress who charmed Renoir

Auguste Renoir, one of the most famous impressionist artists, loved and knew how to depict female beauty. Actress Jeanne Samari was his favorite model. Renoir painted 4 portraits from her, but the most famous was the “Portrait of the Actress Jeanne Samary”. It was written in 1877 and is now kept in the Pushkin Museum in Moscow.

The main shades used in the portrait are pink and green.

Jeanne was from a theatrical family, and did not choose her career for long. She made her theater debut as Dorina in Molière's Tartuffe, and her fame grew rapidly. Before her marriage, the girl often went to Renoir's studio and posed for him. True, she attended sessions irregularly, and this angered the artist. But he was completely fascinated by the grace of the actress, so time after time he invited her to become his model. But her fame and happiness did not last long: she died at the age of 33 from typhus.

A dancer with the flexibility of a snake

The famous author of "The Girl with Peaches" Valentin Serov, having met Ida Rubinstein in Paris in 1910, asked her to become a model for a new canvas. Prior to that, she posed for many artists - Kees van Dongen, Antonio de la Gandara, André de Segonzac, Leon Bakst, later - for Romaine Brooks.

The portrait of Ida Rubenstein was almost immediately bought from Serov

But it was the portrait of the Russian artist that became the most famous. The painting was almost immediately bought from the author and placed in the collection of the Russian Museum.

Serov's daughter Olga wrote that in reality Ida was not at all so thin, and the artist intentionally stylized her

Ida Rubinstein was a famous Russian dancer and actress. From 1909 to 1911 she performed as part of the troupe of Sergei Diaghilev. Rubinstein was tall, but her grace amazed the audience, and she was spoken of as a dancer "with the suppleness of a snake and the plasticity of a woman." The roles of Cleopatra and Zobeida became her star. After leaving Diaghilev, she created her own troupe, in which she performed for a long time. And in 1921 she even starred in the Italian film The Ship.

FEMALE IMAGE IN RUSSIAN PAINTING... And the secret of your charms The solution of life is equivalent... B. Pasternak From century to century, women have invariably inspired poets, musicians, artists to create greatest works art. Charming inspirers are different both in age and in character, but there is something that unites them - a mystery lives in each of these women. The mystery of their beauty, femininity, charm. "I'm women like supreme secret, I love "- Konstantin Balmont. In Russian painting whole line brilliant works, in the center of which is a woman with her complex spiritual world. In the 18th century, the portrait played a leading role in Russian painting. It was in this genre that Russian artists reached the level of European painting. One of them was Fyodor Semyonovich Rokotov (c. 1732-1806). Rokotov's work belongs to the most remarkable phenomena of the 18th century; in his portraits he managed to reveal inner world to convey the subtlest feelings of a person. The artist came from serfs, but got his freedom. In the 1750s, Rokotov's fame was so great that he was invited to paint a portrait of the heir to the throne, Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich, and in the 1760s he painted two portraits of Empress Catherine II. Each portrait of Rokotov is, first of all, a feeling embodied in a flexible and rich language of painting. Their descriptions are unable to convey the gliding of light on a smooth enamel surface, the beauty and movement of color, either shimmering in depth, or breaking through with muffled heat, subtle transitions from one halftone to another, engulfing the twilight of the background, from which, as if in an influx, the faces of his heroes arise. . Rokotov's portraits of women are especially spiritual. The image of the young A.P. is captivating. Struisky (1772)

