Contemporary American artists. Contemporary American painting - the most interesting things in blogs

AMERICAN PAINTING
The first works of American painting that have come down to us date back to the 16th century; these are sketches made by participants in research expeditions. However, professional artists appeared in America only at the beginning of the 18th century; the only stable source of income for them was a portrait; this genre continued to occupy leading position in American painting until the beginning of the 19th century.
Colonial period. The first group of portraits, executed using the oil painting technique, dates back to the second half of the 17th century; At this time, the life of the settlers was relatively calm, life stabilized and opportunities for practicing art appeared. Of these works, the most famous is the portrait of Mrs. Frick with her daughter Mary (1671-1674, Massachusetts, Worcester Museum of Art), painted by an unknown English artist. By the 1730s, cities on the east coast already had several artists working in a more modern and realistic manner: Henrietta Johnston in Charleston (1705), Justus Englehardt Kuhn in Annapolis (1708), Gustav Hesselius in Philadelphia (1712), John Watson in Perth Amboy in New Jersey (1714), Peter Pelham (1726) and John Smibert (1728) in Boston. The painting of the latter two had a significant influence on the work of John Singleton Copley (1738-1815), who is considered the first major American artist. From the engravings from the Pelham collection, young Copley gained an understanding of English ceremonial portraiture and the painting of Godfrey Kneller, a leading English master who worked in this genre at the beginning of the 18th century. In the painting Boy with a Squirrel (1765, Boston, Museum of Fine Arts), Copley created a wonderful realistic portrait, gentle and surprisingly accurate in conveying the texture of objects. When Copley sent this work to London in 1765, Joshua Reynolds advised him to continue his studies in England. However, Copley remained in America until 1774 and continued to paint portraits, carefully working out all the details and nuances in them. He then took a trip to Europe and settled in London in 1775; In his style, mannerism and features of idealization characteristic of English painting of that time appeared. Among the finest works Copley produced in England are large formal portraits reminiscent of the work of Benjamin West, including Brooke Watson and the Shark (1778, Boston, Museum of Fine Arts). Benjamin West (1738-1820) was born in Pennsylvania; After painting several portraits of Philadelphians, he moved to London in 1763. Here he gained fame as a history painter. An example of his work in this genre is the painting The Death of General Wolfe (1770, Ottawa, National Gallery of Canada). In 1792, West succeeded Reynolds as president of the British Royal Academy of Arts.
War of Independence and the beginning of the 19th century. Unlike Copley and West, who remained permanently in London, portrait painter Gilbert Stuart (1755-1828) returned to America in 1792, making a career in London and Dublin. He soon became the leading master of this genre in the young republic; Stewart painted portraits of almost all prominent political and public figures in America. His works are executed in a lively, free, sketchy manner, very different from the style of American works by Copley. Benjamin West willingly accepted young people into his London workshop American artists; his students included Charles Wilson Peale (1741-1827) and Samuel F. B. Morse (1791-1872). Peale became the founder of a dynasty of painters and a family art enterprise in Philadelphia. He painted portraits, engaged in scientific research, and opened the Museum of Natural History and Painting in Philadelphia (1786). Of his seventeen children, many became artists and naturalists. Morse, better known as the inventor of the telegraph, painted several beautiful portraits and one of the most grandiose paintings in all American painting, the Louvre Gallery. In this work, about 37 canvases are reproduced in miniature with amazing accuracy. This work, like all of Morse's activities, had the goal of introducing the young nation to the great European culture. Washington Alston (1779-1843) was one of the first American artists to pay tribute to Romanticism; During his long travels across Europe, he painted sea storms, poetic Italian scenes and sentimental portraits. At the beginning of the 19th century. The first American art academies opened, providing students with professional training and taking a direct part in organizing exhibitions: the Pennsylvania Academy of Arts in Philadelphia (1805) and the National Academy of Drawing in New York (1825), whose first president was S. R. Morse. In the 1820s-1830s, John Trumbull (1756-1843) and John Vanderlyn (1775-1852) painted huge compositions based on scenes from American history, decorating the walls of the Capitol rotunda in Washington. In the 1830s, landscape became the dominant genre of American painting. Thomas Cole (1801-1848) wrote about the virgin nature of the north (New York). He argued that weather-beaten mountains and bright autumn forests were more suitable subjects for American artists than picturesque European ruins. Cole also painted several landscapes imbued with ethical and religious meaning; among them are four large paintings, Life's Path (1842, Washington, National Gallery) - allegorical compositions depicting a boat going down the river, in which a boy is sitting, then a young man, then a man and finally an old man. Many landscape painters followed Cole's example and depicted American nature in their works; they are often combined into one group called the “Hudson River School” (which is not true, since they worked all over the country and wrote in different styles). Among the American genre painters, the most famous are William Sidney Mount (1807-1868), who painted scenes from the life of farmers on Long Island, and George Caleb Bingham (1811-1879), whose paintings are dedicated to the life of fishermen from the banks of Missouri and elections in small provincial towns. Before the Civil War, the most popular artist was Frederick Edwin Church (1826-1900), a student of Cole's. He painted mostly large-format works and sometimes used overly naturalistic motifs to attract and stun the public. Church traveled to the most exotic and dangerous places, collecting material to depict South American volcanoes and icebergs of the northern seas; one of his most famous works is the painting Niagara Falls (1857, Washington, Corcoran Gallery). In the 1860s, the huge canvases of Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902) aroused widespread admiration for the beauty of the Rocky Mountains depicted in them, with their clear lakes, forests and tower-like peaks.

Collier's Encyclopedia. - Open Society. 2000 .

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American artists are very diverse. Some were clearly cosmopolitan, like Sargent. American by origin, but lived almost his entire adult life in London and Paris.

Among them there are also authentic Americans who portrayed the lives of only their compatriots, like Rockwell.

And there are also artists who are not of this world, like Pollock. Or those whose art has become a product of consumer society. This is, of course, about Warhol.

However, they are all Americans. Freedom-loving, daring, bright. Read about seven of them below.

1. James Whistler (1834-1903)

Whistler can hardly be called a real American. Growing up, he lived in Europe. And he spent his childhood... in Russia. His father built railway In Petersburg.

It was there that the boy James fell in love with art, visiting the Hermitage and Peterhof thanks to his father’s connections (at that time these were still palaces closed to the public).

What is Whistler famous for? Whatever style he writes in, from realism to tonalism*, he can be recognized almost immediately by two characteristics. Unusual colors and music titles.

Some of his portraits are imitation of old masters. Like, for example, his famous portrait “The Artist’s Mother”.

The artist created an amazing piece of work using colors ranging from light gray to dark gray. And a little yellow.

But this does not mean that Whistler loved such colors. He was an extraordinary person. He could easily appear in society wearing yellow socks and carrying a bright umbrella. And this was when men dressed exclusively in black and gray.

He also has much lighter works than “Mother”. For example, “Symphony in White”. This is what one of the journalists at the exhibition called the painting. Whistler liked this idea. Since then, he has titled almost all of his works musically.

But then, in 1862, the public did not like the Symphony. Again due to the peculiar color solutions Whistler. People thought it was strange to paint a woman in white on a white background.

In the picture we see Whistler's red-haired mistress. Quite in the spirit of the Pre-Raphaelites. After all, at that time the artist was friends with one of the main founders of Pre-Raphaelism, Gabriel Rossetti. Beauty, lilies, unusual elements (wolf skin). Everything is as it should be.

But Whistler quickly moved away from Pre-Raphaelism. Since it was not external beauty that was important to him, but mood and emotions. And he created a new direction - tonalism.

His landscape nocturnes in the style of tonalism are truly like music. Monochrome, viscous.

Whistler himself said that musical titles help focus on the painting itself, lines and colors. At the same time, without thinking about the place and people who are depicted.

But she remained true to her style to the end. Impressionism. Soft pastel. Mothers with children.

For the sake of painting, Cassatt abandoned motherhood. But her feminine side increasingly manifested itself in such tender works as “Sleeping Child.” It’s a pity that conservative society once confronted her with such a choice.

3. John Sargent (1856-1925)

John Sargent was sure that he would be a portrait painter all his life. My career was going well. Aristocrats lined up to order from him.

But one day, according to society, the artist crossed the line. It is now difficult for us to understand what is so unacceptable in the film “Madame X”.

