Vbulletin famous women artists. Seven Great Women Artists

An avid communist, expressive and eccentric, Frida, who loved to laugh, drink tequila and smoke, became famous shortly before her death. Now her paintings are worth millions of dollars, and once almost the only fan of her work was her husband, also an artist Diego Rivera.

It just so happens that today Kahlo’s self-portraits are known to most of us much more than the artist herself, and yet the biography of the Mexican woman deserves the closest attention. At a young age, Frida survived a serious accident - a tram crashed into the bus where the future great artist was traveling. After the disaster, Kahlo underwent more than thirty operations, spent several years in a supine position, without ceasing to create. Actually, it was the fantastic self-portraits that captivated her future husband. Frida Kahlo's works created during marriage - hidden messages her only lover, her husband, who until the end of the artist’s days appeared to her ideological inspirer, colleague, friend. However, this did not stop her from having affairs behind her lover’s back - her creative nature does not fit into the usual framework.

For absolutely short life– Frida died at the age of 47, she, despite her more than unattractive appearance, managed to become Trotsky’s mistress, one might say, without leaving home; fall passionately in love with Spanish artist and even charm Mayakovsky. The truth is here last novel Historians have many questions about Kalo - it is likely that he did not exist at all. Although both were incredibly close to each other in spirit, and if they had actually met, they had every chance of getting together. But, alas, only one photograph testifies to the acquaintance of the poet and artist, the authenticity of which has been debated for many decades. And it seems they will never stop at all.

Berthe Morisot (1841- 1895)

Paris, the Orangerie Gallery, Claude Monet - these are the first associations that art lovers have when they mention impressionism. In fact, we know negligibly little about this direction, being content with only scanty information and our own preferences, without thinking that impressionism is not only Monet and Manet. It turns out that not only male names appear in the company of the French pioneers of the genre.

She was called a “virtuoso of color”, Morisot’s works took part year after year at the Salon - the annual Parisian exhibition of the Academy of Fine Arts. And today the artist is unfairly forgotten. Berthe Morisot, a representative of a very wealthy bourgeois family, was born in 1841, in the small French town of Bourges. Since childhood, she preferred painting, just like her sister - both girls later became artists. True, Edma, unlike Bertha, great success I didn’t achieve anything in the profession. Bertha, feeling the call of blood (the girl was a distant relative of Jean-Honoré Fragonard, who influenced many generations of French painters with his work), plunged headlong into her profession, made close acquaintance with the greats of her time - Monet, Renoir, Sisley and even married Edouard Manet's brother Eugene. By the way, this is why Morisot so often appeared as a model on the artist’s canvases.

For a long time, Bertha avoided frankness in her works - natural modesty and strict upbringing did not allow her to paint nudes. In the seventies, Morisot turned to modernity and immediately plunged headlong into it, creating, by and large, the first advertising brochures.

Maria Bashkirtseva (1858 - 1884)

For most of us, Maria Bashkirtseva is primarily the author of the legendary diary, which was translated into all European languages ​​and republished several times. Even today, the recordings made by a once unknown Russian girl who spent most of her life in exile, Masha Bashkirtseva, are very popular among readers. Meanwhile, Maria Bashkirtseva is the first Russian artist whose works were exhibited in the Louvre in Paris. Among them is the canvas “Jean and Jacques”, the most famous picture Russian artist. Today, however, it is quite problematic to find Bashkirtseva’s creations - most of the unique paintings were lost or destroyed during the First World War.

Bashkirtseva’s talent, which was undoubtedly unique - Maria, among other things, had excellent vocal abilities and the makings of a polyglot - did not have time to reveal itself to its full potential; at the age of 25, the artist died of tuberculosis in Paris.

Angelika Kaufman (1741 - 1807)

Angelika Kaufmann, a Swiss painter and graphic artist of the late eighteenth century, was able to achieve mastery in one of the most traditionally “masculine” artistic genres- historical painting - and became recognized master classicism. Having chosen a difficult path for herself in a very masculine profession, Angelika, nevertheless, always remained a woman first and foremost. In the 1780s, Angelika Kaufman became very famous in Europe thanks to her numerous portraits of noble people, including representatives of various royal families. Scenes painted by Angelika Kaufman based on stories of classical mythology were translated into prints and used in the art industry. Thanks to this, the art of Angelika Kaufman became incredibly popular - not all men could achieve such recognition.

Angelika Kaufman, together with another artist, Mary Moser, were among the founders of the British Royal Academy of Arts and over the next century and a half remained the only women to receive membership in it.

One more touch to the portrait of the artist: Angelika was the first woman to devote quite a large number of years to the profession that today is called design art: the artist, in the company of fellow painters, was engaged in the design of rich mansions.