Love painting, poets Only she, the only one, is given the Soul of a changeable sign Transferred to the canvas. Her eyes are like two fogs, A half-smile, half-cry, Her eyes are like two deceptions, Covered in mist of failures. Alexandra Petrovna Struyskaya inspired not only the poets of her time. Two centuries after her death, Nikolai Zabolotsky, peering into the portrait of the famous Rokotov, wrote: ... Do you remember how “from the darkness of the past, Barely wrapped in satin, From Rokotov’s noptreta Struyskaya looked at us again? It was like she was meant to be eternal muse poet. In her 18th century, she captivated with the mysterious appearance of another of them - her husband. Struisky described his beloved in this way in one of the many poems dedicated to her: If someone here were worth your lovely eyes, Long ago he would have built this temple inside your heart, And as a sacrifice he would carry himself to you and his heart. You are worthy of yourself, Sapphira! .. and heaven. To honor your beauties, like a mortal, I am dumb, Am I lost in you? .. I burn with you. (“Elegy to Sapphira”) One of Struisky's books, “Erotoids. Anacreontic Odes. All the "odes" in it are full of declarations of love for the one who was called in verse Sapphira, and in life - Alexandra, her beloved wife. ******************************************************* ** Another major Russian portrait painter of the second half of the 18th century was Dmitry Grigoryevich Levitsky (1735-1822), an artist, perhaps not as refined as Rokotov, but more versatile. A whole era contains the work of the "freed portrait painter" D.G. Levitsky. He created a gallery of portraits, unusual in their penetration, freshness and airiness. Suffice it to recall his pictorial suite of seven portraits "Smolyanka" (1772-1776), dedicated to the graduates of the Smolny Institute. He received an order for portraits from I.I. Betsky, assistant and adviser to Empress Catherine II. For educational purposes, the artist had to present to an enlightened society the results of the empress's pedagogical efforts - pupils of the Smolny boarding school, especially patronized by her. The boarding house, organized in 1764, was conceived as a closed educational institution in which girls received education and social skills. Levitsky painted those Smolensk women, who were especially distinguished by the Empress. Among them stands out the portrait of Ekaterina Nelidova

In the portrait of Nelidova, the unity of the game beginning and the state of mind is conveyed: genuine cheerfulness and sincere passion. Clear eyes, a gentle, slightly provocative smile, a leg in a pearl slipper easily and gracefully pushed forward - why not Cinderella, who first found herself at a ball, all in anticipation of a miracle and happiness? It seems that another moment - and a handsome prince will appear, a languid harpsichord will sound, and she, without stopping smiling, will begin her minuet ... According to contemporaries, she was not inferior in skill to professional actresses. Nelidova was not a beauty, but on stage she was transformed, becoming unusually charming. It can be said about her in the words of Fyodor Tyutchev: Is there earthly charm in her Or unearthly grace? The soul would like to pray to her, And the heart is eager to adore ... **************************************** ******* The glory of the Russian school of painting was multiplied by a talented painter late XVIII- the beginning of the XIX century Vladimir Lukich Borovikovsky (1757-1825). Among Russian portrait painters, he entered an already established artist who managed to win fame as an icon painter in his native Ukraine. V.L. Borovikovsky the best lyrical images created under the influence of a new direction that came into art and literature then - sentimentalism. The artist was especially successful in conveying quiet reverie, subtle feelings and fashionable sensitivity at that time in wonderful female portraits. Borovikovsky creates his own type of female portrait. The artist does not strive for diversity compositional techniques: as a rule, these are half-figures of women leaning on a pedestal, depicted against the backdrop of a park landscape. Varying this decision with certain deviations, the artist focuses on the faces of his models and creates spiritualized and poetic images. These are the portraits of E.A. Naryshkina, O.K. Filippova, the Gagarin sisters...

Portrait of E.A. Naryshkina.

Portrait of O.K. Filippova.

Portrait of the Gagarin sisters. . But even among these beautiful canvases, the portrait of the captivating-mysterious and dreamily-sad Maria Ivanovna Lopukhina (1797) stands out with its special lyricism and beauty of painting.

In this portrait, the artist embodied the idea of ​​his time about female charm. The charms are almost unearthly and, as it turned out, short-lived (Lopukhina died at the age of twenty-two). But while nothing overshadows her beautiful features - this is true harmonious person in the bloom of beauty. The color scheme of the canvas is dictated by the idea. Blue, lilac, pearl white, golden tones - there is not a single sharp accent. As if hinting at the invisible threads connecting man and nature, Borovikovsky resorts to the roll call of colors in the transfer of clothes and landscape: a blue belt - blue cornflowers, a lilac shawl - a lilac rose. The artist avoids angular forms, preferring smooth, rounded lines. Rhythms are calm - the contours of the figure are echoed by the curves of the crowns of trees, ears of corn, cornflowers; the rose is tilted in the same way as the girl's head. The picturesque landscape fully corresponds to the mood of the dreamy Lopukhina. Yakov Polonsky wrote a poem “To the Portrait of Lopukhina” imbued with warmth: She has long passed, and those eyes are no longer there And there is no smile that silently expressed Suffering - a shadow of love, and thoughts - a shadow of sadness ... But Borovikovsky saved her beauty. So part of her soul did not fly away from us; And this look and this beauty of the body will attract indifferent offspring to it. Teaching him to love - to suffer - to forgive - to be silent... ************************************** ******** The history of the female portrait continues artists of the 19th century. And one of the first among them is, of course, Karl Pavlovich Bryullov (1799-1852), who ingeniously combines classical canons with romantic trends in his work. Bryullov was called Charlemagne, he was loved by Pushkin, Gogol, Belinsky, Herzen. The man in Bryullov's paintings is proud and beautiful. “Bryullov has a man in order,” wrote Gogol, “to show all his beauty, all the supreme grace of his nature.” We have just such a portrait. "Rider" (1832)