True, in the original version the heroine had one of her straps down. Sargent “raised” her, but this did not help matters. Orders have dried up.

What obscene thing did the public see? And the fact that Sargent portrayed the model in an overly self-confident pose. Moreover, translucent skin and a pink ear are very eloquent.

The picture seems to say that this woman with increased sexuality is not averse to accepting the advances of other men. Moreover, being married.

Unfortunately, contemporaries did not see the masterpiece behind this scandal. A dark dress, light skin, a dynamic pose - a simple combination that only the most talented craftsmen can find.

But every cloud has a silver lining. Sargent received his freedom in return. I began to experiment more with impressionism. Write to children in immediate situations. This is how the work “Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose” appeared.

Sargent wanted to capture a specific moment of twilight. Therefore I only worked 2 minutes a day when the lighting was suitable. Worked in summer and autumn. And when the flowers withered, I replaced them with artificial ones.

In recent decades, Sargent developed such a taste for freedom that he began to abandon portraits altogether. Although his reputation has already been restored. He even rudely dismissed one client, saying that he would be more happy to paint her gate than her face.

Contemporaries treated Sargent with irony. Considering it obsolete in the age of modernism. But time has put everything in its place.

Now his works are worth no less than the works of the most famous modernists. Well, there’s nothing to say about the love of the public. Exhibitions with his works are always sold out.

4. Norman Rockwell (1894-1978)

It is difficult to imagine a more popular artist during his lifetime than Norman Rockwell. Several generations of Americans grew up with his illustrations. Loving them with all my soul.

After all, Rockwell portrayed ordinary Americans. But at the same time showing their lives from the very positive side. Rockwell did not want to show either evil fathers or indifferent mothers. And you won’t meet any unhappy children with him.

His works are full of humor, rich colors and very skillfully captured facial expressions from life.

But it is an illusion that the work was easy for Rockwell. To create one painting, he might first take up to a hundred photographs of his subjects to capture the right gestures.

Rockwell's works had a tremendous influence on the minds of millions of Americans. After all, he often spoke out through his paintings.

During World War II, he decided to show what his country's soldiers were fighting for. Having also created the painting “Freedom from Want”. In the form of Thanksgiving, where all family members, well-fed and satisfied, rejoice at the family holiday.

After 50 years at the Saturday Evening Post, Rockwell left for the more democratic Look magazine, where he was able to express his views on social issues.

The most striking work of those years is “The Problem We Live With.”

This real story a black girl who went to a white school. Since a law was passed that people (and therefore educational institutions) should no longer be separated by race.

But there was no limit to the anger of the townsfolk. On the way to school, the girl was guarded by the police. This is the “routine” moment that Rockwell showed.

If you want to know the life of Americans in a slightly embellished light (as they themselves wanted to see it), be sure to watch Rockwell’s paintings.

Perhaps, of all the painters presented in this article, Rockwell is the most American artist.

5. Andrew Wyeth (1917-2009)

Unlike Rockwell, Wyeth was not as positive. A recluse by nature, he did not try to embellish anything. On the contrary, he depicted the most ordinary landscapes and unremarkable things. Just a wheat field, just a wooden house. But he even managed to glimpse something magical in them.

His most famous work is “Christina’s World.” Wyeth showed the fate of one woman, his neighbor. Paralyzed since childhood, she crawled around her farm.

So there is nothing romantic in this picture, as it might seem at first. If you look closely, the woman is painfully thin. And knowing that the heroine’s legs are paralyzed, you understand with sadness how far she still has from home.

At first glance, Wyeth wrote the most ordinary thing. Here is an old window of an old house. A shabby curtain that has already begun to turn into shreds. The forest is dark outside the window.

But there is some mystery in all this. Some other look.

This is how children know how to look at the world with an open mind. Wyatt looks the same way. And we are with him.

All of Wyeth's affairs were handled by his wife. She was a good organizer. It was she who contacted museums and collectors.

There was little romance in their relationship. The muse had to appear. And she became a simple, but with an extraordinary appearance, Helga. This is exactly what we see in numerous jobs.

It would seem that we are seeing only a photographic image of a woman. But for some reason it’s hard to tear yourself away from her. Her look is too complicated, her shoulders tense. It’s as if we are internally tense together with her. Trying to find an explanation for this tension.

Depicting reality in every detail, Wyeth magically endowed her with emotions that cannot leave her indifferent.

The artist was not recognized for a long time. With its realism, albeit magical, it did not fit into the modernist trends of the 20th century.

When museum workers bought his works, they tried to do it quietly, without attracting attention. Exhibitions were rarely organized. But to the envy of the modernists, they always had a resounding success. People came in droves. And they still come.

6. Jackson Pollock (1912-1956)

Jackson Pollock cannot be ignored. He crossed a certain line in art, after which painting could not be the same. He showed that in art it is generally possible to do without boundaries. When I laid the canvas on the floor and splashed it with paint.

And this American artist began with abstract art, in which the figurative could still be traced. In his work of the 40s, “Stenographic Figure,” we see the outlines of both the face and hands. And even symbols that we understand in the form of crosses and zeros.

His work was praised, but people were in no hurry to buy it. He was as poor as a church mouse. And he drank shamelessly. Despite the happy marriage. His wife admired his talent and did everything for her husband’s success.

But Pollock was initially a broken personality. From his youth, it was clear from his actions that early death was his destiny.

This brokenness will ultimately lead to his death at the age of 44. But he will have time to make a revolution in art and become famous.

And he did this during a period of two years of sobriety. He was able to work fruitfully in 1950-1952. He experimented for a long time until he came to the drip technique.

Laying out a huge canvas on the floor of his barn, he walked around it, as if being in the painting itself. And splashed or simply poured paint.

People began to willingly buy these unusual paintings from him for their incredible originality and novelty.

Pollock was overwhelmed by fame and fell into depression, not understanding where to move next. The deadly mixture of alcohol and depression left him no chance of survival. One day he got behind the wheel very drunk. IN last time.

7. Andy Warhol (1928-1987)

Only in a country with such a cult of consumption as in America could pop art be born. And its main initiator was, of course, Andy Warhol.

He became famous for taking the most ordinary things and turning them into a work of art. This is what happened with a can of Campbell's soup.

The choice was not accidental. Warhol's mother fed her son this soup every day for more than 20 years. Even when he moved to New York and took his mother with him.

After this experiment, Warhol became interested in screen printing. From then on, he took pictures of pop stars and painted them in different colors.

This is how his famous painted Marilyn Monroe appeared.

A countless number of such Marilyn acid flowers were produced. Warhol put art on stream. As it should be in a consumer society.

Warhol did not come up with painted faces out of nowhere. And again, it was not without the influence of the mother. As a child, during her son’s protracted illness, she brought him packs of coloring books.

This childhood hobby grew into what became his calling card and made him fabulously rich.

He painted not only pop stars, but also the masterpieces of his predecessors. I got it too.

“Venus”, like Marilyn, has been done a lot. The exclusivity of a work of art was “erased” into powder by Warhol. Why did the artist do this?

To popularize old masterpieces? Or, conversely, try to devalue them? Immortalize pop stars? Or spice up death with irony?

His colored works of Madonna, Elvis Presley or Lenin are sometimes more recognizable than the original photographs.

But the masterpieces were hardly eclipsed. All the same, the pristine “Venus” remains priceless.

Warhol was an avid party animal, attracting a lot of marginalized people. Drug addicts, failed actors or simply unbalanced individuals. One of which shot him once.

Warhol survived. But 20 years later, due to the consequences of a wound he had once suffered, he died alone in his apartment.

US melting pot

Despite the short history of American art, the range is wide. Among American artists there are the impressionists (Sargent), the magical realists (Wyeth), the abstract expressionists (Pollock), and the pioneers of pop art (Warhol).

Well, Americans love freedom of choice in everything. Hundreds of denominations. Hundreds of nations. Hundreds of art styles. That's why it is the melting pot of the United States of America.

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Bright spots, splashes of light, sparkling air - these artists see the world as touchingly beautiful and delightfully colorful.
website offers a look at the world through the eyes of these wizards. A selection of paintings for your attention modern impressionists, masterfully mastering color and light.

The works of the Bulgarian artist Tsviatko Kinchev in the style of impressionism are digital paintings: they are made on a computer, in Photoshop program. The artist’s incredibly lush creations highlight the beauty and brightness of the surrounding world.