Zinaida Serebryakova (1884-1967)

Representatives of our country differ not only bright talent but also surprising tragic destinies. Zinaida Serebryakova was no exception, whose self-portrait “Behind the Toilet” is probably familiar to everyone from school. Looks like Serebryakova creative path was predetermined long before her birth: her grandfather and great-grandfather devoted themselves to architecture, her father was engaged in sculpture and painting, and her uncles included a famous artist and critic Alexander Benois, so the girl simply had no choice. Having decided to continue the creative dynasty, Serebryakova was not mistaken, although the artist had to part with her family. Having married against the will of her parents, Zinaida and her husband were forced to leave for France, leaving behind in Russia little son- Serebryakova will meet with him after 36 years. Today it is impossible to imagine that once upon a time, the author of paintings that are now sold for fabulous money, barely made ends meet in Paris, trying to paint portraits to order, but thanks to the broad Russian soul, she often simply gave her works to customers, again and again being left without pennies in your pocket. Due to catastrophic poverty, Serebryakova was even forced to make her own paints - there was no money for store-bought ones.

The artist first received wide recognition at the age of 26, when her works took part in the VII exhibition of the Union of Russian Artists, but Serebryakova herself could not attend the exhibition - she never returned to her homeland, although she passionately dreamed about it for the rest of her life. Today the famous self-portrait of Serebryakova is exhibited in Tretyakov Gallery, and the painting “At Breakfast” (1914), the heroes of which were Serebryakova’s children, is called one of the best children’s portraits in the history of painting.

Georgia O'Keeffe (1887 - 1986)

Critics attributed to her a craving for hidden eroticism, art lovers did not recognize her as a master of her craft - and what in the works of this American woman, it would seem, could attract attention: pistils, stamens, huge flowers, unclear shadows and an excessive variety of colors. In addition, the artist herself admitted that she hated what she painted—flowers—and used them as models only because they were cheap (it was necessary to spend a lot of money on real sitters and sitters, which O’Keeffe simply did not have). So who will love what the author himself hates?

But, as you know, we always accept everything new with difficulty, and it’s always too late. Today, the artist’s works go under the hammer for absolutely cosmic sums: the year before last, the painting “Datura”, also known as “White Flower No. 1,” by the American artist Georgia O’Keeffe was sold at auction at Sotheby’s auction house in New York for 44 .4 million dollars. The canvas set a price record among works of art created by women.

Only her husband, photographer and gallery owner Alfred Stieglitz, saw a great future in Georgia’s works. He called her the first woman of American modernism and said that O'Keeffe's images of flowers, animal bones and desert landscapes are an integral part of the mythology and iconography of American artistic culture.

The art of painting was originally a male occupation. The first paintings depicted hunters and animals, the first figurines depicted women with exaggerated curvaceous figures. To the studios of artists in Greece and Ancient Rome women entered exclusively as models and inspiration. To the workshops early Middle Ages didn't come in at all, they Creative skills were realized in fantastically beautiful embroideries and tapestries.

The first information about ladies involved in art dates back to XIV century, and to achieve complete equality it took five more - only by the end of the 19th century they stopped looking at women at the easel as reading horses. Which of famous artists can we remember?

Sofonisba Anguissola

Portrait painter. First famous artist Renaissance. Born in 1532 in Cremona, into a wealthy and noble family, the eldest of seven children. Her father Hamilcar Anguissola showed freethinking, surprising for that time, by allowing his daughter to take painting lessons from the young artist Bernardino Campi. Judging by the portrait painted by Sophonisba, she had a passion for her teacher, but she loved art more. Michelangelo himself noted her work and even gave the girl some advice. At the age of 27, she left home, became the court artist of the Spanish King Philip II and painted ceremonial portraits of princes and princesses for more than 10 years. At the age of 38, she finally married the Viceroy of Sicily (!), after 9 years of marriage she was widowed. On the way to her native Cremona, 47-year-old Sofonisba met the young captain Horatio Lomellino, married him a few months later and lived for almost 40 years in a happy marriage. She left art at the age of 90, having lost her sight.

Self-portrait

Artemisia Gentileschi

Artist, author of genre works. Born in Rome in 1593, the daughter of the artist Horacio Gentileschi. She was the only one of the master’s five children who showed talent for painting. Her father sent Artemisia to study with the artist Agostino Tassi, who eventually... dishonored the 19-year-old student. The young artist insisted on a judicial investigation and, after much bureaucratic ordeal, finally sent the rapist to prison for a year. After this, her father married Artemisia to a colleague, Pierantonio Stiattesi, and sent her out of sight to Florence. The first years in the new city were successful - Gentileschi enjoyed the patronage of Cosimo de' Medici and was accepted into the Academy pictorial art, gave birth to her husband four children. However, the husband turned out to be a gambler and a reveler, the family became entangled in debt, the children died of illness, and in 1621 Artemisia left Florence. She worked in Genoa, Venice, London, was friends with Galileo, Van Dyck and Sophonisba Anguissola, and was popular, although she did not achieve the fame of her older friend. Known as the author of 37 paintings on religious themes- Judith and Holofernes, Susanna and the elders, and so on. She died in Naples, from the plague, at the age of about 60 years.

Self-portrait as an allegory of Painting

Maria Vigée-Lebrun

Portrait painter. Born in Paris in 1755. She became popular as a portrait painter at the age of 15. At the age of 21, she married Pierre Lebrun, an art dealer. Thanks to his connections, she was accepted into the court and painted Queen Marie Antoinette. Soon Vigée-Lebrun was accepted as a member of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture. Her further career The Great French Revolution interfered, but Maria did not lose heart - she traveled around Europe, even visited Russia, where she made several portraits of crowned persons and people close to Empress Catherine II. In 1799 she returned to France at the personal invitation of Napoleon. Until old age she lived in wealth, peace and universal love, and died at 86 years old.

