Zinaida Serebryakova. Hereditary talent and strength of character

3. E. Serebryakova I grew up in an art environment. Her father, E. A. Lansere, was a sculptor, and she was brought up (after the death of her father in 1886) together with her brother, the future graphic artist E. E. Lansere, in the family of her grandfather (by mother), N. L. Benois, Petersburg architect.

self-portrait

Zinaida Serebryakova was destined to live two destinies.

In the first, she is a descendant of an artistic family, a happy, beloved and loving wife, mother of adored children and a talented artist who entered Russian painting with her self-portrait in front of a mirror, in which happiness, love, contentment, freshness and joy of life seem to be concentrated.

The second fate is a widow, separated from her children, exhausted to earn a piece of bread, unable to find a place in a foreign land and lost her homeland, torn apart by anxiety and consumed by hopeless longing.

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Self portrait at work

The happy life of Zinaida Serebryakova

Zinaida Lansere was destined to draw - not by fate, but by family - for sure. Zina's father, Eugene Lansere, was a famous St. Petersburg sculptor, his mother was born Ekaterina Benois, the sister of Alexander Benois. Zina is the youngest child, she was not even two years old when her father died of consumption. From the Neskuchnoye estate (then the Kursk province of the Russian Empire, now the Kharkov region of Ukraine), the mother and children moved to St. Petersburg to the parental home.

ballet dressing room

Against the background of sociable, cheerful brothers and sisters, Zina seemed wild, withdrawn. It seems that she was the only one who took a disposition to her father, and not to the cheerful, friendly maternal relatives. She studied at the gymnasium, went with her mother to art exhibitions and theatrical premieres, painted, of course - it could not be otherwise in this family. The only thing that worried the mother was the poor health of the girl. Of all the children, she grew up the most sickly.

Ballet dressing room (Big ballerinas)

At the age of eighteen, Zinusha, as her relatives called her, left with her mother for Italy to restore her health. Soon Alexander Benois joined them, for Zina - "Uncle Shura". And he gave the ladies magnificent artistic and cultural excursions! On the way back, especially for the sake of visiting museums, we went through Vienna. In St. Petersburg, Zinaida, following the advice of "Uncle Shura", visited the workshop of Osip Braz, a well-known portrait painter, academician of the Imperial Academy of Arts. Her soul did not lie to the front portrait, so beloved by Braz, therefore, Serebriakova did not say anything good about this stage of her training afterwards. But the time spent in the Hermitage, where she visited almost daily, she considered very important.

Self-portrait dressed as Pierrot

In addition to the joy of painting, the life of the girl was illuminated by another great joy - love. The family spent the summer in Neskuchnoye, where their relatives Serebryakovs lived on the neighboring estate. With Boris, her cousin, Zina had known each other since childhood, over time, friendship grew into love. The young decided to get married, but they did not succeed immediately. Parents were in favor, but the church opposed because of the relationship of lovers. However, 300 rubles and an appeal to a third, after two refusals, the priest was allowed to solve the problem. In 1905 they got married. Very beautiful couple! Tall, stately, perky, in love, a little idealistic. They seem to have had a very happy life. And they had it, but not for as long as they dreamed.

Portrait of Tata dressed as a Harlequin

Soon after the wedding, the young people left for Paris. Zinaida was expecting the birth of her first child and improved her painting skills at the Academy de la Grande Chaumière (again, on the advice of Benois). She enthusiastically admired the paintings of Monet and Manet, Sisley, was delighted with Degas - and carried her love for the latter through her whole life, entering into a dialogue with him with a series of her ballerinas ( , , , ).

Ballerinas in the restroom

ballet dressing room

Ballet restroom. Snowflakes (The Nutcracker ballet)

From her marriage to the revolution, Zinaida Serebryakova was as happy as ever. Their life was simple, calm and joyful. In winter they lived in St. Petersburg, in warm weather - in Neskuchny. They did not particularly participate in secular entertainment, Zinaida's interests revolved around her children, her beloved husband and painting. Even walking with children, she certainly took an album with her.