Dutch artist William Henrits works in watercolors, acrylics and pastels. His creations are amazing tenderness, the ringing air that his colors breathe, his graceful lines. William's work is known throughout the world in the form of high quality posters and lithographs.

Yuri Petrenko was born in Sochi. He has been painting professionally for about 20 years. Rich colors, cute houses, ships and the sea. His paintings evoke the hot sun and salty breeze. His works are in private collections in almost all countries of the world.

Armenian artist Hovik Zohrabyan was born into the family of the famous artist and sculptor Nikoghos Zohrabyan. Behind the characteristic strokes of impressionism appears unique style the artist himself. Its cozy colorful cities and bright houses are filled with sun and happiness.

Linda Wilder is a Canadian artist. Linda loves to paint landscapes, and the palette knife is one of her favorite tools. With bright, precise brushstrokes, subtle shades and lines, Linda's paintings are in corporate and private collections in Canada and around the world.

Chinese-American artist Ken Hong Lung has a keen sense of color and knows how to convey the magic of peace. Its fishing villages and coastal landscapes became a sensation in Hong Kong art circles. Ken is considered one of the world's best neo-impressionist artists. He is called the master of enchanted landscapes, dreamy moods and magical reflections of light and color.

Johan Messeli lives and works in Belgium. His paintings reflect the cozy world of shady provincial courtyards, old gates and kind windows. Johan knows how to convey peace and quiet happiness with careless strokes. The artist works in oils and pastels.

Jill Charuk is a contemporary Canadian artist. She worked in the clothing and interior industry for twenty years. She loves to exaggerate colors and enhance contrasts. Her vibrant paintings have received international acclaim and are included in contemporary art collections in North America, Mexico and Europe. Jill paints primarily in oils and acrylics.

At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, when US painting was dominated by two commercially successful and respected movements - impressionism and academic realism, the desire of some artists emerged and grew stronger to reflect the real modern life of the city with its sometimes cruel moments, to depict the unvarnished life of the city outskirts, street children, prostitutes, alcoholics, life in apartment buildings. They believed that painting could be akin to journalism, although many of these artists were apolitical and did not limit themselves to reflecting the ills and poverty of city life.

“...I loved cities very much, I loved the majestic fast river,
All the women, all the men I recognized were close to me...
... And I lived in the world, I loved Brooklyn - abundant with hills, it was mine,
And I wandered around Manhattan, and I swam in the salty waters washing the island ... "
(Walt Whitman. Leaves of Grass. On the Brooklyn Ferry.)

The ideologist of this movement, Robert Henry, a fan of the poetry of Walt Whitman, demanded from his students that their “colors be as real as dirt, as lumps of horse shit and snow in winter on Broadway.” Because of its predilection for such subjects, this movement received the nickname “garbage can school” or “garbage can school,” which stuck with it and is used in art history literature. This movement was met with hostility by many critics; after the first exhibition, one of them, under the pseudonym “Jeweler,” wrote: “Vulgarity hits the eyes at this exhibition... Could it be beautiful art, showing our sores? The Garbage Pail School is sometimes identified with the Group of Eight, although not all (only 5) of its members were part of it, and three artists, Davis, Lawson and Prendergast, performed in a completely different style.

Robert Henry(Cozad), (1865-1929), artist, teacher, inspirer of the “Garbage Pail School” and organizer of the “Eight” group,

Born in Cincinnati in the family of a real estate developer and a gambler. In a skirmish over land ownership, the father shot his opponent and fled to Denver, where the whole family later moved, changing their first and last names. After studying for two years at the Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, young Robert went to Paris to the Académie Julien to study with academic realists.

After a trip to Italy, he returned to Philadelphia and began teaching at the School of Design for Women, he was considered a natural teacher. By the age of thirty, Henry came to the idea of ​​the need to develop a direction in painting that would combine realism and elements of impressionism, and called it “new academicism.”

His friends and followers did not consider themselves a single organized group, but an exhibition at the Macbeth Gallery in New York in 1908 brought attention to the artists of the new movement and brought them fame. In 1910, Henry, with the help of Sloan, organized an exhibition of Independent artists, at which only a few paintings were sold; artists of this direction were already being replaced by new modern art, the herald and “father” of which Robert Henry can be considered.

The following years brought Henry popularity; he spent a lot of time in Ireland and Santa Fe, taught at the Students' League in New York, and had a great influence on the development of the modernist movement among his student artists. In 1929 he was named one of the three best living American artists by the New York Council of the Arts. The classic elements of his style in portraiture are a powerful brushwork, intense color and lighting effects, a reflection of a person’s individuality and spiritual qualities.

John French Sloan(1871-1951), one of the founders of the Garbage Pail School, member of the Eight, artist and engraver.

His father had artistic ability and encouraged his children to early childhood to drawing. He began working early due to his father's illness, and his job as a bookstore clerk left him with plenty of free time to read, draw, and copy works by Dürer and Rembrandt, whom he admired. He also began making etchings and selling them in a store, and his cards and calendars were a success. Later working as an illustrator, he began taking evening classes at the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts, where he met Robert Henry, who convinced him to turn to painting.

The difficult history of his family life (alcoholism and the mental instability of his wife, a former prostitute whom he met in a brothel), interfered with his creativity, and although he painted almost 60 paintings by 1903, he still had no name in the art world and sold little their works. Having moved to New York, he worked part-time in magazines, drew political cartoons, illustrated books, participated in an exhibition at the Macbeth Gallery and after it organized a traveling exhibition, success finally came to him.

Throughout his subsequent life, Sloan was faithful to socialist ideas, which was certainly reflected in his work, but he categorically objected to critics’ statements about the conscious social orientation of his painting.

In the late 1920s, Sloan changed not only the technique, but also the subjects of his paintings in favor of nudes and portraits, often using underpainting and shading, and never again achieved the popularity that his early work had.

William J. Glakkens(1870-1938), also one of the founders of the Garbage Pail School, was born in Philadelphia, where many generations of his family lived. His brother and sister also became artists. William himself, having shown artistic abilities while still at school, worked after graduation as an artist for newspapers, attended an evening course at the Academy of Fine Arts, where he met young Sloan, who introduced him to Robert Henry.

In 1895, Glakkens traveled with a group of artists around Europe, admired the paintings of the great “Dutch”, and in Paris he first became acquainted with the art of the Impressionists, then throughout his life he often went to paint in Paris and the South of France. After returning to the United States, Glakkens settled in New York and actively participated in the exhibition activities of the Garbage Pail School and the Eight Group.

The impressionistic direction is increasingly evident in his work, he is even called the “American Renoir”, and unlike Sloane, he was not a “social chronicler”, but a “pure” artist, for whom artistic form, color and sensuality were of paramount importance. His palette brightens over the years, his subjects change meaning, landscapes, beach scenes predominate, and at the end of his life - still lifes and portraits.

His art does not reflect the social problems of the day, the time of the Great Depression, rather the opposite - “his paintings are filled with the ghost of happiness, he is obsessed with the contemplation of joy” (Leslie Keith, “The Persistence of William Glackens, 1966”).

George Benjamin Lax(1867-1933) was born in Williamsport into the family of a pharmacist, his mother was an amateur artist and musician. After moving to small town in southern Pennsylvania, located near the coal fields, George saw poverty early and learned lessons in compassion from his parents who helped the families of miners.

He began his working life back in adolescence, working with his brother in vaudeville, but very early on he realized that he wanted to be an artist. After a short study at the Academy of Fine Arts, he went to Europe, studied various art schools, and became a fan of Spanish and Dutch painting (especially Velazquez and Frans Hals) and Manet's technique. Returning to Philadelphia, Lax works as an illustrator for a newspaper, meets Glackens, Sloan and Shinn, participates in intellectual meetings with Robert Henry, and after moving to New York and working as an artist for Pulitzer's magazine, begins to devote more time to painting.

He is involved in the Garbage Pail School and the Group of Eight, contributes to debates about New Realism, and paints extensively, depicting the lives of immigrants, their ethnic diversity, drawing material from the Lower East Side and Brooklyn. In addition to paintings about New York life, Lax painted landscapes and portraits; he was considered a master of strong color and light effects.

Lax was an original personality, a born rebel, proud of the fact that those around him considered him the “bad boy” of American art, created myths about himself, often drank to the point of unconsciousness, was an alcoholic, and was eventually found murdered in a hallway as a result of a domestic fight.