Self-portrait

Maria Bashkirtseva

The first Russian artist whose works were acquired by the Louvre. Born in 1860 in the Poltava region, at the age of 10 she went with her mother to Nice. Since childhood, she was distinguished by poor health and great abilities. She promised to become an outstanding singer, but due to illness she lost her voice. At the age of 18 she began painting and completed a seven-year course at the Paris Academy in two years, with a medal. On next year presented her work “Young Woman Reading Dumas” at the Salon, a year later she received second place for “Julian’s Atelier” - this was a huge success for the aspiring artist. In total, Bashkirtseva managed to complete about 150 canvases; the last unfinished work, “Holy Wives,” can be seen in the chapel at the Passy cemetery, where the artist’s body rests. Maria died in 1884 from consumption, at the very beginning of her creative career.

God gave her too much!
And too little - he let go.
Oh, her stellar path!
I only had enough strength for the canvases...

This is what Marina Tsvetaeva wrote about her, dedicating her first poetry collection"Evening Album".

Maupassant, visiting her grave, said: “This was the only Rose in my life whose path I would strew with roses, knowing that it would be so bright and so short!”

Self-portrait

Vera Mukhina

Sculptor. Born in Riga in 1889. She spent her childhood and youth in Feodosia, studied at a children's art school created by Aivazovsky, then continued her education in Moscow, Paris and Italy. In 1918 she married military doctor Alexei Zamkov. She became famous as a monumental sculptor. Her statue “Worker and Collective Farm Woman” made a huge impression at the 1937 World Exhibition in Paris. Creative heritage Mukhina includes monuments to cultural figures, military men, scientists, and monumental allegorical sculptures. Vera Mukhina was awarded orders and medals and received the Stalin Prize 5 times.

Camille Claudel

Sculptor, student and model of Rodin. Born in 1864 in northern France into a bourgeois family. Since childhood, she was interested in art; against the wishes of her family, she went to Paris to study sculpture with Alfred Boucher. During the course she met Rodin, became his lover, model, student, and later competitor - Claudel’s dynamic, expressive works sometimes won against the backdrop of Rodin’s cold perfection. She exhibited at the Salon, had commercial success and good reviews. “A rebellion against nature, a woman is a genius,” the politician Mirabeau spoke chauvinistically but enthusiastically about her. The break with Rodin turned out to be too painful for Claudel; from 1914 she plunged into the world of her own fantasies and hallucinations. The family placed Camille in a mental hospital, where she spent the last 30 years of her life.

Zinaida Serebryakova

Portrait painter. Born in 1884, in the Kharkov region. From the Benois-Lancere creative dynasty, granddaughter of the architect Benois. She studied at the Tenisheva Art School and completed her education in Paris, at the Académie de la Grande Chaumiere (the same place as Mukhina). At the age of 21, she married Boris Serebryakov and gave birth to four children (all four later also became artists). She worked with Kustodiev, Dobuzhinsky, and participated in exhibitions at the World of Artists. In 1919, she almost died of starvation on her estate. In 1924, she emigrated to Paris with two children, worked very hard, and sold fantastically beautiful portraits for pennies. In 1966, a year before her death, Serebryakova’s personal exhibitions took place in Russia, she gained enormous popularity and managed to enjoy her well-deserved success.

Behind the toilet. Self-portrait

Nadya Rusheva

Illustrator, graphic artist. Born in 1952, in Moscow. She started drawing at the age of 5; her first painting took place at 12. personal exhibition Nadya, by the age of 17, she had 15 exhibitions in the USSR and abroad. She worked on illustrations for “The Master and Margarita”, “War and Peace”, for the works of Lermontov and Saint-Exupery, and created amazing original characters. Nadya's works were distinguished by touching tenderness, airiness and grace of drawing, the charm of naive and sincere images. Unfortunately, talented artist She had a very short life; she died at the age of 17 from an aneurysm. After Nadya's death, about 160 exhibitions of her works took place.

Remedios Varo

Artist, surrealist. Born in 1908 in Catalonia, she studied at a convent school. She entered the Accademia de San Fernando in Madrid. She studied there during the same years as Salvador Dali, whose influence can be seen in the complex mysticism of Remedios’s paintings. During Civil War In Spain, she miraculously managed to survive and emigrated to Mexico. She was friends with Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. Found my style and artistic language closer to 40 years old. Remedios's works - ornate weave medieval traditions And modern images, you can look at them for hours, finding more and more magical details.

Escape

Remedios Varo

Tove Jansson

Illustrator, graphic artist. Born in 1914 in Finland, the daughter of a sculptor. She graduated from the College of Arts in Stockholm and improved her skills in Europe. At the age of 26, I came up with and drew a funny creature with a round belly and a trusting face - Moomintroll. In 1938, she wrote the first book about this creature, his dad, mom, home and friends - “Moomintroll and the Great Flood.” In 1949, The Wizard's Hat, also illustrated by Janson, was published, and Moomin mania swept the world. The creator of the Moomins has always maintained that she is first and foremost an artist and paintings mean more to her than fairy tales. Jansson painted Helsinki City Hall, several churches and public buildings.

