Talented artists create extraordinary paintings. The most famous contemporary artists

One of the most popular artists modernity is the American Jeff Koons. The creator's favorite style is kitsch. Bright colors, randomness, unusual materials and ideas - this is what allowed Koons to be widely popular back in the 80s of the 20th century. Today the artist is president of his own Jeff Koons Corporation, which creates unusual sculptures. Most popular works: "statuettes" in full height Michael Jackson with his gold plated monkey (sold for $5.6 million); "Heart" (purchased in 2007 for $23.6 million) and "Tulips" (also went under the hammer for $23.6 million).

One of the author's most fantastic series - giant sculptures created from elongated balloons. Bright dogs, Balloon Flower 3, "Tulips" look easy. However, the weight of such a sculpture can reach several tons.

One of the most dear artists-The painter is Jasper Johns, who lives in Connecticut, USA. In his works, the creator uses mostly bright, juicy colors and simple images: , targets, flags, numbers, cards. Regarding the style direction chosen by Jasper Johns, researchers still do not have a common opinion. Some of them are for pop art, others for neo-dadaism.

The East does not sleep

It should be noted that the world art today is dominated by creators from Asian countries. China is leading the way in this regard. Several artists from the Middle Kingdom are among the top ten most-most.

Zeng Fanzhi became the leader among his compatriots. Today, the artist has moved away from his usual expression and focused on symbolism. The soft colors, the overall calmness and relaxation of the paintings have made Fanzhi one of the most sought after Asian artists in the world.

The first exhibitions of Zeng Fanzhi's paintings outside of China took place in 1993. But the artist began to receive record amounts for his work relatively recently: in 2008, the canvas "Mask Series No. 6" brought the creator $ 9.7 million.

The second most popular Chinese artist in the world is Zhou Chunya. The real world popularity to the master was brought by the work "Green Dog". Animals of different, poorly identifiable breeds are captured in a variety of emotional poses. As conceived by the author, this "dog" is a symbol of loneliness and the uncertain position of a person in modern society. The total profit of the sold works amounted to €23.9 million.

Speaking from the East, it is impossible not to mention the Japanese creator Takashi Murakami. The painter, designer and sculptor creates very expressive, positive works, combining real opposites in them: West and East, past and present, chaste and vulgar. In the West, Murakami became famous for his collaboration with Marc Jacobs - the Japanese worked on the design of Louis Vuitton products.

) in her expressive sweeping works was able to preserve the transparency of the fog, the lightness of the sail, the smooth rocking of the ship on the waves.

Her paintings amaze with their depth, volume, saturation, and the texture is such that it is impossible to take your eyes off them.

Warm simplicity Valentina Gubareva

Primitive artist from Minsk Valentin Gubarev not chasing fame and just doing what he loves. His work is insanely popular abroad, but almost unfamiliar to his compatriots. In the mid-90s, the French fell in love with his everyday sketches and signed a contract with the artist for 16 years. The paintings, which, it would seem, should be understandable only to us, the bearers of the "modest charm of undeveloped socialism", were liked by the European public, and exhibitions began in Switzerland, Germany, Great Britain and other countries.

Sensual realism by Sergei Marshennikov

Sergei Marshennikov is 41 years old. He lives in St. Petersburg and works in best traditions classical russian school realistic portrait painting. The heroines of his paintings are tender and defenseless in their half-naked women. On many of the famous paintings the artist's muse and wife, Natalia, are depicted.

The Myopic World of Philip Barlow

In the modern era of pictures high resolution and the heyday of hyperrealism creativity Philip Barlow(Philip Barlow) immediately attracts attention. However, a certain effort is required from the viewer in order to force himself to look at blurry silhouettes and bright spots on the author's canvases. Probably, this is how people suffering from myopia see the world without glasses and contact lenses.

Sunny Bunnies by Laurent Parcelier

Laurent Parcelier's painting is wonderful world in which there is neither sadness nor despondency. You will not find gloomy and rainy pictures in him. There is a lot of light, air and bright colors on his canvases, which the artist applies with characteristic recognizable strokes. This creates the feeling that the paintings are woven from thousands of sunbeams.

Urban dynamics in the works of Jeremy Mann

Oil on wood panels American artist Jeremy Mann paints dynamic portraits of the modern metropolis. “Abstract forms, lines, contrast of light and dark spots - everything creates a picture that evokes the feeling that a person experiences in the crowd and turmoil of the city, but can also express the calmness that one finds when contemplating quiet beauty,” says the artist.

The Illusory World of Neil Simon

In the paintings of the British artist Neil Simone (Neil Simone) everything is not what it seems at first glance. “For me, the world around me is a series of fragile and ever-changing shapes, shadows and boundaries,” says Simon. And in his paintings everything is really illusory and interconnected. Borders are washed away, and stories flow into each other.

The love drama of Joseph Lorasso

Italian-born contemporary American artist Joseph Lorusso transfers to canvas the scenes he saw in Everyday life ordinary people. Hugs and kisses, passionate impulses, moments of tenderness and desire fill his emotional pictures.