Everett Shinn(1876-1953), born in Woodstown to a Quaker family of farmers.

His early abilities allowed him to begin seriously studying the basics of drawing at the age of 15, take lessons at the Academy of Fine Arts a year later, and at the age of 17 begin working as a full-time artist in newspapers. In 1897, having moved to New York, the young Shinn soon gained fame as one of the talented realists depicting city ​​life, street violence, accidents and fires.

After traveling with his wife through Europe, Shinn began to explore new subjects (theater, ballet) and impressionistic elements in painting. He is the only one of the "Garbage Pail School" and the "Group of Eight" who has many works in pastels, as well as murals not only in the apartments of the Manhattan elite, but also 18 murals for the famous Broadway Belasco Theater. Shinn believed that "he was an accidental member of the eight", with no political position and committed social life, but reflecting a piece of American reality of the early twentieth century in a realistic and romantic spirit.

There is an assumption that Everett Shinn served as the prototype for the artist Eugene Whittle in T. Dreiser’s novel “Genius”.

Ernest Lawson(1873-1939), born in Halifax, came to the United States, lived first in Kansas City and then in New York, studied at the Art Students League with Touktman, who introduced him to impressionism.

In France, while studying at the Julien Academy, he became interested in plein air painting and met Sisley and Somerset Maugham. Returning to the States, Lawson developed his own aesthetic style, bordering impressionism and realism, and has been called "America's last impressionist."

He travels a lot around the country, paints deserted landscapes, meets with the artists of the “Garbage Pail School” and becomes a member of the group “Eight”, but unlike them he avoids drama in depicting city life and, after participating in the exhibition of contemporary art “Armory Show”, does not rejecting realistic and impressionistic tendencies, he shows interest in post-impressionism, in particular Cezanne.

Lawson's work is not as well known as his other contemporaries, but Robert Henry considered him "the greatest landscape painter since Winslow Hommer." He drowned under mysterious circumstances while swimming on Miami Beach.

George Wesley Bellows(1882-1925), was the late and only child in the family of the daughter of a whaling ship captain. At Ohio State University, he studied and successfully played baseball and basketball while illustrating the university yearbook; he dreamed of becoming a professional baseball player and worked as an illustrator for magazines. In 1904, without graduating from university, Bellows moved to New York, entered the School of Art, joined the artists of the Garbage Pail School and the Group of Eight, and rented his own studio on Broadway.

Participating in exhibitions with Robert Henry's students and teaching at the Art Students League brought him fame, although many critics considered his work "crude" not only in subject matter, but also stylistically.

Continuing the themes of city life and sports in his work, Bellows also began to receive commissions for portraits from the wealthy elite, and in the summer he painted seascapes in Maine.

He was very politicized, adhered to socialist and even anarchist views, and worked as an illustrator for a socialist magazine. In 1918, he created a series of prints and paintings depicting the atrocities committed by German soldiers during the invasion of Belgium.

Bellows also made significant contributions to lithography and illustrated many books, including several editions of H. G. Wells. He died at the age of 42 from peritonitis after a botched operation, leaving behind a wife, two daughters and a large number of paintings and prints that are now in many major American museums.

The next two artists cannot be fully attributed to either the “Garbage Pail School” or the “Eight” group; they are rather closer to the modernist movement, they are more open to experimentation, their work can be viewed with good reason considered a transitional stage to post-impressionism.

Arthur Bowen Davis(1853-1928), already at the age of 15 he took part in a traveling exhibition in his city, organized by members of the Hudson River School. After his family moved to Chicago, he studied at the Academy of Design, and after moving to New York, he studied at the Art Students League and worked as an illustrator for a magazine.

Complex family circumstances(Davis's infidelity, the presence of a second illegitimate wife and an illegitimate child) left an imprint on his behavior and secretive character, but already in the first year after his marriage, Davis's paintings began to sell successfully, and regular trips to Europe and the works of Corot and Millet helped him hone his sense of colors and develop your own painting style.

In the twenties he was recognized as one of the most respected and financially successful American artists. As a member of the "Eight", he was the main organizer of the Armory Show, more knowledgeable in modern art than his comrades, acted as an adviser to many wealthy New Yorkers in making purchases for their collections, and helped many young artists with advice and money.

Arthur B. Davis is an anomalous phenomenon in American painting: his own lyrical style can be described as restrained and conservative, but his tastes and interests were completely avant-garde.

Maurice Brazil Prendergast(1858-1924) and his twin brother were born into the family of a trading post merchant in the British Colony North America. After moving to Boston, Maurice, who was capable of drawing, was apprenticed to a commercial artist by his father, which explains the brightness and “flatness” of his work.

Studying in Paris at the Académie Colarossi, and then at the Académie Julien, acquaintance with the work of English and French avant-garde artists, studying the works of Van Gogh and Seurat actually led him to post-impressionism. Prendergast was one of the first Americans to recognize Cézanne, understand his work and use his expressive methods of conveying form and color. Returning to Boston in 1895, he worked primarily in watercolor.

And monotypes, and after a trip to Italy he gained fame and critical acclaim for his works dedicated to Venice.

He meets the Group of Eight artists, participates with them in the famous exhibition at the Macbeth Gallery in 1908, and Glakkens becomes his lifelong friend. The seven works he exhibited at the Armory Show showed his stylistic maturity and final commitment to Post-Impressionism, his style emerging and aptly described by critics as “tapestry-like” or “mosaic-like.”

Prendergast remained a bachelor throughout his life, perhaps due to natural shyness, poor health, and severe deafness in his later years.
It is interesting that in subsequent years the realistic trend in American painting did not lose its relevance and was reflected and developed in post-impressionism, “magical realism” and “regionalism”. But more on that next time.
And, as always, a slide show on the topic, which features many more reproductions.

"Card Players"

Author

Paul Cezanne

A country France
Years of life 1839–1906
Style post-impressionism

The artist was born in the south of France in the small town of Aix-en-Provence, but began painting in Paris. Real success came to him after a personal exhibition organized by the collector Ambroise Vollard. In 1886, 20 years before his departure, he moved to the outskirts hometown. Young artists called trips to him “a pilgrimage to Aix.”

130x97 cm
1895
price
$250 million
sold in 2012
at private auction

Cezanne's work is easy to understand. The artist’s only rule was the direct transfer of an object or plot onto the canvas, so his paintings do not cause bewilderment to the viewer. Cezanne combined in his art two main French traditions: classicism and romanticism. With the help of colorful textures, he gave the shape of objects amazing plasticity.

The series of five paintings “Card Players” was painted in 1890–1895. Their plot is the same - several people enthusiastically play poker. The works differ only in the number of players and the size of the canvas.

Four paintings are kept in museums in Europe and America (Museum d'Orsay, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Barnes Foundation and the Courtauld Institute of Art), and the fifth, until recently, was an adornment of the private collection of the Greek billionaire shipowner Georg Embirikos. Shortly before his death, in the winter of 2011, he decided to put it up for sale. Potential buyers of Cezanne’s “free” work were art dealer William Acquavella and world-famous gallery owner Larry Gagosian, who offered about $220 million for it. As a result, the painting went to the royal family of the Arab state of Qatar for 250 million. The largest art deal in the history of painting was closed in February 2012. Journalist Alexandra Pierce reported this in Vanity Fair. She found out the cost of the painting and the name of the new owner, and then the information penetrated the media around the world.

In 2010, the Arab Museum of Modern Art and the Qatar National Museum opened in Qatar. Now their collections are growing. Perhaps the fifth version of The Card Players was acquired by the sheikh for this purpose.

The mostexpensive paintingin the world

Owner
Sheikh Hamad
bin Khalifa al-Thani

The al-Thani dynasty has ruled Qatar for more than 130 years. About half a century ago, huge reserves of oil and gas were discovered here, which instantly made Qatar one of the richest regions in the world. Thanks to the export of hydrocarbons, this small country has the largest GDP per capita. Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani seized power in 1995, while his father was in Switzerland, with the support of family members. The merit of the current ruler, according to experts, is in a clear strategy for the country's development and in creating a successful image of the state. Qatar now has a constitution and a prime minister, and women have the right to vote in parliamentary elections. By the way, it was the Emir of Qatar who founded the Al-Jazeera news channel. The authorities of the Arab state pay great attention to culture.