In addition to those listed, hundreds more women left their mark on the history of art. The article does not talk about Angelica Kaufman, Sofya Dymshits, Frida Kahlo, Sofia Lascaridou, Elena Guro and many, many others.

Remember that creativity can awaken at the most unexpected moment, and even if you don’t have an exhibition at the Salon or Manege, painting ennobles the soul. Dip your brushes!

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Van Gogh, Matisse, Gauguin, Dali... And hundreds of other men, geniuses of painting, who are well known to everyone, whom we have known and loved since childhood. But representatives of the fair half of humanity seem to remain on the sidelines... How often can one hear an offensive, unfair question: “Why are there no famous artists among women? Maybe they are not given it?” Of course, this is not true. Today we will remember the great artists, Russian and foreign, whose paintings are rightfully considered world masterpieces. Seven great names, seven difficult destinies of women in the world visual arts, which is generally considered masculine...

Natalia Goncharova(1881−1962) - great-grandniece of that same Natalya Nikolaevna Goncharova, wife of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin (at one time the artist designed “Tales of Tsar Saltan,” thus paying tribute to the famous relationship).
She studied painting under the guidance of the outstanding artist and teacher Konstantin Korovin. Together with her husband, M. F. Larionov, one of the founders of the Russian avant-garde, she organized the “Donkey’s Tail” association. In 1915, she received an invitation from Sergei Diaghilev to work on the Russian Seasons - tours of opera and ballet artists in Paris.
With the current value of her paintings, Natalya Goncharova has outdone all the artists in the world. In 2008, the price record in the “women’s category” was broken by the painting “Flowers”, sold at Christie’s auction for more than $10 million. The work is one of key works Russian avant-garde, since it combines elements of European impressionism and an absolutely innovative movement created by Goncharova and her husband - the so-called. "Rayism". Like, all the objects that we see are the sum of rays refracted from these same objects. The artist also experimented with primitivism, using iconography.
In 2010, at the London auction, the painting “The Spanish Flu” set another price record - its lucky owner parted with $1.216 million.
Today, most of Natalia Goncharova's works are in the Tretyakov Gallery.

Natalya Goncharova. "Peacock under the bright sun." 1911.

Frida Kahlo(1907-1954) is the most famous Mexican artist, who was famous for her colorful self-portraits. On her work had a noticeable impact Mexican culture and art of the peoples of pre-Columbian America. Art style Frida Kahlo has been characterized as folk art or naive art.
Frida had poor health all her life - she suffered from polioat the age of six and also suffered a serious car accidentV adolescence, after which she had to undergo numerous operations, which influenced her for the rest of her life. It was after the tragedy that she first asked her father for brushes and paints. The first painting was a self-portrait, which forever determined the main direction of creativity. She wrote in her diary:“I write myself because I spend a lot of time alone and because I am the subject I know best.”
In 1929Kahlo married artist Diego Rivera.Their turbulent life together became a legend.
In 1937 in the house of Diego and Frida, who adhere to communist views, the Soviet revolutionary leader Leon Trotsky briefly found refuge; he and Frida began an affair.
In the forties Frida Kahlo's paintings appear in several notable exhibitions. At the same time, her health problems are getting worse. Medicines and drugs designed to reduce physical suffering change it state of mind, which is clearly reflected in the diary, which has become a cult among her fans. In 1953 her first personal exhibition took place in her homeland. By that time, Frida could no longer get out of bed, and she was brought to the opening of the exhibition in a hospital bed. A year later, the cult artist and style icon died, but her life itself, bright image And amazing paintings have become an inspiring legend for millions of people around the world...

Frida Kahlo. "Self-Portrait (Diego in Thoughts)." 1943.

Maria Bashkirtseva(1858 - 1884) - born in Poltava province. She is the first of the Russian artists whose paintings, “Jean and Jacques” and “The Meeting,” adorned the walls of the Louvre. However, most of her works did not survive the First World War. In addition to 150 paintings, 200 drawings and numerous watercolors, Maria Bashkirtseva left behind literary heritage- “Diary”, which I kept from the age of 15 in French. After her death, it was translated into all European languages, and soon published in America. It is noteworthy that the mother tore out all the pages from the diary that mentioned her daughter’s feminist views. It is known that Maria Bashkirtseva actively advocated for women's rights. The academic canons of painting also seemed cramped to her nature. She preferred working in the open air, painting the faces of Parisian women snatched from everyday street landscapes.
The artist's life, unfortunately, was not long: she died of tuberculosis at only 25 years old. IN last years During her life, the artist corresponded with Guy de Maupassant, who said at her grave: “This was the only Rose in my life, whose path I would strew with roses, knowing that it would be so bright and so short!” And the great Marina Tsvetaeva dedicated a collection of early lyrics “Evening Album” to Bashkirtseva.

Maria Bashkirtseva. "Rain Umbrella" 1883.