Village life of Dmitry Levin

Dmitry Levin is a recognized master of the Russian landscape, who has established himself as a talented representative of the Russian realistic school. The most important source of his art is his attachment to nature, which he loves tenderly and passionately and feels himself a part of.

Bright East Valery Blokhin

In the East, everything is different: different colors, different air, different life values ​​and reality is more fabulous than fiction - this is how a modern artist thinks

There is a very a large number of contemporary Russian artists, whose activities are known only in certain circles - the broad masses are often far from contemporary art and out of inertia, they are content with knowledge only about the work of Russian classics. We want to correct this situation, therefore, further we will describe what a Russian contemporary artist is like using the example of the following five authors.

Ilya Kabakov

This contemporary artist is one of the most significant Russian painters of his time, who personifies contemporary art, in particular, the soul of Moscow Conceptualism. One of the paintings, "Beetle", painted in 1982, was sold in 2008 at an auction in London for almost six million dollars and entered the list of the most expensive paintings created by Russian artists. Modern paintings by Kabakov are now exhibited in many museums around the world: in the New York Pace Gallery, the Moscow Multimedia Art Museum and others.

I don’t know how others resisted this terrible complex: “You are already 25 years old, and you are not Raphael yet!”. But for me it is one of the scariest stimulating moments. ( Ilya Kabakov)

Another landmark work by the artist, “Holidays No. 6”, depicts a typical Soviet illustration, decorated with candy wrappers on top - they seem to mask the picture and thus represent mock optimism that hides dreary reality behind it. In general, the concept of escapism is inherent in the work of Ilya Kabakov - an escape from the surrounding reality and immersion in art.

Sergey Volkov

Many of their modern paintings Sergei Volkov wrote under the impression of a trip to Germany, where he had to go on a creative business trip. A whole series of canvases is dedicated to German architectural gothic and folklore and is fanned with some kind of symbolism. After the cycle of "German" paintings, the contemporary artist painted a series on the subject of North American Indians and representing portraits of freedom-loving Indian leaders.

And today the main theme of the painter's work is the beauty of Moscow landscapes: Taganka, Stankevich Street, Kadashevskaya Embankment. Volkov's modern painting is an impressionistic image of a simple, everyday capital, as it is, but at the same time bright colors, which appear in the sun, traffic lights and colorful trams.

Grigory Bruskin

Grigory, or Grisha Bruskin, as his artistic name sounds, admired the profession of an artist since childhood. Studying in art school he drew inspiration from the works French painters the era of the Renaissance.

I can call myself happy man as long as I can work. ( Grigory Bruskin)

In the 80s, when Bruskin was in exile, his work acquired a certain structure, with the help of which he managed to streamline various symbols, signs and social myths. According to this approach, a modern artist combined his works into whole series or collages, where he depicted objects and inscriptions that are an allegory for some concept. One of these paintings, "The Fundamental Lexicon", subsequently brought him fame, when Milos Forman himself, an Oscar-winning Czech and American director, bought it at one of the auctions.

Semyon Faibisovich

Another eminent Russian artist working in the popular style of photorealism. The author combines his modern paintings in a series: for example, "Razgulyai", "Obviousness", "At the station". The last cycle of works includes the most expensive painting by the painter - "Soldier", which left the auction at Phillips de Pury for as much as 311 thousand pounds.

As the artist himself says, earlier in his works he wondered what exactly we see around us, drawing situations from everyday life: here a person is waiting for the arrival of an electric train, here he is riding in a trolley bus ... Now Faibisovich is more interested in how we see: to convey the desired effect, the modern artist shoots future scenes with the help of an old mobile phone, and then transfers to the canvas.

Valery Koshlyakov

The contemporary artist Valery Koshlyakov is one of the most famous Russian painters, who has repeatedly been the representative of the country at various world biennials. The Louvre, the Tretyakov Gallery, the Pompidou Center, the Russian Museum - everywhere you will find his work. by the most famous painting The author was the painting "Versailles", in 2008 sold for 72.5 thousand pounds at the famous Sotheby's auction.

I am modern only in the sense that I am your contemporary, and not in the sense that I am doing contemporary art. ( Valery Koshlyakov)

Monuments of past eras are the artist's favorite subject of painting. Modern painting by Koshlyakov has its own zest, namely, a predilection for using not the most traditional materials for creativity: cardboard, fabric, packing boxes, etc., although in last years the painter often returns to the canvas. In an attempt to achieve a matte surface, the Russian artist avoids oil paints preferring acrylic and tempera.

Assess the palette of Russian visual arts modernity can also be seen by watching the following video report from one of the exhibitions of the Manege Museum:

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Contemporary art seems to many to be pretentious and empty, but this does not change the fact that many artists of the 21st century receive fabulous sums for their paintings. Find out which modern artist managed to earn the most on his work and who is quite a bit behind him - find out in our article.