2

"Number 5"

Author

Jackson Pollock

A country USA
Years of life 1912–1956
Style abstract expressionism

Jack the Sprinkler - this was the nickname given to Pollock by the American public for his special painting technique. The artist abandoned the brush and easel, and poured paint over the surface of the canvas or fiberboard during continuous movement around and inside them. From an early age, he was interested in the philosophy of Jiddu Krishnamurti, the main message of which is that the truth is revealed during a free “outpouring.”

122x244 cm
1948
price
$140 million
sold in 2006
on the auction Sotheby's

The value of Pollock's work lies not in the result, but in the process. It is no coincidence that the author called his art “action painting.” With him light hand it became America's greatest asset. Jackson Pollock mixed paint with sand and broken glass, and painted with a piece of cardboard, a palette knife, a knife, and a dustpan. The artist was so popular that in the 1950s imitators were found even in the USSR. The painting “Number 5” is recognized as one of the strangest and most expensive in the world. One of the founders of DreamWorks, David Geffen, purchased it for a private collection, and in 2006 sold it at Sotheby's auction for $140 million to Mexican collector David Martinez. However, the law firm soon issued a press release on behalf of its client stating that David Martinez was not the owner of the painting. Only one thing is known for certain: the Mexican financier has indeed recently collected works of modern art. It is unlikely that he would have missed such a “big fish” as Pollock’s “Number 5”.

3

"Woman III"

Author

Willem de Kooning

A country USA
Years of life 1904–1997
Style abstract expressionism

A native of the Netherlands, he immigrated to the United States in 1926. In 1948 it took place personal exhibition artist. Art critics appreciated the complex, nervous black and white compositions, recognizing their author as a great modernist artist. He suffered from alcoholism for most of his life, but the joy of creating new art is felt in every work. De Kooning is distinguished by the impulsiveness of his painting and broad strokes, which is why sometimes the image does not fit within the boundaries of the canvas.

121x171 cm
1953
price
$137 million
sold in 2006
at private auction

In the 1950s, women with empty eyes, massive breasts, and ugly facial features appeared in de Kooning’s paintings. "Woman III" was the last work from this series to be auctioned.

Since the 1970s, the painting was kept in the Tehran Museum of Modern Art, but after the introduction of strict moral rules in the country, they tried to get rid of it. In 1994, the work was exported from Iran, and 12 years later its owner David Geffen (the same producer who sold Jackson Pollock’s “Number 5”) sold the painting to millionaire Steven Cohen for $137.5 million. It is interesting that in one year Geffen began to sell off his collection of paintings. This gave rise to a lot of rumors: for example, that the producer decided to buy the Los Angeles Times newspaper.

At one of the art forums, an opinion was expressed about the similarity of “Woman III” with the painting “Lady with an Ermine” by Leonardo da Vinci. Behind the toothy smile and shapeless figure of the heroine, the connoisseur of painting saw the grace of a person of royal blood. This is also evidenced by the poorly drawn crown crowning the woman’s head.

4

"Portrait of AdeleBloch-Bauer I"

Author

Gustav Klimt

A country Austria
Years of life 1862–1918
Style modern

Gustav Klimt was born into the family of an engraver and was the second of seven children. Ernest Klimt's three sons became artists, but only Gustav became famous throughout the world. He spent most of his childhood in poverty. After his father's death, he became responsible for the entire family. It was at this time that Klimt developed his style. Any viewer freezes in front of his paintings: frank eroticism is clearly visible under the thin strokes of gold.

138x136 cm
1907
price
$135 million
sold in 2006
on the auction Sotheby's

The fate of the painting, which is called the “Austrian Mona Lisa,” could easily become the basis for a bestseller. The artist’s work caused a conflict between an entire state and one elderly lady.

So, “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I” depicts an aristocrat, the wife of Ferdinand Bloch. Her last will was to hand over the picture to the Austrian state gallery. However, Bloch canceled the donation in his will, and the Nazis expropriated the painting. Later, the gallery with difficulty bought the Golden Adele, but then an heiress appeared - Maria Altman, the niece of Ferdinand Bloch.

In 2005, the high-profile trial “Maria Altmann against the Republic of Austria” began, as a result of which the film “left” with her for Los Angeles. Austria took unprecedented measures: negotiations were held on loans, the population donated money to buy the portrait. Good never defeated evil: Altman raised the price to $300 million. At the time of the proceedings, she was 79 years old, and she went down in history as the person who changed Bloch-Bauer’s will in favor of personal interests. The painting was purchased by Ronald Lauder, owner of the New Gallery in New York, where it remains to this day. Not for Austria, for him Altman reduced the price to $135 million.

5

"Scream"

Author

Edvard Munch

A country Norway
Years of life 1863–1944
Style expressionism

Munch’s first painting, which became famous throughout the world, “The Sick Girl” (there are five copies) is dedicated to the artist’s sister, who died of tuberculosis at the age of 15. Munch was always interested in the theme of death and loneliness. In Germany, his heavy, manic painting even provoked a scandal. However, despite the depressive subjects, his paintings have a special magnetism. Take "Scream" for example.

73.5x91 cm
1895
price
$119.992 million
sold in 2012
on the auction Sotheby's

The full title of the painting is Der Schrei der Natur (translated from German as “the cry of nature”). The face of either a human or an alien expresses despair and panic - the same emotions the viewer experiences when looking at the picture. One of the key works of expressionism warns of themes that have become acute in the art of the 20th century. According to one version, the artist created it under the influence of a mental disorder that he suffered from all his life.

The painting was stolen twice from different museums, but was returned. Slightly damaged after the theft, The Scream was restored and was again ready for display at the Munch Museum in 2008. For representatives of pop culture, the work became a source of inspiration: Andy Warhol created a series of print copies of it, and the mask from the film “Scream” was made in the image and likeness of the hero of the picture.

For one subject, Munch wrote four versions of the work: the one that is in a private collection is made in pastels. Norwegian billionaire Petter Olsen put it up for auction on May 2, 2012. The buyer was Leon Black, who did not regret for “Scream” record amount. Founder of Apollo Advisors, L.P. and Lion Advisors, L.P. known for his love of art. Black is a patron of Dartmouth College, the Museum of Modern Art, the Lincoln Art Center, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It has the largest collection of paintings contemporary artists and classical masters of past centuries.

6

"Nude against the background of a bust and green leaves"

Author

Pablo Picasso

A country Spain, France
Years of life 1881–1973
Style cubism

He is Spanish by origin, but by spirit and place of residence he is a true Frenchman. Picasso opened his own art studio in Barcelona when he was only 16 years old. Then he went to Paris and spent most of his life there. That is why his surname has a double accent. The style invented by Picasso is based on the denial of the idea that an object depicted on canvas can only be viewed from one angle.

130x162 cm
1932
price
$106.482 million
sold in 2010
on the auction Christie's

During his work in Rome, the artist met dancer Olga Khokhlova, who soon became his wife. He put an end to vagrancy and moved into a luxurious apartment with her. By that time, recognition had found the hero, but the marriage was destroyed. One of the most expensive paintings in the world was created almost by accident - by Great love, which, as always with Picasso, was short-lived. In 1927, he became interested in the young Marie-Therese Walter (she was 17 years old, he was 45). Secretly from his wife, he left with his mistress to a town near Paris, where he painted a portrait, depicting Marie-Therese in the image of Daphne. The canvas was purchased by New York dealer Paul Rosenberg, and in 1951 he sold it to Sidney F. Brody. The Brodys showed the painting to the world only once and only because the artist was turning 80 years old. After the death of her husband, Mrs. Brody put the work up for auction at Christie’s in March 2010. Over six decades, the price has increased more than 5,000 times! An unknown collector bought it for $106.5 million. In 2011, an “exhibition of one painting” took place in Britain, where it was released for the second time, but the name of the owner is still unknown.

7

"Eight Elvises"

Author

Andy Warhole

A country USA
Years of life 1928-1987
Style
pop Art

“Sex and parties are the only places where you need to appear in person,” said the cult pop art artist, director, one of the founders of Interview magazine, designer Andy Warhol. He worked with Vogue and Harper's Bazaar, designed record covers, and designed shoes for the I.Miller company. In the 1960s, paintings appeared depicting symbols of America: Campbell's and Coca-Cola soup, Presley and Monroe - which made him a legend.