Mary Cassatt(1844-1926) — famous American artist and a graphic artist who painted in the style of impressionism. She lived most of her life in France and was friends with Edgar Degas and Berthe Morisot. Her paintings were inspired by images of the social and personal lives of women, with particular emphasis on the close bond between mothers and children.
Even though Mary's family objected to her desire to become professional artist, she began studying painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. Intolerant of the leisurely pace of learning and the patronizing attitude of the male half of students and teachers, she decided to continue her studies on her own, and in 1886 she moved to Paris.
After seeing Edgar Degas pastels in the window of an art shop, she wrote to a friend: “I had to go and press my nose to the window to absorb all I could of his painting. It changed my life. I saw art the way I wanted to see it.” She met Degas in 1874. Heinvited her to participate in an exhibition of impressionists, and Mary Cassatt's works were exhibited at the exhibition in 1879.
Cassatt became extremely adept at using pastels, eventually executing many of her paintings in this technique.
A series of strictly written, subtly observed, unsentimental paintings about mother and child are the main theme of her most famous works.
The 1890s were Cassatt's busiest and most creative period in her life. She was imitated by young American artists who needed her advice and support.In recognition of her contribution to art, in 1904 shereceived the Order of the Legion of Honor.
Mary Cassatt died in 1926in the Chateau de Beaufren, near Paris, and was buried in the family crypt.

Mary Cassatt. "Women admiring a child." 1897.

Zinaida Serebryakova(1884−1967) - Russian realist artist. Her grandfather and great-grandfather devoted themselves to architecture, her father was engaged in sculpture and painting, and her uncles included the famous artist and critic Alexander Benois, so Zinaida became friends with the brush and canvas from childhood.
Serebryakova married her cousin; Relatives did not approve of this union, and the artist and her husband had to emigrate, leaving their children in Russia. Zinaida Serebryakova was lucky enough to see her son only after 36 years...
Today, the artist’s paintings are sold for incredible amounts of money. And while living in Paris, she tried to make a living by painting portraits, but very often she simply gave them to customers. Due to poverty, Serebryakova was even forced to make her own paints. She was never able to return to Russia: World War II cut her off from her homeland.
The most famous painting Zinaida Serebryakova - self-portrait of the artist “Behind the Toilet” (1909). For the first time, the public started talking about the author’s talent after the presentation of the work at the VII exhibition of the Union of Russian Artists (1910). Today, the self-portrait of the 25-year-old artist is kept in the Tretyakov Gallery. And the painting “At Breakfast” (1914), the heroes of which were Serebryakova’s children, is called one of the best children’s portraits in the history of painting.

Zinaida Serebryakova. "Behind the toilet." Self-portrait. 1909.

Berthe Morisot (1841-1895) — French artist who painted in the style of impressionism. She had great-niece the famous artist, master of the Rococo style, Jean Honore Fragonard,was married to Eugene Manet, brother of his friend and colleague Edouard Manet. Bertha's facial features are well known to connoisseurs of impressionism, as Manet often painted her.
Morisot was born in Bourges, in a rich bourgeois family. She and her sister Edma Morisot became artists. The family, after Bertha decided on her choice of profession, did not interfere with her career. She studied painting from K. Corot, working with him in the open air.
In 1864, she exhibited her works for the first time at one of the most prestigious art exhibitions in France - the Paris Salon.. Her work was selected for participation in six Salons in a row, until in 1874 she joined the group of “rejected” Impressionists created by Cézanne, Degas , Monet , Morisot, Pissaro, Renoir and Sisley , and took part in their first exhibitionin the studio of photographer Nadar.
Light, filled with light and a joyful feeling of life, B. Morisot’s painting creates alluring images that evoke a feeling of harmony and beauty in the soul. There are no social motives or outbursts of emotion in her paintings, but they forced us to look at ordinary and familiar events in a new way. Everyday life, they smelled of warmth, comfort and quiet family happiness. This direction of painting turned out to be in demand, Bertha’s paintings were readily bought, and they invariably aroused the interest of viewers at exhibitions. The artist had many followers around the world, especially among women painters.

Berthe Morisot. "Catching Butterflies" 1874.

Elena Polenova(1850 - 1898) - sister of the famous Russian painter Vasily Polenov. X artist who created a fairy-tale world on her canvases.
Born in St. Petersburg, in the family of a historian. Interest in mythical subjects stems from childhood: little Lila, as her family called her, was always read Russian folk tales. She and her brother learned to draw from famous artist and teacher, author of the “broad view” method, Pavel Chistyakov. Since women were not allowed to enter the Academy of Arts at that time, the girl studied with Ivan Kramskoy at the St. Petersburg School of the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts.
Elena Polenova’s personal life never worked out. In contrast to creative life: Tretyakov himself acquired several works for the collection. Fairy tales pictures came to her in a dream. And she worked on canvases on the estate of the philanthropist Mamontov, Abramtsevo. Here, for example, the “Beast” was born - a monster that kidnaps the soul from the kingdom of bright dreams.
In the last years of her life, the artist made many sketches of fantastic floral patterns for framing icons, embroidery, and ceramics. When drawing floral patterns, Polenova showed inexhaustible imagination, each time finding a new arrangement of flowers, a new rhythm, creating a stormy and dynamic flow of forms. Elena Polenova died on November 19, 1898 in Moscow, in the prime of her strength and talent, without realizing many plans. So, she had to design the Russian pavilion at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900...

Elena Polenova. "Ivan Tsarevich and the Firebird." 1896.

