Mirrors have fascinated artists for centuries, whether Russian portraitist Valentin Serov (1865-1911) or American Impressionist Julian Alden Weir (1852-1919). Both works of art are intriguing interpretations of the complex relationship between the women and the reflections of their images.
Reposted blog. Essentially, the tragedy of Nicholas II was that he appeared in the wrong place in history. Equipped by education to rule in the nineteenth century, equipped by temperament to reign in England, he lived and reigned in Russia in the twentieth century. There, the world he understood was breaking up around him. […]
Reposted blog. Zinaida Serebriakova, one of Russia’s first notable women painters, was caught in the middle of the upheaval of World War I and Russian Revolution.. Like Boris Pasternak’s character Dr. Zhivago, she lost not only family members and friends, but her way of life.* However, her self portrait At the Dressing Table was […]
Russian artist Konstantin Ivanovich Gorbatov (1876-1945) often created incredibly rich and varied bouquets of flowers; his personal life was difficult, having to flee his native country because of the Russian Revolution and was trapped in Nazi Germany during World War II.
Reposted blog. INSIDE RUSSIAN ART PRINCE ANDREI’S TREE …Neither gnarled fingers nor old scars nor old doubts and sorrows were any of them in evidence. Through the hard century-old bark, even where there were no twigs, leaves had sprouted such as one could hardly believe the old veteran could have produced…. “Yes it […]
Russian artist Ivan Kramskoi (1837-1887) was a prolific portraitist, depicting major figures of Russian society, from writer Leo Tolstoy to Czar Alexander III and his wife. However, the subject of one of his most intriguing portraits (as seen above) has not been identified. Does she remind us of Tolstoy’s heroine Anna Karenina?
In a previous blog, I spotlighted the floral work of Russian artist Boris Kustodiev (1878-1927) above. Have you ever seen such striking purples and lavenders in a bouquet of flowers? The arrangement, too, is overflowing with vitality and energy, barely contained by its vase. Kustodiev, who was an active painter, stage designer, and book illustrator […]
Russia master Ilya Repin (1844-1930) was the most famous artist of the period, especially acclaimed for the penetrating and compelling realism of his portraits.
I just discovered this unforgettable portrait of a boy by Russian artist Boris Grigoriev (1886-1939), whose last years were spent abroad, far from his native country.
Konstantin Korovin (1861-1939) was a Russian Impressionist who created numerous still lifes, full of rich color and distinctive brushstrokes.
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The images used in this website are solely for educational purposes and are in the U.S. public domain. 