At breakfast

In 1910, at the exhibition of the Union of Russian Artists in St. Petersburg, Zinaida Serebryakova amazed not only the public, but also her relatives, including “Uncle Shura”. Her self-portrait "Behind the toilet" made a splash. Such freshness, such sincerity and joy of youth emanated from the picture that no one had any doubts: a new artist had appeared in Russia. Her style was defined as neoclassicism.

Behind the toilet. self-portrait

Indeed, in this work we see a powerful concentrate of genuine Russian culture.

In this picture, Zinaida Serebryakova personifies the ideal of a Russian woman - the guardian of the highest spiritual traditions of the Russian intelligentsia and aristocracy. She is loved, she has a beloved husband - betrothed, whom she was going to marry since childhood. Everything, as in the best folk tales about beautiful mothers, wise fathers, meek daughters and second halves betrothed by God to create their ideal family. Maybe that's why it turned out to be a very kind, warm and bright work. It is this atmosphere of comfort, joy and harmony that the painting of the artist is so dear to us. In 1910, Serebryakova's self-portrait made a splash. The painting hung at the exhibition next to the canvases of famous masters - Vrubel, Kustodiev, Serov. By the way, it was Valentin Serov who interceded for the Tretyakov Gallery to acquire this painting by Serebryakova and two more of her works.

Katya in blue at the Christmas tree

By 1913, the Serebryakovs already had four children: older boys Zhenya and Sasha and girls Tata and Katya. Zinaida was very fond of the estate in Neskuchny, she even preferred to give birth to children there, despite the concern of her mother. In Neskuchny, she led a simple life, wore wide skirts and light blouses and painted in every free minute - children, husband, peasants, landscapes.

Katya with a still life

Zinaida and Boris got along with the peasants. If Boris discovered that someone had stolen a wheel or a pickling tub from the master's yard, he would gently scold the culprit: “Yes, why didn’t you ask, I would have given you anyway.” And when the fatal volley from the Aurora thundered, Zinaida, smiling, sincerely rejoiced for the peasants on the estate: “Well, Nikitishna, congratulations, now you are not just a peasant woman, now you are a citizen!”

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Canvas bleaching

And a volley struck After the revolution in Russia, probably everyone faced changes in their lives. But in the case of Serebryakova, these are not “changes”, these are before and after, two different lives. Happiness remained in the one that was before the volley. Boris was arrested, the estate in Neskuchny was burned down. Fortunately, their peasants were warned, so the Serebryakovs left for Kharkov in time. Released, Boris died in his wife's arms from typhus, leaving her in the "nation's country" under construction with four children.

Z.Serebryakova “Portrait of B.A.Serebryakova” c.1905

Her husband died in her arms at the age of 39. That is how old Zinaida's father was when he passed away. The girl was then only 2 years old. These early deaths of two handsome talented men are the framework into which the happy, cloudless life of the artist entered. Her ideal family, in which everyone loved each other so dearly, collapsed like a house of cards.

Portrait of B.A. Serebryakov

House of cards

In Kharkov, Zinaida got a job at the archaeological institute, made sketches of archaeological finds and languished from the desire to get out of this haze, into which her recently happy life had turned. “Miserable, helpless and lonely. She says that life is over, and lives only in her past, ”this is how contemporaries describe the impressions of meeting her. However, she does not have the opportunity to completely immerse herself in melancholy - she needs to feed her children and her mother. The help of the peasants was of great help: they sometimes brought bacon, cereals, carrots - from the latter they brewed tea and warmed them.

Daughter Katya with dolls

Only in December 1920 did he manage to leave for Petrograd. It gets a little easier. Children go to schools, Serebryakova's paintings participate in exhibitions, and portraits are sometimes ordered to her. But life still passes on the brink of survival. It is surprising that no matter how difficult her life was, her paintings are mostly bright, joyful, although she created the early ones from an excess of joy, and in the later ones she escaped from the difficult reality.