For Russian distribution came out New film Tim Burton " Big eyes" - the story of American artist Margaret Keane. Margaret's works, however, were known under the name of her husband, who convinced his wife that paintings created by men had much greater commercial value. This story is real and truly determined by the situation in the art world. Let's figure out why we know so little about women artists and why their works still cost much less than those created by men.

Text: Katya Savchenko

Maria Bashkirtseva “In the studio”, 1881

Since the mid-60s, female artists began to think about what distinguishes them from their male colleagues.

The area of ​​beauty and intangibility today seems to us to be a completely natural habitat for women, but over the centuries in art they have been assigned the role of muse, faithful wife or the artist's patron. Women existed “next to” art, while the creation of masterpieces was the prerogative of men. The names of the famous philanthropist Marquise Isabella d'Este and Botticelli's muse Simonetta Vespucci are inscribed in the history of Renaissance art, but how many of us remember the first Renaissance artist Sofonisba Anguissola? Why has world artistic culture retained so few references to female artists? Is this a historical accident, intentional discrimination, or the logical result of centuries of male dominance in society?

In 1971, American art historian Linda Nochlin addressed these questions in her essay "Why There Were No Great Women Artists." Since the mid-60s, women artists began to really think about what distinguishes them from their male colleagues, and actively claim the right to express their special, feminine vision of the world in art. Linda Nochlin's article, written on a topical topic at the time, became one of the key texts of feminist art.

Nokhlin does not give a clear answer to the question posed in the title of the study, and suggests that the essence of the problem lies in a whole complex of different reasons. One of the most common and logical arguments for the weak presence of female artists in art history is the lack of access to art education. In the Middle Ages, it was possible to learn the skill of an artist, mainly by adopting knowledge through the family line, or by being hired as an apprentice to famous artists. Both scenarios in the fate of girls were, rather, an exception to the rule, not to mention the possibility of admission to art schools, access to which became relatively open for women only in the 19th century. Nevertheless, it was these rare cases that gave the world a number of talented artists.

One of the most widely known women in classical painting, Italian Baroque artist and follower of Caravaggio, Artemisia Gentileschi was the daughter of the artist Horatio Gentileschi. Having entered her father's workshop as a child, she quickly demonstrated her superiority over her brothers and subsequently became the first woman admitted to the Florence Academy of Fine Arts. Her contemporary and compatriot Fede Galizia also learned painting skills from her father, a miniaturist, and became famous for her expressive portraits and masterfully executed still lifes.

Another important obstacle that prevented women artists from competing on an equal basis in skill with men was the ban on drawings from nudes. The ban was in effect until late XIX century, and even after its abolition, such sketches were not encouraged for a long time. British artist Laura Knight became the first who dared to paint her self-portrait at an easel in front of a nude model, which provoked a scandal in British society. This happened in 1913. It is not surprising that in such conditions it was difficult for women to compete with men in depicting the human body and they worked mainly in the genres of portrait, landscape and still life.

Another popular explanation is the social restrictions that controlled women's lives in society. Moderation in manners, high morality and service to the interests of her husband were valued in a girl much higher than creative impulse. In his essay, Nochlin cites a manual for well-bred girls from 1848, according to which “it is much more valuable for a girl to be able to do several things decently than to demonstrate mastery in one thing.” Finally, a number of theorists were of the opinion that women, in principle, cannot be geniuses because of their weakness and excessive emotionality. Similar statements found, for example, in the philosophy of Rousseau, Kant and Schopenhauer.

Left: Laura Knight, Nude Self-Portrait, 1913. Right: Laura Knight, Dawn, 1936

Moderation in manners and serving the interests of her husband were valued in a girl much higher than creative impulse

Natalya Goncharova " Green Forest", 1911

The balance of power on art scene began to change only with the advent of the 20th century, when women began to more actively designate their place in society. The art world also came into their sights. At the beginning of the 20th century, the suffragette movement committed a number of sabotages in art galleries Great Britain. The most famous of these sabotages was the attack on Sargent's portrait of Sir Henry James at the Royal Academy of Arts. On May 4, 1914, suffragist Mary Wood armed herself with a butcher knife and shouted “Voices for women!” attacked the portrait in front of the public. She later explained her action as a desire to draw attention to women's determination to fight for the right to vote and commented on the amount of damages awarded to her with the words: “This picture would not be worth so much if it had been painted by a woman.” By the way, since its founding in 1768 (despite the fact that two artists were among the founders: Angelica Kaufman and Mary Moser), not a single woman was admitted to the Royal Academy for 160 years.

In parallel, at the beginning of the 20th century, the international art community was stirred up by the birth of the Russian avant-garde. In an effort to break with academicism in all its manifestations, the avant-garde gave women artists the opportunity to speak out, just as the Soviet system gave them the right to vote. Among the main avant-garde artists, Natalya Goncharova, Lyubov Popova and Alexandra Ekster are revered along with Mikhail Larionov and Vladimir Tatlin.

The next stage of conquest by women art world came with the formation of the feminist art movement in the United States in the 70s. Having joined the general wave of protest sentiments, feminist artists, together with activists of movements for free love, the rights of national minorities and against the Vietnam War, demanded a revision of the picture of the world.