“Zhovanin on a horse,” Bryullov himself called the picture. Jovanin is Giovannina Paccini, stepdaughter Countess Yulia Pavlovna Samoilova. The girl in a pink dress, who ran out onto the terrace and looked with admiration at the rider, is Amazilia Pacchini, the second adopted daughter of Samoilova. Bryullov set himself the task of painting a large equestrian portrait using the motif of a walk, which allows him to convey a figure in motion. Giovanina is only fourteen years old, but she has an impassive face, like a real lady of the world. She is full of inexpressible charm and grace. Conveying the charming features of a young rider, the tangible beauty of animals, landscape, fabrics, the artist sings of the fullness and joy of life. The rearing horse, the girl rushing towards the rider, the glare of the sun on the shaded paths of the park - everything brings into the picture a rush, an agitated movement that distinguishes this composition from the static, deliberately built ceremonial portraits of the previous time. The image of the charming Giovannina Pacchini perfectly matches the female image sung by A.S. Pushkin in the poem "Beauty": Everything in her is harmony, everything is marvelous, Everything is higher than peace and passions; She rests bashfully In her solemn beauty; She looks around herself: She has no rivals, no girlfriends; Beauties of our pale circle In her radiance disappears. Wherever you hurry, Even for a love date, Whatever secret dream you have in your heart, But, having met with her, embarrassed, you Suddenly stop involuntarily, Piously reverent Before the shrine of beauty. ******************************************************** Gallery portraits of women Russian artists continue painting the largest painter the second half of the 19th century, the leader of the Wanderers Ivan Nikolaevich Kramskoy (1837-1887), which, at first glance, does not fit into the idea of ​​​​the work of a democratic artist. Heart and thought - that's what Kramskoy most appreciated in the picture. On the traveling exhibitions he most often acted as the author of male portraits, very stingy in color and strict in composition. And suddenly - "Unknown" (1883)

A young, beautiful woman, dressed with all the luxury of fashion, rides in a carriage through winter Petersburg. Anichkov bridge remains on the side, covered with snow. The prospect of Nevsky Prospekt is melting in a frosty haze. Against the backdrop of a bright sky, the proudly thrown back head of a beautiful lady, conscious of her charm, clearly looks. Calmly, coldly the stranger looks at others. In the look of a certain arrogance, underlined by a proud posture. Who is she, "Unknown" Kramskoy? society lady? Actress? From whom did the artist paint this woman? Maybe the image of a beauty was simply born in the imagination of the painter? Even Repin, a close acquaintance of Kramskoy, knew nothing about its prototype, although it should be noted that Repin called this work a portrait, not a painting. The arrogance, beauty and secret sadness of the "Unknown" for some are associated with the image of Anna Karenina, created by L.N. Tolstoy. It is difficult to say who Kramskoy depicted on his canvas. One thing is certain - the artist clearly admired his heroine. Never before had Kramskoy painted such a multicolored, radiant portrait, never painted with such love the iridescent sheen of velvet, the soft pile of fur, the satin surface of ribbons and the sparkle of gold bracelets. And we look with pleasure at the proud beauty, admiring Kramskoy's pictorial skill. A white ostrich feather and light silk, with which a velvet cap is lined, set off a fresh, swarthy face. The blue velvet suit, trimmed with fur and ribbons, matches well with the golden leather that wraps around the carriage seat. The soft, smooth lines of the figure are full of grace and grace. And only in the huge, half-covered with long, fluffy eyelashes sadness lurked. These eyes sparkle like stars, and in their radiance one can see the brilliance of unshed tears. Who knows, perhaps, behind the external radiance of beauty and luxury lies the tragedy of the soul, ruined high society, and the image of the "Unknown" Kramskoy echoes the female image created by M.Yu. Lermontov in the poem "Like a ray of dawn, like Lelya's roses ...": She is proud with people, submissive to fate, Not frank, not feigned, On purpose, it seemed, She was created for happiness. But what does the light not destroy? What noble will demolish, What soul will not be squeezed, Whose pride will not increase? And whose eyes will not be deceived by his elegant mask? **************************************************** Late XIX period - the beginning of the 20th century, called the Silver Age in Russian art, puts forward new tasks, new directions and, accordingly, new names in painting. One of the central figures in the art of the turn of the century was Valentin Alexandrovich Serov (1865-1911), an outstanding artist, the author of more than two hundred portraits.

