Zinaida Serebryakova. Pictures about the beauty of the world and life in the era of change

In the fine arts, only a few female names are of world significance. Zinaida Serebryakova, whose paintings - priceless stars of modern auctions - one of them. At the heart of its world recognition is a constant hard work to build its own universe. He also became a salvation for her, who lived in Russia during the era of revolutionary change: the ideal world of art was too fragile in the face of social upheavals.

"We are all born with a pencil in our hands ..."

The choice of a way of life could not be different: it since childhood was surrounded by drawings and pictures. Serebayakova Zinaida Evgenievna, born Lansere, was born in 1884 in a family that gave the world outstanding painters, graphic artists, sculptors, illustrators, decorators, architects. Father - sculptor Eugene Lansere, was especially famous for his animalistic small plastic art, his grandfather on the maternal line - Nikolai Leontyevich Benoit - academician of architecture, uncle - Alexander Benois - the founder of the legendary association "World of Art".

Early losing her father, Zinaida lived in the Benois family. The atmosphere in the huge St. Petersburg house and in the Neskuchnoe estate near Kharkov was noisy and cheerful. Zinaida from childhood was distinguished by perseverance and concentration, with the support of which her innate data soon turned into a huge talent visible to all.

In the beginning there was love

After graduating from high school, Zinaida studied with Ilya Repin in the art school of Princess Tenisheva. Osip Braz - a well-known portraitist of the time - believed that the best method of learning - copying of the Hermitage paintings. This involved and Zinaida Serebryakova. Pictures with names from the great collection helped to master the techniques of great masters, to delve into the essence of their design.

Picturesque surroundings of Neskuchny, its inhabitants - landowners and peasants - asked for themselves on canvas, and Benoit's manor became a favorite place for the young artist on the whole Earth. Moreover, soon came and women's happiness.

In 1905 she marries her cousin, who lived in the neighborhood, - Boris Serebryakov. He looked like a Russian knight and was preparing to become a railway engineer. Their honeymoon was in Paris, where Zinaida got acquainted with classical and modern artistic masterpieces, and Boris studied the construction of European railways.

The next 14 years, which they lived together, became the happiest period of her life. They had four beautiful children, Boris enthusiastically traced ruts all over Russia, and in the artistic world of Russia appeared a new significant name - Serebryakova Zinaida, whose descriptions of paintings were filled with exhibition catalogs and articles by art critics.

The main masterpiece

Winter in Neskuchny came very early, the frost did not allow the plein air to continue. The husband is on a regular business trip, the peasants are busy with work, and she has not got any models for work. I had to paint myself, and she was carried away by a detailed depiction of what she saw every morning, combing her hair in front of the mirror. This explains the appearance of the painting "Behind the toilet" Zinaida Serebryakova. Pictures, still considered one of the best self-portraits in the history of painting.

In 1910, she first exhibited her works at the VII exhibition of the Union of Russian Artists, where her three paintings, including "For Toilet", were purchased by the Council of the Tretyakov Gallery. The freshness of the look, the confident craftsmanship based on the best realistic traditions, made the young artist very popular in the creative environment and among ordinary viewers.

The flowering of talent

The growing recognition was promoted by the successes of her famous children's portraits. And in the works devoted to the peasants from Neskuchny and the surrounding villages, many saw the influence of Venetsianov, whose traditions Zinaida Serebryakova developed in a new way. Pictures dedicated to the naked female nature, testified to her respect for the geniuses of the Italian Renaissance.

But the main thing throughout her creative life was what was inherent only to her. It is the ability to express immeasurable astonishment and admiration for the perfection of God's world, the beauty of the people (adults and little ones) that inhabit it. And this is surprising, given the terrible blows inflicted on her by fate.

The colors of the universe go out

The world, based on love and family happiness, seemed strong, but it turned out to be a house of cards, depicted on one of the artist's paintings. He collapsed under the pressure of historical storms. The fire of the revolution or, perhaps, someone's anger or drunken deafness destroyed the estate in Neskuchny together with the works of its inhabitants - numerous paintings and sketches.

Boris, caught by the revolutionary events somewhere away from home, for a long time could not bring himself news. Probably, he was arrested and released in 1919 for a meeting with his family, when he agreed to work in the profession and beyond. They met in Kharkov, where she moved with the children and mother Zinaida Serebryakova. The pictures of the future, written for them by fate, contained a terrible tragedy: Boris contracted typhus and died for several days at the hands of his wife. Only the need to save children did not allow the artist to lose her mind from grief.

Forced emigration

The smile on her self-portraits is almost always. It is different, but always giving hope. In a terrible time of devastation, she finds work in the museum, sketching archaeological finds - this is enough to not die of hunger. Then relatives help to move to Petrograd, they are attracted to perform artistic orders. But the funds are categorically not enough, and when Uncle - Alexander Benois - suggested in 1924 to go to work in Paris, she agreed. This trip lasted more than four decades, Zinaida never returned to Russia.

Two children - Sasha's son and daughter Katya - she managed to be transported to her soon, and Zhenya and Tanya stayed with a sick grandmother in Russia. The Soviet authorities knew how to find a threat to themselves. The enemies were a great artist and her children, who could meet only 36 years later.

Recognition at the Decline of Life

Years spent far away from Russia are especially difficult, when the very nature of the artist has a Russian essence. Fidelity to the traditions, laid down in the early years, allowed to preserve such a person as the Russian artist Zinaida Serebryakova. Her paintings did not become pointless, the colors did not begin to dominate the form. Her paintings were not manifestos or slogans of the new art. Therefore, among the artistic bohemians of Paris, Serebryakova's art was imperceptible.

The peak of Serebryakova's overseas period is her Moroccan cycle, when for two trips arranged by patrons, she performed work that delighted many of her former admirers of her talent and attracted the attention of new lovers of painting.

At home, the authorities tried not to remember her, although Serebryakova was not seen in political, especially anti-Soviet activities. Especially unexpected and pleasant for Zinaida Evgenievna and her children was the tremendous success of the exhibitions in 1965 and 1966 in Leningrad and Kiev.

Serebryakova's admirers remember the deafening success of the recent exhibition in the Tretyakov Gallery, which means that she returned and returned forever.