Self portrait with daughters

Alexandre Benois secured a free pass to the Mariinsky Theater for his niece. Her daughter Tatyana studies there, Zinaida paints her lovely ballerinas there. In 1923, her works were included in an exhibition of Russian artists in the United States. She made $500, but they couldn't patch up the gaps in the family budget. Zinaida decides to leave for Paris in order to improve her financial situation.

Alexander Serebryakov reading a book (son)

The cage slammed shut

Tatyana Serebryakova recalled that she was 12 years old when her mother left. She left for a short time, but Tate was very scared. As if she had a presentiment that the next time they could see each other only after 36 years. Contrary to the assurances of Benois, the golden rain did not fall on Serebryakova in Paris. Firstly, the avant-garde was in fashion, the values of which she did not share at all, adhering to the classical approach to painting, and secondly, Serebryakova did business very awkwardly and did not know how to “rotate” at all - echoes of the life of a happy woman living with her family and her art. How different this Paris, populated by emigrants, was from the city to which she went after her wedding with her husband and mother, pregnant with her eldest son!

self-portrait

The artist Konstantin Somov, who repeatedly helped Zinaida Serebryakova in Paris, said: “She is so miserable, unhappy, inept, everyone offends her.” Unsociable in life, in creativity, she did not leave direct followers. Contemporaries mention the hard character of the artist. But it is necessary to take into account the circumstances of her life. She failed to earn money in a year, as planned. “No one understands that it is insanely difficult to start without a penny. And time goes by, and I still fight in the same place, ”she writes to her mother in despair. She misses her children very much. Soon, Katya manages to be discharged to her, in 1927 Sasha also arrives. And then the iron curtain falls.

Alexander Serebryakov in carnival costume

Serebriakova does not dare to return, because her two children are in Paris, and she does not risk taking them to the USSR, where they can be declared "enemies of the people". In Paris, she cannot fully engage in a new life, because half of her heart is left there - with Zhenya, Tanya and her mother, whom the government refuses to let go abroad.

Z. Serebryakova “Katya on the terrace”

At the slightest opportunity, Serebryakova sends them money, but this is not always possible. In 1933, her mother in the Union dies of starvation.

Z.Serebryakova. Portrait of a lady with a dog

The brightest event of this "life after life" for Zinaida Serebryakova was, perhaps, a trip to Morocco. The Belgian Baron Brower saw her paintings at one of the exhibitions and offered to pay for the trips so that he could pick up any of the paintings he liked. In 1928 and 1932, Zinaida traveled around Morocco. Subsequently, she will write to her daughter Tatyana: “In general, 34 years of life here is one vanity, one nervousness and despair ... But how can an artist create without “joyful excitement”? Except perhaps one month spent in Morocco in 1928, and then a month and a half there, they completely captured me with their direct living beauty ... "

Bazaar, Marrakech

Tanya and Zhenya, who remained in Russia, were separated from their mother, but there was always correspondence. They met only after 36 years, having done everything possible to meet their mother in their homeland. Children received an excellent education, realized themselves as individuals and creative people. Tatyana became a theater artist, and Evgeny became an architect-restorer. They helped my mother come to Moscow for her exhibition, they were propagandists of her work, which means that the spiritual connection between mother and children was constantly preserved. And she was not forgotten at home either. If only true connoisseurs of painting and compatriots knew about the artist abroad, then in the Soviet Union her works could be admired on the pages of school textbooks, and the study of Zinaida Serebryakova's work was included in the compulsory secondary education program.

Portrait of Zhenya Serebryakov

Fortunately, the art of Zinaida Evgenievna Serebryakova has not lost its value as a standard of genuine Russian culture. And now we see a new round of popularity of the paintings of this wonderful artist.

Serebryakova Zinaida Evgenievna - paintings by the artist.