Girl with peaches (Portrait of V. S. Mamontova). 1887

“A Girl Illuminated by the Sun (Portrait of M.Ya. Simonovich)”, 1888. About Serov’s paintings “Girl with Peaches” (1887) and “Girl Illuminated by the Sun” (1888), Russian art critic D.V. Sarabyanov wrote that their impressionistic luminosity and dynamics of a free brushstroke marked a turn from critical realism Wanderers to "poetic realism". Serov painted the first of these paintings at twenty-two, the second at twenty-three. In a state of delight and ecstasy, feeling young strength and enthusiasm in himself, Serov writes one of his masterpieces - “The Girl Illuminated by the Sun” The girl in the picture is Masha Simonovich, cousin artist. Serov seeks to convey the charm of the fleeting and momentary, one moment of life, filled with sparkling colors of being. The girl is sitting by the trunk of an old tree, on her thin, delicate skin, sunbeams delightfully and magically play, and unusually transforms her entire young slim figure a rippling mass of shadow towards light. The calm look of her radiant blue eyes, the gentle blush of a pretty, kind face, the comfortable posture of a resting person - all this, as it were, inspires the viewer with a sense of peace, gives a sense of harmony, beauty of every moment of life. I.E. Grabar, an artist, art critic, restorer, after Serov’s death wrote about “The Girl Illuminated by the Sun”: “This thing is so perfect, so fresh, new and “today's” that you can hardly believe its date - 1888 ... This thing was created in a moment of extraordinary upsurge, in the rarest and most genuine creative ecstasy ... " Serov's picture is consonant with the lines of the Russian symbolist poet Konstantin Balmont from the poem "Pearls": You are the bright joy of an air dream, Delight, but delight is not in love. For a moment you are given to me, like a fairy tale, Oh, how calm you are, how slender and tender. A minute, and now the wave runs away, And I'm leaving enlightened. ************************************************* Face new art turn of XIX-XX centuries were largely determined by the artists of the World of Art association, who gravitated towards modernity. One of the most complex artists of the "World of Art" was Konstantin Andreevich Somov (1869-1939). Somov's programmatic work is a portrait of the early deceased artist Elizaveta Mikhailovna Martynova, known as "Lady in Blue", created in 1897-1900.

Dressed in an old dress with a lace cape collar and a deep neckline, she is all the embodiment of sadness, fatigue, longing, disappointment, inability to struggle in life. Somovsky portrait reflects female ideal of his time with his poeticization of suffering and pain, special sophistication and complexity, refined fragility. Looking at The Lady in Blue, one recalls the lines of a poem by Somov's contemporary poet Fyodor Sologub: You shimmered sadly Between bright friends And alone did not enter into their captivating circle. Invisible to people, You opened up only to me, And we will meet In blue silence, And, falling in love with the silence of the night, I will fix my sleepless eyes on you, You will tell me without words, How and how you live, And you will bind my longing, And burn my sorrows . ************************************************* If a Sologub and Balmont were representatives of symbolism in the poetry of the Silver Age, then Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel (1856-1910) can rightly be called the founder of this artistic movement in Russian painting. Gravitating towards the symbolic-philosophical generalization of images, he developed his own special pictorial language - a wide brushstroke of "crystal" form, a color understood as colored snow, and colors sparkling like gems. Vrubel was attracted by the poetic images of Pushkin and Lermontov.