358x208 cm
1963
price
$100 million
sold in 2008
at private auction

The Warhol 60s was the name given to the era of pop art in America. In 1962, he worked in Manhattan at the Factory studio, where all the bohemians of New York gathered. Its prominent representatives: Mick Jagger, Bob Dylan, Truman Capote and other famous personalities in the world. At the same time, Warhol tested the technique of silk-screen printing - repeated repetition of one image. He also used this method when creating “The Eight Elvises”: the viewer seems to be seeing footage from a movie where the star comes to life. Here there is everything that the artist loved so much: a win-win public image, silver color and a premonition of death as the main message.

There are two art dealers promoting Warhol's work on the world market today: Larry Gagosian and Alberto Mugrabi. The former spent $200 million in 2008 to acquire more than 15 works by Warhol. The second one buys and sells his paintings like Christmas cards, only at a higher price. But it was not they, but the modest French art consultant Philippe Segalot who helped the Roman art connoisseur Annibale Berlinghieri sell “Eight Elvises” to an unknown buyer for a record amount for Warhol – $100 million.

8

"Orange,Red Yellow"

Author

Mark Rothko

A country USA
Years of life 1903–1970
Style abstract expressionism

One of the creators of color field painting was born in Dvinsk, Russia (now Daugavpils, Latvia), into a large family of a Jewish pharmacist. In 1911 they emigrated to the USA. Rothko studied at the Yale University art department and won a scholarship, but anti-Semitic sentiments forced him to leave his studies. Despite everything, art critics idolized the artist, and museums pursued him all his life.

206x236 cm
1961
price
$86.882 million
sold in 2012
on the auction Christie's

Rothko's first artistic experiments were of a surrealist orientation, but over time he simplified the plot to color spots, depriving them of any objectivity. At first they had bright shades, and in the 1960s they became brown and purple, thickening to black by the time of the artist’s death. Mark Rothko warned against looking for any meaning in his paintings. The author wanted to say exactly what he said: only color dissolving in the air, and nothing more. He recommended viewing the works from a distance of 45 cm, so that the viewer would be “drawn” into the color, like into a funnel. Be careful: viewing according to all the rules can lead to the effect of meditation, that is, the awareness of infinity, complete immersion in oneself, relaxation, and purification gradually come. The color in his paintings lives, breathes and has a strong emotional impact (they say, sometimes healing). The artist declared: “The viewer should cry while looking at them,” and such cases actually happened. According to Rothko's theory, at this moment people live the same spiritual experience as he did while working on the painting. If you were able to understand it on such a subtle level, you will not be surprised that these works of abstract art are often compared by critics to icons.

The work “Orange, Red, Yellow” expresses the essence of Mark Rothko’s painting. Its initial price at Christie’s auction in New York is $35–45 million. An unknown buyer offered a price twice the estimate. The name of the lucky owner of the painting, as often happens, is not disclosed.

9

"Triptych"

Author

Francis Bacon

A country
Great Britain
Years of life 1909–1992
Style expressionism

The adventures of Francis Bacon, a complete namesake and also a distant descendant of the great philosopher, began when his father disowned him, unable to accept his son’s homosexual inclinations. Bacon went first to Berlin, then to Paris, and then his tracks became confused throughout Europe. During his lifetime, his works were exhibited in leading cultural centers world, including the Guggenheim Museum and the Tretyakov Gallery.

147.5x198 cm (each)
1976
price
$86.2 million
sold in 2008
on the auction Sotheby's

Prestigious museums sought to possess Bacon's paintings, but the prim English public was in no hurry to fork out for such art. The legendary British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said about him: “The man who paints these terrifying pictures.”

The artist himself considered the post-war period to be the starting period in his work. Returning from service, he took up painting again and created major masterpieces. Before the participation of “Triptych, 1976,” Bacon’s most expensive work was “Study for a Portrait of Pope Innocent X” ($52.7 million). In “Triptych, 1976” the artist depicted the mythical plot of the persecution of Orestes by the Furies. Of course, Orestes is Bacon himself, and the Furies are his torment. For more than 30 years, the painting was in a private collection and did not participate in exhibitions. This fact gives it special value and, accordingly, increases the cost. But what is a few million for an art connoisseur, and a generous one at that? Roman Abramovich began creating his collection in the 1990s, in which he was significantly influenced by his friend Dasha Zhukova, who became a fashionable gallery owner in modern Russia. According to unofficial data, the businessman personally owns works by Alberto Giacometti and Pablo Picasso, purchased for amounts exceeding $100 million. In 2008 he became the owner of the Triptych. By the way, in 2011, another valuable work by Bacon was acquired - “Three Sketches for a Portrait of Lucian Freud.” Hidden sources say that Roman Arkadyevich again became the buyer.

10

"Pond with water lilies"

Author

Claude Monet

A country France
Years of life 1840–1926
Style impressionism

The artist is recognized as the founder of impressionism, who “patented” this method in his canvases. The first significant work was the painting “Luncheon on the Grass” (the original version of the work by Edouard Manet). In his youth he drew caricatures, and real painting took up during his travels along the coast and on outdoors. In Paris he led a bohemian lifestyle and did not leave it even after serving in the army.

210x100 cm
1919
price
$80.5 million
sold in 2008
on the auction Christie's

In addition to the fact that Monet was a great artist, he was also passionate about gardening and loved wildlife and flowers. In his landscapes, the state of nature is momentary, objects seem to be blurred by the movement of air. The impression is enhanced by large strokes; from a certain distance they become invisible and merge into a textured, three-dimensional image. In the paintings of late Monet, the theme of water and life in it occupies a special place. In the town of Giverny, the artist had his own pond, where he grew water lilies from seeds he specially brought from Japan. When their flowers bloomed, he began to draw. The “Water Lilies” series consists of 60 works that the artist painted over almost 30 years, until his death. His vision deteriorated with age, but he did not stop. Depending on the wind, time of year and weather, the appearance of the pond was constantly changing, and Monet wanted to capture these changes. Through careful work, he came to understand the essence of nature. Some of the paintings in the series are kept in leading galleries in the world: National Museum Western Art (Tokyo), Orangerie (Paris). A version of the next “Pond with Water Lilies” went into the hands of an unknown buyer for a record amount.

11

False Star t

Author

Jasper Johns

A country USA
Year of birth 1930
Style pop Art

In 1949, Jones entered design school in New York. Along with Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning and others, he is recognized as one of the main artists of the 20th century. In 2012, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States.

137.2x170.8 cm
1959
price
$80 million
sold in 2006
at private auction

Like Marcel Duchamp, Jones worked with real objects, depicting them on canvas and in sculpture in full accordance with the original. For his works, he used simple and understandable objects: a beer bottle, a flag or cards. There is no clear composition in the film False Start. The artist seems to be playing with the viewer, often “wrongly” labeling the colors in the painting, inverting the very concept of color: “I wanted to find a way to depict color so that it could be determined by some other method.” His most explosive and “unconfident” painting, according to critics, was acquired by an unknown buyer.

12

"Seatednudeon the couch"

Author

Amedeo Modigliani

A country Italy, France
Years of life 1884–1920
Style expressionism

Modigliani was often ill since childhood; during a feverish delirium, he recognized his destiny as an artist. He studied drawing in Livorno, Florence, Venice, and in 1906 he went to Paris, where his art flourished.

65x100 cm
1917
price
$68.962 million
sold in 2010
on the auction Sotheby's

In 1917, Modigliani met 19-year-old Jeanne Hebuterne, who became his model and then his wife. In 2004, one of her portraits was sold for $31.3 million, which was the last record before the sale of “Nude Seated on a Sofa” in 2010. The painting was purchased by an unknown buyer for the maximum price for Modigliani at the moment. Active sales of works began only after the artist’s death. He died in poverty, sick with tuberculosis, and the next day Jeanne Hebuterne, who was nine months pregnant, also committed suicide.

13

"Eagle on a Pine"

Author

Qi Baishi

A country China
Years of life 1864–1957
Style Guohua

Interest in calligraphy led Qi Baishi to painting. At the age of 28, he became a student of the artist Hu Qingyuan. The Chinese Ministry of Culture awarded him the title of "Great Artist of the Chinese People", and in 1956 he received the International Peace Prize.