Girl with a candle. self-portrait

Portrait of B.A. Serebryakov, the husband of the artist

Portrait of a ballerina E.N. Heidenreich in red

Portrait of a ballerina L.A. Ivanova

This is how Binka fell asleep (Zhenya Serebryakov)

In the nursery. Boring

Peasant woman with kvass

Canvas bleaching

sleeping girl

Portrait of Olga Konstantinovna Lansere

Sylph girls (Ballet Chopiniana)

Girls at the piano.

Portrait of E. E. Zelenkova, nee Lansere, sister of the artist.

Before the storm. The village of Neskuchnoye.

Mountain landscape. Switzerland.

Versailles. Roofs of the city.

Portrait of E.E. Lansere in a hat

Princess Irina Yusupova.

Portrait of O. I. Rybakova in childhood.

S. Prokofiev.

girl in pink

Terrace at Collioure.

Menton. Beach with umbrellas.

Paris. Luxembourg garden.

Cleaning bread.

Peasant woman with rolls of canvas on her shoulder and in her hands

Peasant Woman Spreading Canvas

Still life with asparagus and strawberries

Still life with cauliflower and vegetables

Breton

Arab on a donkey

old fisherman

Alps, Annecy

Bather

Reclining Nude

Son Alexander

Original entry and comments on

Serebryakova Z. E.

Zinaida Lansere, Serebryakov's husband, was born near Kharkov. She was destined to give birth to four children, become a widow, change Kharkov to Petrograd, and then to Paris, and there settle down in the cemetery of Saint-Genevieve-des-Bois.

She was born and raised in a family where more than one generation worshiped art. Great-great-grandfather Caterino Cavos - originally from Italy, musician, author of operas, symphonies; great-grandfather, Albert Cavos - architect; native grandfather - Nikolai Benois - architect, academician. Zinaida's father is the famous sculptor Nikolai Lansere.

After the death of her father, Zina lived with her grandfather, Nikolai Benois, where a creative atmosphere reigned, and the atmosphere of the house was permeated with the spirit of art. The dining room was decorated with paintings painted by her mother, a student of the Academy of Arts. The rooms were furnished with antique furniture made by old masters. Famous people gathered in the house: Bakst, Somov, Diaghilev and others.

Zina herself loved to draw since childhood. She never thoroughly studied drawing anywhere: only two months in a private drawing school under the guidance of I. Repin, she studied for two years in the workshop of O.E. Braz. But she was so good at learning, absorbing everything useful, and already at the age of 17 she easily learned to work with watercolors in two or three colors, to achieve purity and beauty of tone.

For health reasons, in 1901 she was taken to Italy, where she enthusiastically and a lot painted mountain landscapes with rich vegetation, the sea with coastal stones, narrow, sun-drenched streets, houses, interiors of rooms.

In 1905, Zina married a railway engineer Serebryakov and went with him on a honeymoon trip to Paris. There she entered the school-workshop, where she worked hard, imitating the Impressionists. But besides the streets and houses of Paris, she was interested in the life of the peasants, sketched cattle, carts, sheds.

Returning to Moscow, Zinaida writes a lot, especially likes to paint portraits. She was described in magazines as having a "big, colorful temperament". She began to exhibit among already well-known painters, and she was noticed. Later, A. Benois wrote about the exhibition of Serebryakova's works: "... she gave the Russian public such a wonderful gift, such a" smile in her mouth "that one cannot help but thank her..."

In the paintings of Serebryakova, complete immediacy and simplicity, a true artistic temperament, something resonant, young, laughing, sunny and clear were noted. All her works amaze with vitality, innate skill. And village boys, and students, and rooms, and fields - everything at Serebryakova comes out bright, living her own life and sweet.

Before the First World War, the artist visited Italy, Switzerland, where she painted many landscapes. She returned home in the summer of 1914, where she was met by gloomy and bewildered male faces, wailing soldiers and roaring girls.

In 1916, Alexander Benois was offered to paint the Kazansky railway station in Moscow, then he attracted recognized masters - Mstislav Dobuzhinsky, Boris Kustodiev, and Zinaida Evgenievna Serebryakova was among these chosen ones.