The painting "The Swan Princess" is one of the most poetic female images at Vrubel. It embodies the female dream of happiness. In the lilac twilight of the northern spring nights, a great sacrament is performed. Conquered by the love of Tsarevich Gvidon and herself knowing the reciprocal hot feeling, powerless before the inevitable fate, the Swan Princess leaves her cradle - with the insidious and beloved waves of the cold sea; she must take shape earthly man, become a woman. The dense, brilliant plumage of the swan is already beginning to melt, turning into a light fluffy cloud, which then, like girlish tears, will shed over the timid spring azure flowers. And it is hard for her, and it hurts, and this transformation is joyful. In her beautiful unearthly eyes, fear, longing, love and reproach to the prince live and flicker for refusing the swan autocracy, for submitting to his will ... As V.M. Vasnetsov about this picture, the image was created by "rare in beauty, truly fabulous colors." Look at the play of bluish-pearl, bluish-white, lilac-lilac-gray colors. The swan, as it were, arises from the elements of the sunset gray sea, from the sea wave. The pinkish light of the sunset glides over the surface of the snow-white wings, over the light, transparent coverlet and shimmering precious stones on the kokoshnik and the princess's rings. Subtle lyrics, exciting mystery, fairy-tale fantasy and true reality are organically merged in the picture. The Swan Princess has become a kind of symbol of a new troubled century - after all, Vrubel finished his canvas in 1900. The remarkable Russian theosophist and poet V.S. Solovyov, who is considered the forerunner of symbolism in the poetry of the Silver Age, has a poem corresponding to the mood of Vrubel's painting: Today, all in azure, my queen appeared before me, - My heart beat with sweet delight, And in the rays of the rising day With a quiet light, the soul lit up. And in the distance, burning down, the Evil flame of earthly fire smoked. The canvas depicts not only fabulous beauty, but also a real man- wonderful Opera singer Nadezhda Ivanovna Zabela, that it was this woman who was destined to play a huge role in the life of M. Vrubel. The voice and singing of Zabela was able to capture Vrubel's brush in this famous painting. Among the worlds Among the worlds, in the twinkling of the luminaries of One Star, I repeat the name... Not because I love Her, But because I languish with others. And if doubt is hard for me, I'm looking for an answer from Her alone, Not because it's light from Her, But because I don't need light with Her. / Innokenty Annensky / - a wonderful poet, whose poetry is so in tune with the work of the poet. ******************************************************* *** Borisov-Musatov Viktor Elpidiforovich (1870-1905) - painter, member of the Union of Russian Artists (since 1904) influenced the formation of symbolism in Russian painting at the beginning of the 20th century. From the reflections of ghostly unsteady, Shroud of mysterious dreams Appears, like the voice of a violin, The image of a lady of lilac tones.

"The Lady on the Veranda" A graceful young woman sits on the veranda. The dress fits a slender figure. Fancy gray shadows on the dress, a grayish-smoky reflection falling on a sad face and bare shoulders - all this emphasizes the illusory, unreality of the image. Purple veranda balustrade. Even the bush of flowers behind the woman with bluish-gray leaves, and the rose clutched in the hand lying on her knees, is not scarlet, not white, but pinkish-gray. Behind the balustrade is a sun-drenched garden. But in female figure one feels complete alienation from everything bright and joyful: as if the fairy of sadness and loneliness itself appeared before us ... - No words or smiles are needed: Stay the same as you were; Stay vague, dreary, Autumn morning pale Under this drooping willow, Against the mesh background of shadows... A minute - and the wind, rushing about, Will scatter the sheets in patterns, A minute - and the heart, waking up, Sees that it's not you... Stay without words, without a smile, Stay like a ghost, while Patterned shadows are so unsteady And white dust is so sensitive ... ************************** ***************** The tradition of creating female images, which are the ideal of external and internal beauty, is not interrupted in Russian art of the Soviet period. This artist was atypical for Soviet art, and therefore during his lifetime his talent remained unclaimed. As it often happens, unfortunately, with great artists, fame came to him posthumously. Konstantin Alekseevich Vasiliev (1942-1976) tragically died in the prime of his extraordinary and rare creative talent, when he was only 34 years old and when the path to success seemed to open ahead. The legacy of the artist is impressive - 400 paintings, graphic works and sketches in which he sings of his special Russia. His paintings recreate the world Slavic myths, traditions, legends, the world of harmony between man and nature. One of the most charming female images was created by Vasilyev in the painting “Waiting”, written shortly before his death - in 1976.