10x26 cm
1946
price
$65.4 million
sold in 2011
on the auction China Guardian

Qi Baishi was interested in those manifestations of the surrounding world that many do not attach importance to, and this is his greatness. A man without education became a professor and an outstanding creator in history. Pablo Picasso said about him: “I am afraid to go to your country, because there is Qi Baishi in China.” The composition “Eagle on a Pine Tree” is recognized as the artist’s largest work. In addition to the canvas, it includes two hieroglyphic scrolls. For China, the amount for which the work was purchased represents a record - 425.5 million yuan. The scroll of the ancient calligrapher Huang Tingjian alone was sold for 436.8 million.

14

"1949-A-No. 1"

Author

Clyfford Still

A country USA
Years of life 1904–1980
Style abstract expressionism

At the age of 20, I visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and was disappointed. Later he signed up for a course at the Student Arts League, but left 45 minutes after the start of the class - it turned out to be “not for him.” The first personal exhibition caused a resonance, the artist found himself, and with it recognition

79x93 cm
1949
price
$61.7 million
sold in 2011
on the auction Sotheby's

Still bequeathed all his works, more than 800 canvases and 1,600 works on paper, to an American city where a museum named after him will be opened. Denver became such a city, but construction alone was expensive for the authorities, and to complete it, four works were put up for auction. Still's works are unlikely to be auctioned again, which has increased their price in advance. The painting “1949-A-No.1” was sold for a record amount for the artist, although experts predicted the sale for a maximum of 25–35 million dollars.

15

"Suprematist composition"

Author

Kazimir Malevich

A country Russia
Years of life 1878–1935
Style Suprematism

Malevich studied painting at the Kyiv Art School, then at the Moscow Academy of Arts. In 1913, he began to paint abstract geometric paintings in a style he called Suprematism (from the Latin for “dominance”).

71x 88.5 cm
1916
price
$60 million
sold in 2008
on the auction Sotheby's

The painting was kept in the Amsterdam City Museum for about 50 years, but after a 17-year dispute with Malevich's relatives, the museum gave it away. The artist painted this work in the same year as the “Manifesto of Suprematism,” so Sotheby’s announced even before the auction that it would not sell for less than $60 million. private collection. And so it happened. It is better to look at it from above: the figures on the canvas resemble an aerial view of the earth. By the way, a few years earlier, the same relatives expropriated another “Suprematist Composition” from the MoMA Museum in order to sell it at the Phillips auction for $17 million.

16

"Bathers"

Author

Paul Gauguin

A country France
Years of life 1848–1903
Style post-impressionism

Until the age of seven, the artist lived in Peru, then returned to France with his family, but his childhood memories constantly pushed him to travel. In France, he began to paint and became friends with Van Gogh. He even spent several months with him in Arles, until Van Gogh cut off his ear during a quarrel.

93.4x60.4 cm
1902
price
$55 million
sold in 2005
on the auction Sotheby's

In 1891, Gauguin organized a sale of his paintings in order to use the proceeds to travel deep into the island of Tahiti. There he created works in which a subtle connection between nature and man is felt. Gauguin lived in a thatched hut, and a tropical paradise blossomed on his canvases. His wife was 13-year-old Tahitian Tehura, which did not stop the artist from engaging in promiscuous relationships. Having contracted syphilis, he left for France. However, it was crowded for Gauguin there, and he returned to Tahiti. This period is called the “second Tahitian” - it was then that the painting “Bathers” was painted, one of the most luxurious in his work.

17

"Daffodils and tablecloth in blue and pink tones"

Author

Henri Matisse

A country France
Years of life 1869–1954
Style Fauvism

In 1889, Henri Matisse suffered an attack of appendicitis. When he was recovering from surgery, his mother bought him paints. At first, Matisse copied color postcards out of boredom, then he copied works of great painters that he saw in the Louvre, and at the beginning of the 20th century he came up with a style - Fauvism.

65.2x81 cm
1911
price
$46.4 million
sold in 2009
on the auction Christie's

Painting "Daffodils and tablecloth in blue and pink tones» for a long time belonged to Yves Saint Laurent. After the death of the couturier, his entire art collection passed into the hands of his friend and lover Pierre Berger, who decided to put it up for auction at Christie’s. The pearl of the sold collection was the painting “Daffodils and a tablecloth in blue and pink tones,” painted on an ordinary tablecloth instead of canvas. As an example of Fauvism, it is filled with the energy of color, the colors seem to explode and scream. From the famous series of paintings painted on tablecloths, today this work is the only one that is in a private collection.

18

"Sleeping Girl"

Author

RoyLee

htenstein

A country USA
Years of life 1923–1997
Style pop Art

The artist was born in New York, and after graduating from school, he went to Ohio, where he took art courses. In 1949, Lichtenstein received a Master of Fine Arts degree. His interest in comics and his ability to use irony made him a cult artist of the last century.

91x91 cm
1964
price
$44.882 million
sold in 2012
on the auction Sotheby's

One day, chewing gum fell into Lichtenstein's hands. He redrew the picture from the insert onto canvas and became famous. This story from his biography contains the entire message of pop art: consumption is the new god, and there is no bubblegum candy wrapper. less beauty than in the Mona Lisa. His paintings are reminiscent of comics and cartoons: Lichtenstein simply enlarged the finished image, drew rasters, used screen printing and silk-screen printing. The painting “Sleeping Girl” belonged to collectors Beatrice and Philip Gersh for almost 50 years, whose heirs sold it at auction.

19

"Victory. Boogie Woogie"

Author

Piet Mondrian

A country Netherlands
Years of life 1872–1944
Style neoplasticism

The artist changed his real name, Cornelis, to Mondrian when he moved to Paris in 1912. Together with the artist Theo van Doesburg, he founded the Neoplasticism movement. The Piet programming language is named after Mondrian.

27x127 cm
1944
price
$40 million
sold in 1998
on the auction Sotheby's

The most “musical” of the 20th century artists made a living from watercolor still lifes, although he became famous as a neoplastic artist. He moved to the USA in the 1940s and spent the rest of his life there. Jazz and New York are what inspired him the most! Painting “Victory. Boogie Woogie" - the best one example. The signature neat squares were achieved using adhesive tape, Mondrian’s favorite material. In America he was called “the most famous immigrant.” In the sixties, Yves Saint Laurent released world-famous “Mondrian” dresses with large checkered prints.

20

"Composition No. 5"

Author

BasilKandinsky

A country Russia
Years of life 1866–1944
Style avant-garde

The artist was born in Moscow, and his father was from Siberia. After the revolution he tried to cooperate with Soviet power, but soon realized that the laws of the proletariat were not created for him, and not without difficulties emigrated to Germany.

275x190 cm
1911
price
$40 million
sold in 2007
on the auction Sotheby's

Kandinsky was one of the first to completely abandon object painting, for which he received the title of genius. During Nazism in Germany, his paintings were classified as “degenerate art” and were not exhibited anywhere. In 1939, Kandinsky took French citizenship, and in Paris he freely participated in the artistic process. His paintings “sound” like fugues, which is why many are called “compositions” (the first was written in 1910, the last in 1939). “Composition No. 5” is one of the key works in this genre: “The word “composition” sounded like a prayer to me,” said the artist. Unlike many of his followers, he planned what he would depict on a huge canvas, as if he were writing notes.

21

"Study of a Woman in Blue"

Author

Fernand Léger

A country France
Years of life 1881–1955
Style cubism-post-impressionism

Léger received an architectural education and then attended the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. The artist considered himself a follower of Cezanne, was an apologist for Cubism, and in the 20th century was also successful as a sculptor.

96.5x129.5 cm
1912–1913
price
$39.2 million
sold in 2008
on the auction Sotheby's

David Norman, president of the international department of impressionism and modernism at Sotheby's, considers the huge amount paid for “The Lady in Blue” to be completely justified. The painting belongs to the famous Léger collection (the artist painted three paintings on one subject, the last of them is in private hands today. - Ed.), and the surface of the canvas has been preserved in its original form. The author himself gave this work to the Der Sturm gallery, then it ended up in the collection of Hermann Lang, a German collector of modernism, and now belongs to an unknown buyer.

22

“Street scene. Berlin"

Author

Ernst LudwigKirchner

A country Germany
Years of life 1880–1938
Style expressionism

For German expressionism, Kirchner became an iconic person. However, local authorities accused him of adhering to “degenerate art,” which tragically affected the fate of his paintings and the life of the artist, who committed suicide in 1938.