Interview with the curator and participant of the exhibition “WACK: Art & The Feminist Revolution”, 2007

The avant-garde gave women artists the right to speak out, just as the Soviet system gave them the right to vote

Historically, art was created by men and assumed a view of reality from a male perspective. John Berger described the absurdity of this situation in his famous book The Art of Seeing, which criticizes the standard approach to the perception of painting. He rightly noted: “Take any classic, depicting a naked woman. Try to imagine a man instead of a woman and think what it would look like.” Feminist artists saw their task as revising this perspective. From an object of contemplation, a woman sought to become a contemplator, to reflect in art her sphere of interests, in particular, observation of herself. In their works they often asked the question of what it means to be a woman in modern society, have female body, being a mother and experiencing menstrual cycles once a month.

The struggle for equal rights for women and men in art was also aimed against the dominance of male artists in museum collections. In 1977, the Brooklyn Museum hosted an exhibition entitled Women Artists: 1550–1950, dedicated exclusively to women's creativity. The exhibition featured works by 83 artists from 12 countries. The curators were also two women, one of whom was the aforementioned Linda Nochlin. The scale of the exhibition clearly demonstrated for the first time the number of female artists in the history of art.

It would seem that balance has finally arrived. Women artists have achieved their right to study art on an equal basis with men, to express in any way artistic form any issues that concern them, depict nudity and openly show their body to the public, receive prestigious art awards and organize retrospective exhibitions in largest museums peace. However, the results of many studies prove that the power of men and women in the art world is still not equal.

For example, in the list of the hundred most expensive works ever sold at auction, compiled by one of the main analytical resources of the art market ArtNet, there is still not a single work created by the artist. The most expensive painting by a woman to go under the hammer was Georgia O’Keeffe’s “Datura” (“White Flower No. 1”), which sold for $44.4 million. By comparison, the most expensive work ever sold at auction was created by Paul Cézanne and was valued at $250 million. The problem lies not in the degree of talent of “female” and “male” art, but in the fact that the second has been institutionalized for much longer and, not least of all, this affects its cost.

The fairness of the market valuation of art can be questioned, but the facts remain facts: for example, that in London national gallery Of the 2,300 works in the collection, only 11 are by women, and of the artists Tate represents, 83 percent are men. However, there is reason to believe that the situation is changing and will change, and for a start it wouldn’t hurt us to at least know more about the women who left their mark in art.

Guerrilla Girls "Do women have to be naked to be in a museum?", 2004

If you think that all great artists are in the past, then you have no idea how wrong you are. In this article you will learn about the most famous and talented artists modernity. And, believe me, their works will remain in your memory no less deeply than the works of maestros from past eras.

Wojciech Babski

Wojciech Babski is a contemporary Polish artist. He completed his studies at the Silesian Polytechnic Institute, but associated himself with. IN Lately draws mainly women. Focuses on the expression of emotions, strives to obtain the greatest possible effect using simple means.

Loves color, but often uses shades of black and gray to achieve best experience. Not afraid to experiment with different new techniques. Recently, he has been gaining increasing popularity abroad, mainly in the UK, where he successfully sells his works, which can already be found in many private collections. In addition to art, he is interested in cosmology and philosophy. Listens to jazz. Currently lives and works in Katowice.

Warren Chang

Warren Chang - modern American artist. Born in 1957 and raised in Monterey, California, he graduated with honors from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena in 1981, where he received a BFA. Over the next two decades, he worked as an illustrator for various companies in California and New York before embarking on a career as a professional artist in 2009.

His realistic paintings can be divided into two main categories: biographical interior paintings and paintings depicting people at work. His interest in this style of painting dates back to the work of the 16th century artist Johannes Vermeer, and extends to subjects, self-portraits, portraits of family members, friends, students, studio interiors, classrooms and homes. Its goal is to realistic paintings create mood and emotion through the manipulation of light and the use of muted colors.

Chang became famous after switching to traditional fine arts. Over the past 12 years, he has earned numerous awards and honors, the most prestigious of which is the Master Signature from the Oil Painters of America, the largest oil painting community in the United States. Only one person out of 50 is given the opportunity to receive this award. Warren currently lives in Monterey and works in his studio, and he also teaches (known as a talented teacher) at the San Francisco Academy of Art.

Aurelio Bruni

Aurelio Bruni is an Italian artist. Born in Blair, October 15, 1955. He received a diploma in scenography from the Institute of Art in Spoleto. As an artist, he is self-taught, as he independently “built a house of knowledge” on the foundation laid in school. He began painting in oils at the age of 19. Currently lives and works in Umbria.

Bruni's early paintings are rooted in surrealism, but over time he begins to focus on the proximity of lyrical romanticism and symbolism, enhancing this combination with the exquisite sophistication and purity of his characters. Animated and inanimate objects acquire equal dignity and look almost hyper-realistic, but at the same time they do not hide behind a curtain, but allow you to see the essence of your soul. Versatility and sophistication, sensuality and loneliness, thoughtfulness and fruitfulness are the spirit of Aurelio Bruni, nourished by the splendor of art and the harmony of music.

Aleksander Balos

Alkasander Balos is a contemporary Polish artist specializing in oil painting. Born in 1970 in Gliwice, Poland, but since 1989 he has lived and worked in the USA, in Shasta, California.