The wooden frame of the window, at which the girl stands with a burning candle in her hand, creates the impression of a “picture in a picture”. Frosty pattern on the glass of the window, which frames the face and chest of the girl, makes her look like the mysterious bird Sirin with a dark crown on her head and a snow-white wing. The combination of white and brown tones in the picture evokes a feeling of anxiety, vague anxiety. The light of a burning candle further emphasizes the inexpressible longing in the gray eyes of the girl. Who is she waiting for? Your beloved? Maybe Fate herself will knock on her door on this frosty winter evening? And, apparently, her heart feels: this Fate will not bring her happiness... I call Chaconne Bach, And a man will enter behind her, He will not become my dear husband. But we will deserve such a thing, That the twentieth century will be embarrassed. I took him by chance For the one who is bestowed with a secret, With whom the bitterest is destined, He will come to me at the Fountain Palace Late at night on a foggy New Year's Eve to drink wine. And he will remember Epiphany evening, Maple tree in the window, wedding candles And death flight poems... But not the first branch of lilac, Not a ring, not the sweetness of prayers - He will bring me death. The theme of female images in painting is inexhaustible. A special charm and spontaneity distinguishes women in their youth, beauty and grace - in maturity, spirituality - in old age ...

Women artists of different times and peoples. Based on the book "Women Artists at Work" by American art professor Debra Mankoff. (Not translated into Russian)

Part 2. Looking at yourself

As you can easily see, women in the old days almost always became in families of artists.
Painting was taught to all girls, it was part of their upbringing. But do it professionally? This could only come to mind in the families of professionals. Only an artist could understand the girl's desire to engage in this art in a non-amateurish way. That is, it was something like a closed society, such a small circle for its own. And at first it was simply impossible to get into it from the outside - the masters did not take students, only students.
And there were several reasons for that...

Sofonisba Anguissola, self-portrait. Lubomirski Gallery, Lancut.

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The first real artist of the Renaissance is rightfully considered an Italian Sofonisbou Anguissola(sometimes written Anguissola).
She was the eldest of six daughters of a wealthy and noble family from the city of Cremona, and of course received a versatile education, including art. And she certainly did not need to earn money as an artist. Going against public opinion, her father sent Sofonisba to study with Bernardino Campi, a respected portraitist and religious painter, belonging to the Lombard school. She later studied with Bernardino Gatti, and in 1554, during a trip to Rome, where she spent time making sketches of various scenes and people, the girl met Michelangelo. Meeting this titan Renaissance became a great honor for Sofonisba. There was also an opportunity to learn something from such a master. He showed her his sketches, gave her tasks and advised her for two years. But he could not officially take her as a student - it was indecent. And it was first reason... Therefore, Sofonisba was his unofficial student.

The noble origin and good wealth of the family provided Sofonisba with a worthy existence. But, since women were not allowed to attend classes at that time (and this was The second reason), as an artist, she had certain limitations in subject matter. In addition, she did not have the opportunity to paint large multi-figured canvases from nature.
Religious and historical paintings were practically inaccessible to her.
Understanding this, Sofonisba sought to find her way in the portrait genre.

Sofonisba Anguissola, portrait of Elisabeth of Valois. Prado Gallery, Madrid.

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Sofonisba was 27 years old when she arrived in Madrid at the invitation of King Philip II to become a court lady to Queen Elizabeth of Valois, his third wife. Why court lady, but not artist? The fact is that the artist had an independent social status, and a woman (at any age!) Legally has always been someone's ward - and this third reason. Sofonisba simply could not have an independent status, but, unlike the daughters of artists, she had a noble origin, that is, she could be accepted to the court. And being a court lady, she had the king's guardian, that is, all the laws were observed. In addition, the status of a court lady and the guardianship of the king protected her from first reason(attempts of men), which at that time was important.

She painted in Madrid many ceremonial portraits of members of the royal family, courtiers, and did not forget self-portraits. As for the portrait of Elizabeth of Valois (or, as the Spaniards called her, Isabella), then this is a portrait of her close and beloved friend. Experts attribute the work of Sofonisba to early period painting baroque, which means bizarre. With what love the face of the young princess is written (then she was still the bride of the king). How carefully the brilliance of jewels, the play of velvet, the delicate lace are depicted!