95x121 cm
1913
price
$38.096 million
sold in 2006
on the auction Christie's

After moving to Berlin, Kirchner created 11 sketches of street scenes. He was inspired by turmoil and nervousness big city. In the painting, sold in 2006 in New York, the artist’s anxious state is especially acutely felt: people on a Berlin street resemble birds - graceful and dangerous. It was the last work from the famous series sold at auction; the rest are kept in museums. In 1937, the Nazis treated Kirchner harshly: 639 of his works were removed from German galleries, destroyed or sold abroad. The artist could not survive this.

23

"Vacationist"dancer"

Author

Edgar Degas

A country France
Years of life 1834–1917
Style impressionism

Degas's history as an artist began with his work as a copyist at the Louvre. He dreamed of becoming “famous and unknown,” and in the end he succeeded. At the end of his life, deaf and blind, 80-year-old Degas continued to attend exhibitions and auctions.

64x59 cm
1879
price
$37.043 million
sold in 2008
on the auction Sotheby's

“Ballerinas have always been for me just an excuse to depict fabrics and capture movement,” said Degas. Scenes from the lives of the dancers seem to have been spied on: the girls do not pose for the artist, but simply become part of the atmosphere caught by Degas’s gaze. “Resting Dancer” was sold for $28 million in 1999, and less than 10 years later it was bought for $37 million—today it is the most expensive work by the artist ever put up for auction. Degas paid great attention to frames, designed them himself and forbade them to be changed. I wonder what frame is installed on the painting sold?

24

"Painting"

Author

Joan Miro

A country Spain
Years of life 1893–1983
Style abstract art

During the Spanish Civil War, the artist was on the Republican side. In 1937, he fled from the fascist regime to Paris, where he lived in poverty with his family. During this period, Miro painted the painting “Help Spain!”, drawing the attention of the whole world to the dominance of fascism.

89x115 cm
1927
price
$36.824 million
sold in 2012
on the auction Sotheby's

The second title of the painting is “Blue Star”. The artist painted it in the same year when he announced: “I want to kill painting” and mercilessly mocked the canvases, scratching the paint with nails, gluing feathers to the canvas, covering the works with garbage. His goal was to debunk the myths about the mystery of painting, but having coped with this, Miro created his own myth - surreal abstraction. His “Painting” belongs to the cycle of “dream paintings”. At the auction, four buyers fought for it, but one incognito phone call resolved the dispute, and “Painting” became the artist’s most expensive painting.

25

"Blue Rose"

Author

Yves Klein

A country France
Years of life 1928–1962
Style monochrome painting

The artist was born into a family of painters, but studied oriental languages, navigation, the craft of a frame gilder, Zen Buddhism and much more. His personality and cheeky antics were many times more interesting than monochrome paintings.

153x199x16 cm
1960
price
$36.779 million
sold in 2012
at Christie's auction

The first exhibition of monochromatic yellow, orange, and pink works did not arouse public interest. Klein was offended and next time presented 11 identical canvases, painted with ultramarine mixed with a special synthetic resin. He even patented this method. The color went down in history as “international Klein blue.” The artist also sold emptiness, created paintings by exposing paper to the rain, setting fire to cardboard, making prints of a person’s body on canvas. In a word, I experimented as best I could. To create “Blue Rose” I used dry pigments, resins, pebbles and a natural sponge.

26

"In Search of Moses"

Author

Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema

A country Great Britain
Years of life 1836–1912
Style neoclassicism

Sir Lawrence himself added the prefix “alma” to his surname so that he could be listed first in art catalogues. In Victorian England, his paintings were so in demand that the artist was awarded a knighthood.

213.4x136.7 cm
1902
price
$35.922 million
sold in 2011
on the auction Sotheby's

The main theme of Alma-Tadema's work was antiquity. In his paintings, he tried to depict the era of the Roman Empire in the smallest detail, for this he even carried out archaeological excavations on the Apennine Peninsula, and in his London house he reproduced the historical interior of those years. Mythological subjects became another source of inspiration for him. The artist was extremely in demand during his lifetime, but after his death he was quickly forgotten. Now interest is being revived, as evidenced by the cost of the painting “In Search of Moses,” which is seven times higher than the pre-sale estimate.

27

"Portrait of a sleeping naked official"

Author

Lucian Freud

A country Germany,
Great Britain
Years of life 1922–2011
Style figurative painting

The artist is the grandson of Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis. After the establishment of fascism in Germany, his family emigrated to Great Britain. Freud's works are in the Wallace Collection Museum in London, where no contemporary artist has previously exhibited.

219.1x151.4 cm
1995
price
$33.6 million
sold in 2008
on the auction Christie's

Bye fashion artists The 20th century created positive “color spots on the wall” and sold them for millions; Freud painted extremely naturalistic paintings and sold them for even more. “I capture the cries of the soul and the suffering of fading flesh,” he said. Critics believe that all this is the “legacy” of Sigmund Freud. The paintings were so actively exhibited and sold successfully that experts began to doubt: do they have hypnotic properties? The Portrait of a Nude Sleeping Official, sold at auction, according to the Sun, was purchased by a connoisseur of beauty and billionaire Roman Abramovich.

28

"Violin and Guitar"

Author

Xone Gris

A country Spain
Years of life 1887–1927
Style cubism

Born in Madrid, where he graduated from the School of Arts and Crafts. In 1906 he moved to Paris and entered the circle of the most influential artists of the era: Picasso, Modigliani, Braque, Matisse, Léger, and also worked with Sergei Diaghilev and his troupe.

5x100 cm
1913
price
$28.642 million
sold in 2010
on the auction Christie's

Gris, in his own words, was engaged in “planar, colored architecture.” His paintings are precisely thought out: he did not leave a single random stroke, which makes creativity similar to geometry. The artist created his own version of cubism, although he greatly respected Pablo Picasso, the founding father of the movement. The successor even dedicated his first work in the cubist style, “Tribute to Picasso,” to him. The painting “Violin and Guitar” is recognized as outstanding in the artist’s work. During his lifetime, Gris was famous and favored by critics and art critics. His works are exhibited in the world's largest museums and are kept in private collections.

29

"PortraitFields of Eluard"

Author

Salvador Dali

A country Spain
Years of life 1904–1989
Style surrealism

“Surrealism is me,” Dali said when he was expelled from the surrealist group. Over time, he became the most famous surrealist artist. Dali's work is everywhere, not just in galleries. For example, it was he who came up with the packaging for Chupa Chups.

25x33 cm
1929
price
$20.6 million
sold in 2011
on the auction Sotheby's

In 1929, the poet Paul Eluard and his Russian wife Gala came to visit the great provocateur and brawler Dali. The meeting was the beginning of a love story that lasted more than half a century. The painting “Portrait of Paul Eluard” was painted during this historic visit. “I felt that I was entrusted with the responsibility of capturing the face of the poet, from whose Olympus I stole one of the muses,” said the artist. Before meeting Gala, he was a virgin and was disgusted at the thought of sex with a woman. Love triangle existed until the death of Eluard, after which it became the Dali-Gala duet.

30

"Anniversary"

Author

Marc Chagall

A country Russia, France
Years of life 1887–1985
Style avant-garde

Moishe Segal was born in Vitebsk, but in 1910 he emigrated to Paris, changed his name, and became close to the leading avant-garde artists of the era. In the 1930s, during the seizure of power by the Nazis, he left for the United States with the help of the American consul. He returned to France only in 1948.

80x103 cm
1923
price
$14.85 million
sold 1990
at Sotheby's auction

The painting “Anniversary” is recognized as one of the artist’s best works. It contains all the features of his work: the physical laws of the world are erased, the feeling of a fairy tale is preserved in the scenery of bourgeois life, and love is at the center of the plot. Chagall did not draw people from life, but only from memory or imagination. The painting “Anniversary” depicts the artist himself and his wife Bela. The painting was sold in 1990 and has not been auctioned since then. Interestingly, the New York Museum of Modern Art MoMA houses exactly the same one, only under the name “Birthday”. By the way, it was written earlier - in 1915.

prepared the project
Tatiana Palasova
the rating has been compiled
according to the list www.art-spb.ru
tmn magazine No. 13 (May-June 2013)