As a child, he studied art under the guidance of his father Jan, a self-taught artist and sculptor, so he early age, artistic activity received full support from both parents. In 1989, at the age of eighteen, Balos left Poland for the United States, where he school teacher and part-time artist Katie Gaggliardi encouraged Alkasander to enroll in art school. Balos then received a full scholarship to the University of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he studied painting with philosophy professor Harry Rozin.

After graduating in 1995 with a bachelor's degree, Balos moved to Chicago to attend the School of Fine Arts, whose methods are based on creativity. Jacques-Louis David. Figurative realism and portrait painting formed the majority of Balos' work in the 90s and early 2000s. Today, Balos uses the human figure to highlight the characteristics and shortcomings of human existence, without offering any solutions.

The subject compositions of his paintings are intended to be independently interpreted by the viewer, only then will the paintings acquire their true temporal and subjective meaning. In 2005, the artist moved to Northern California, since then the subject matter of his work has expanded significantly and now includes freer painting methods, including abstraction and various multimedia styles that help express ideas and ideals of existence through painting.

Alyssa Monks

Alyssa Monks is a contemporary American artist. Born in 1977, in Ridgewood, New Jersey. I began to be interested in painting when I was still a child. Studied at the New School in New York and State University Montclair and graduated from Boston College in 1999 with a B.A. At the same time she studied painting at the academy Lorenzo Medici in Florence.

Then she continued her studies in the master's degree program at the New York Academy of Art, in the department of Figurative Art, graduating in 2001. She graduated from Fullerton College in 2006. For some time she lectured at universities and educational institutions throughout the country, teaching painting at the New York Academy of Art, as well as Montclair State University and Lyme Academy of Art College.

“Using filters such as glass, vinyl, water and steam, I distort the human body. These filters allow you to create large areas of abstract design, with islands of color peeking through - parts of the human body.

My paintings change the modern view of the already established, traditional poses and gestures of bathing women. They could tell an attentive viewer a lot about such seemingly self-evident things as the benefits of swimming, dancing, and so on. My characters are pressed against the glass of the shower window, distorting own body, realizing that they thereby influence the notorious male gaze on a naked woman. Thick layers of paint are mixed to imitate glass, steam, water and flesh from afar. However, up close, the amazing physical properties oil paint. By experimenting with layers of paint and color, I find a point where abstract brushstrokes become something else.

When I first started painting the human body, I was immediately fascinated and even obsessed with it and believed that I had to make my paintings as realistic as possible. I “professed” realism until it began to unravel and reveal contradictions in itself. I am now exploring the possibilities and potential of a style of painting where representational painting and abstraction meet – if both styles can coexist at the same moment in time, I will do so.”

Antonio Finelli

Italian artist – “ Time Observer” – Antonio Finelli was born on February 23, 1985. Currently lives and works in Italy between Rome and Campobasso. His works have been exhibited in several galleries in Italy and abroad: Rome, Florence, Novara, Genoa, Palermo, Istanbul, Ankara, New York, and can also be found in private and public collections.

Pencil drawings " Time Observer“Antonio Finelli takes us on an eternal journey through the inner world of human temporality and the associated scrupulous analysis of this world, the main element of which is the passage through time and the traces it leaves on the skin.

Finelli paints portraits of people of any age, gender and nationality, whose facial expressions indicate passage through time, and the artist also hopes to find evidence of the mercilessness of time on the bodies of his characters. Antonio defines his works by one thing, common name: “Self-portrait”, because in his pencil drawings he not only depicts a person, but allows the viewer to contemplate the real results of the passage of time inside a person.

Flaminia Carloni

Flaminia Carloni is a 37-year-old Italian artist, the daughter of a diplomat. She has three children. She lived in Rome for twelve years, and for three years in England and France. She received a degree in art history from the BD School of Art. Then she received a diploma as an art restorer. Before finding her calling and devoting herself entirely to painting, she worked as a journalist, colorist, designer, and actress.

Flaminia's passion for painting arose in childhood. Her main medium is oil because she loves to “coiffer la pate” and also play with the material. Similar technique she recognized the work of the artist Pascal Torua. Flaminia is inspired by great masters of painting such as Balthus, Hopper, and François Legrand, as well as various artistic movements: street art, Chinese realism, surrealism and Renaissance realism. Her favorite artist is Caravaggio. Her dream is to discover the therapeutic power of art.

Denis Chernov

Denis Chernov - talented Ukrainian artist, born in 1978 in Sambir, Lviv region, Ukraine. After graduating from Kharkov art school in 1998 he remained in Kharkov, where he currently lives and works. He also studied in Kharkov State Academy design and arts, department of graphics, graduated in 2004.

He regularly participates in art exhibitions, at the moment there have been more than sixty of them, both in Ukraine and abroad. Most of Denis Chernov's works are kept in private collections in Ukraine, Russia, Italy, England, Spain, Greece, France, USA, Canada and Japan. Some of the works were sold at Christie's.

Denis works in a wide range of graphic and painting techniques. Pencil drawings are one of his most favorite painting methods, a list of his topics pencil drawings is also very diverse, he paints landscapes, portraits, nudes, genre compositions, book illustrations, literary and historical reconstructions and fantasies.