Sofonisba Anguissola was the first artist who came to art by vocation, simply from the street. She lived an unusually long life for those times - 93 years. Many artists came to her house to learn and just talk about art. In 1623, Sofonisba was visited by the novice Van Dyck, the genius of Baroque painting, who received a number of valuable advice from her.

Another notable lady of the era Renaissance and early baroque- painter of the Bolognese school Lavinia Fontana.

Lavinia Fontana, self-portrait. Gallery Borghese.

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She, just, was from her circle, the daughter of a famous mannerist artist Prospero Fontana. At the invitation of Pope Clement VIII, she worked in Rome, painted frescoes in the church of San Paolo. Moreover, she was elected Roman Academy of Arts.

Lavinia Fontana Dressing Minerva. Gallery Borghese.

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Of all the surviving pictorial heritage of that time, Lavinia is the first to demonstrate women's work in nude genre. Despite the ban on women studying anatomy (that is, drawing nudity), she somehow managed to learn the proportions human body. One can only speculate how they managed it at the time.

The third famous representative baroque - Artemisia Gentileschi, also Italian, daughter of a Roman painter Orazio Gentileschi, the first woman to be elected as a member Academy of Fine Arts in Florence.

Artemisia Gentileschi, self-portrait as an Allegory of Painting. Royal Collection, Windsor Castle.

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Already in the 19th century, the name of Artemisia Gentileschi became the banner of the emerging , the banner of women's struggle for public rights, for equality with men, the struggle against violence and hypocrisy against women.

Her father was a follower Caravaggio was familiar with him. Yes, he taught his daughter a signature karavadzhievskaya chiaroscuro. But he couldn't teach her everything he knew.

The possibilities of women in those days were limited: they had almost no access to studio practice, and the Church categorically forbade them to portray a naked male body - for this it was quite possible to end up in jail.

In addition, he did not want her to have an independent career as an artist - he simply prepared an assistant for himself to work on large orders.

Artemisia Gentileschi, Susanna and the Elders. Weissenstein Palace.

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Artemisia had an extraordinary talent, already at the age of 17 she wrote such technically strong works. As you can see, she was also not afraid to take on nude genre.

But she lacked studio practice, knowledge of perspective, and many techniques. Father arranges lessons with his senior partner, Agostinho Tassi. The beautiful and talented Artemisia became a student of Tassi, who seduced her. She was not from a noble family, just the daughter of a younger partner. The father, fearful for his career, sued for rape. There was a trial, a humiliating examination, the proceedings lasted 7 months. To keep customers, the father did not spare the feelings of his daughter. Tassi spent 8 months in prison, Artemisia never met him again. But she also could not forgive her father, she married the small artist Pierantoni Stiattesi and left with him for Florence.

Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith beheading Holofernes. Gallery of Capodimonte, Naples.

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In the difficult period of the trial, Artemisia paints her landmark work - a painting Judith, beheading Holofernes. She writes Judith from herself, and Holofernes - from Agostinho Tassi. This is a paraphrase of the eponymous paintings by Caravaggio, but Gentileschi's work is much more expressive, full of violence and physiological detail. Nothing like female painting! And it's not surprising, for the first time in recorded history visual arts a woman sublimates her suffering into creativity. Apparently, she was one of the first to find such a creative way to deal with complexes.

Looking at the works of artists of the 16th-17th centuries, we see that women do not only paint while looking in the mirror. They also dared to paint nudes, it is clear that with the help of the same mirror.

But in the XVIII century to replace renaissance comes Age of Enlightenment, and to replace baroque other styles come, and with them, albeit very slowly, women have new professional opportunities.

German artist Angelika Kaufman(together with Mary Moser, who wrote in the genre of floristry) was one of the founders of the British Royal Academy of Arts and over the next century and a half they remained the only women who have received membership.

Angelika Kaufman, The artist chooses between music and painting. Uffizi Gallery.

The daughter of an Austrian artist who lived in Switzerland, she studied with her father, and later, having moved with her father to Italy, on samples Italian masters. The girl had a beautiful voice and a talent for music. Moreover, a young musician in love with her encouraged her to run away with him and devote her life to music. But Angelica chose painting, as we see in this self-portrait.

Angelika Kaufman was able to achieve mastery in one of the most traditional male artistic genres - history painting- and became a recognized master classicism.