America's most successful artist since Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons, has made a career out of kitsch and pop culture. He turns Michael Jackson into a gilded statue, displays basketballs, sells a metal heart for $23 million, and a dog structure for $58 million. On the occasion of Koons' birthday, ELLE remembered the most "expensive" creators of contemporary art.

The total cost of the work is $750 million.

Richter was born and raised in the GDR, where avant-gardism was, frankly, a little tight. The young man had to marry a girl from West Germany and quickly dump him in bourgeois Düsseldorf. There, Gerhard spent a couple of years creating super-advanced canvases by smearing paint on canvas. Then he got tired of it, the painter fell into despondency and burned all his masterpieces. However, Richter managed to cope with the emerging crisis of the genre, pulled himself together and made a cool career.

Half a century later, his works fly away from auctions at unimaginable prices: the painting “Cathedral Square, Milan”, for example, last year was sold for $37.1 million. seen, loved classical painting and dreams of becoming "like Velasquez."

The total cost of the work is $301 million.

Koons has long been accused of conjuncture, calling him a glamor singer. Sculptures of Michael Jackson cartoon characters, animals - they all look so cute that even now exhibit in the living room (unless, of course, you have an extra 58 million, for example, for the very famous dog that eventually decorated the store of the Swedish brand H&M in New York).

It is this artist that can be considered the successor of Andy Warhol. Andy had the famous "Factory", Jeff has a huge factory in Soho, where almost 150 people work hard for the master. Koons comes up with an object on the computer, the rest is embodied by his subordinates. By the way, he designed Lady Gaga's last album. Rather, he and his team.

The total cost of the work is $207 million.

After returning from the army, 20-year-old Jasper Johns began painting American flags. He had a lot of strength, even more time, so the young man created a whole series of banners different colors. Then he switched to paintings in the form of spots: the layman would undoubtedly call such paintings children's daubs. However, "False Start" - a spotted canvas with type samples - was sold for $ 80 million. That's a daub for you!

The total cost of the work is $160 million.

This name is familiar even to those who know nothing about contemporary art. A skull in diamonds, a shark in formalin… “Is this art?!” some shout indignantly. And others even consider Hirst a crook. He himself says that he is not interested in money, and spends millions collecting "colleagues": from Picasso to the same Jeff Koons.

Hurst has a lot of money, and every year it becomes more. In addition to the main craft, he also "earns money": he will design the alphabet for children, then he will release personalized wallpapers - at 700 pounds per roll. It is not surprising that, occupying fourth place in the list of the most expensive artists, Damien is the richest of them. No, he's really smart!

The total cost of the work is $93 million.

If you don't understand how you can give a hundred million dollars for a dead fish in alcohol, hold on to the chairs. Richard Prince's "Cowboy" photograph was sold for $3 million. And the funny thing is that Prince himself did not shoot any cowboy at all - he just re-photographed someone else's picture. Yes, and the whole career of Prince is built on such "theft". For example, his famous series "Nurses" - scanned and transferred to canvas covers of women's magazines, which he simply painted on top. The paradox is that each of these works costs at least 50 thousand! Not three million, of course, for someone else's photo, but also very good. In addition to "painting", Richard Prince creates bags for Louis Vuitton, releases soda under his own name and hacks as a photographer on celebrity weddings- for example, Madonna, when she married Guy Ritchie.

Of all the art forms, painting can rightfully be called the most active developing direction. The author's canvas on the wall can not only make the interior original, but also become a central point, attracting the attention of others and creating a unique atmosphere. Considering that modern people a lot of attention is paid to the creation of a unique interior, then the high demand for paintings that is observed at the moment becomes understandable.

Among the many currents modern painting the most actively developing are:

• conceptual art and minimalism;
• impressionism, romanticism and the classical direction.

With their flight of fancy, modern painters literally amaze, which can be seen by visiting exhibitions. To make sure the popularity of the paintings that create contemporary artists, it is enough to read . Among the current trends: oil paintings, wall paintings, photorealistic works. Their canvases are presented by young artists who have only recently declared themselves, and famous painters, the cost of whose work is estimated at more than one tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The interest of connoisseurs art and buyers are attracted by works made in the following directions:

Current trends

The art of wall painting can currently be called one of the most sought after. Skillful painting of ceilings and walls is a great way to improve almost any room: residential, entertainment. The artist can apply a drawing to any surface in different plane. Wall painting makes it possible to eliminate any defects in the premises, visually enlarge the space, change the level of illumination. Depending on the wishes of the customer, portraits, still lifes, abstraction, fantasy, landscapes, etc. can be depicted on the wall.

Art connoisseurs are interested in painting using unusual “colors”: coffee, milk, berry juices and ... beer. Kyle Bice, an artist from Chicago, became the creator of a new direction, calling it beer painting. Beer paintings are very popular, his works are bought by celebrities and richest people planets.

fashion artists

Among the artists whose works are of constant interest among connoisseurs of painting, one of the most sought after is Takashi Murakami, who has become a legend of contemporary art. The peculiarity of his work is in the harmonious combination of traditional Japanese painting and current trends of the present. In 2008, Takashi Murakami entered the list of the 100 most influential people planets.