Angelika Kaufman, Venus presents Paris to Helena. Hermitage, St. Petersburg.

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During her life in London, she was recognized by both the public and fellow artists. Musical evenings a beautiful young girl with a beautiful voice enjoyed immense popularity. Great English painter, later President Academy of Arts, sir Joshua Reynolds, was in love with her and made an offer, which she rejected.

Angelika Kaufman, Portrait of J.W. Goethe. Goethe National Museum, Weimar.

living last years in Rome, Kaufman met the great Goethe and they became close friends. The only house that the poet visited in Rome belonged to Kaufman, they talked about art, went to exhibitions. Goethe did not miss a single musical and literary evening in her salon.

The artist was also famous in contemporary Russia, an ode to To Angelica Kaufman was written G.R. Derzhavin.
The painting is glorious
Kaufman, friend of the Muses!
If your brush is influenced
Above liveliness, feeling, taste,
And, writing off the Danae, the ancient
We goddesses and red wives,
Survive in your priceless
You could pictures of decay ...

Another 18th-century French portrait painter Marie Elisabeth Louise Vigee-Lebrun(or Madame Lebrun) wrote in the style rococo, What means shell, curl. It was believed that this is a natural continuation of the development of style baroque. Elisabeth Vigée worked actively from early youth, and her portraits were so popular that at the age of 15 she was able to support not only herself, but also her mother and younger brother.
Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun, self-portrait. Uffizi Gallery.

Chief curator of the retrospective exhibition Vigée-Lebrun Joseph Baio, who has been studying her work for 40 years, says:

- In the XVIII century, it was generally very difficult for women to become artists. Only a few of them were able to study at the Royal Academy. This task proved difficult for Vigée-Lebrun as well: official artist of the king Jean Baptiste MariePierre was categorically against her admission, because she was married to the art dealer Lebrun. And only thanks to the influence of her patron Joseph Vernet and, of course, the patronage of Queen Marie Antoinette, she became a student of the Academy in the same year (in 1873) as her main rival, Adelaide Labille-Giard.

Style rococo implies beauty in everything: in dresses, poses, a lot of decorative details. And Madame Lebrun, following these rules, flattered her customers.

She offered a great variety in the poses and costumes of the models. The artist emphasized female beauty, making portraits spontaneous and intimate at the same time, abandoning the label “ceremonial portrait”.

Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun, portrait of Queen Marie Antoinette. Museum of Versailles.

It was for this (of course, in addition to the talent of the painter) that the French aristocracy loved her so much. In 1779, the artist painted one of the first portraits of a young Marie Antoinette. The portrait was greeted with enthusiasm, Madame Lebrun became the official artist of the queen and created a total of about 30 portraits of her.
Well, it is clear that she did not accept French Revolution, lived in Italy and in Russia, and returned to her homeland only 11 years later, under Napoleon.

Vigée-Lebrun's main competitor, also a portrait painter Adelaide Labile-Giard, was also from a simple family and received a monastic education. From the age of 14, she learned to draw from an artist neighbor François André Vincent. And then, until 1774 - with the artist Maurice Quentin de Latour- first of all pastel painting, which was then in great fashion in France.

Adelaide Labille-Giard, Self-portrait with two students. Metropolitan Museum, New York.

She becomes a popular and sought-after portrait master, aristocrats, royal officials and ministers, members of the royal family pose for her. As mentioned above, Adelaide, along with Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun, was admitted to Royal Academy of Painting(in which no more than 4 women could be at the same time).

In history, Adelaide Labille-Giard is noted primarily for the fact that she was the first head of a public painting school for girls.
Having experienced all the difficulties of a woman who wished to become an artist, in the same 1783 she opened her own in Paris. Women's School of Painting, in which 9 students signed up for the first year. She, unlike Vigée-Lebrun, had an outstanding public temperament!

Adelaide Labille-Giard, Portrait of Maximilian Robespierre. Historical Museum, Vienna.

That is why she accepted and supported the revolution in France. Instead of aristocrats, she paints portraits of revolutionaries. Moreover, she is one of the first to advocate for women's rights, and specifically in the field of education. In her speech to the Academy, she demands equality for women artists. Her proposals in this area were accepted by academicians, but after the defeat of the Revolution, they were canceled.