In 1918, the Neskuchnoye estate, where the Serebryakovs lived, burned down. The family moved to Kharkov. Boris Anatolyevich, Zinaida's husband, contracted typhus in 1919 and died.

The Serebryakovs lived poorly, sometimes on the verge of poverty. The artist was forced to earn extra money by drawing visual aids. A joyless life dragged on. Then the Serebryakovs moved to St. Petersburg, settled in the empty apartment of their grandfather N.L. Benois. At least somehow to live, the artist enters the service in the workshop of visual aids for a beggarly salary.

In the meantime, in 1924, there was an exhibition of Serebryakova in America, at which about 150 paintings were sold. At the time, it was very big money, especially in the destroyed Land of the Soviets. Settled in Paris with his family, Alexander Benois called them to them. Moreover, she received an order for a panel from Paris. What will the mother of four children living in the "travel restricted" Soviet Union do? Will he leave them and rush to France? Or will he still stay with them? In addition to the children, Serebryakova also has a sick mother in her arms. Livelihood - zero.

Serebryakova decided to go. Biographers say: "Later she repented and wanted to return to Russia, even to the USSR. But she did not succeed." But why didn't it work? Or did you still not want to? For example, Marina Tsvetaeva succeeded. Zinaida Serebryakova - no. Although her older brother, Yevgeny Lansere, a Soviet professor, came to her in France. He worked in Tbilisi and was sent to Paris by the decision of the People's Commissariat for Education of Georgia. They managed to send two children to her in France, two more remained in Russia - Serebryakova would see one of her daughters only after 36 years, during the Khrushchev thaw.

France did not bring Serebryakova happiness. There was little money, she lived an almost impoverished life. She sent pennies to the children. And she repented very much of her decision to leave Russia. And the creativity of the period of emigration was not so bright, splashing colors, temperament. All the best is at home.

Winter in Tsarskoye Selo (1911)

Whitening of the canvas (1916-17)

Behind the toilet. Self portrait (1908-1909)

Self-portrait in a white blouse (1922)

Self-portrait dressed as Pierrot (1911)

Bath

Brittany, Pont-l-Abbé (1934)

Countess St. Hippolyte, nee Princess Trubetskaya (1942)

Katya with dolls (1923)

Basket of flowers

Bather (1911)

Nun from Cassis (1928)

Switzerland

On the terrace in Kharkov (1919)

Still life with vegetables (1936)

Boring. Fields (1912)

Nanny (1908-1909)

Peasant woman putting on shoes (1915)

Sunlit (1928)

Beach

Portrait of A. A. Cherkesova-Benoit (1938)

Portrait of Serebryakov. (1922)

Portrait of a ballerina L.A. Ivanova. (1922)

Portrait of E. N. Heidenreich in blue

Portrait of Natasha Lansere with a cat (1924)

Portrait of O. I. Rybakova in childhood (1923)

Portrait of Olga Konstantinovna Lansere (1910)

Portrait on blue

Bird Yard (1910)

Market at Pont-l-Abbé (1934)

Snowflakes (1923)

Sleeping girl on blue (Katyusha on a blanket) 1923

Sleeping peasant woman

Tata and Katya

Terrace at Collioure

At dinner (1914)

Z. Serebryakova, 1900s

Zinaida Evgenievna Serebryakova (1884-1967) - artist.

Zinaida Serebryakova was born on December 12, 1884 in the estate of Neskuchnoye, Kursk province. She was the youngest of six children in the family of the sculptor Yevgeny Alexandrovich Lansere (1848-1886) and his wife Ekaterina Nikolaevna (1850-1933), née Benois.

The father died when Zinaida was two years old, and the mother and children left Neskuchny for the St. Petersburg apartment of their father, Nikolai Leontyevich Benois (1813-1898). In my grandfather's house, everything lived on art: exhibitions, the theater, the Hermitage. Zinaida's mother was a graphic artist in her youth, uncle Alexander Nikolaevich Benois (1870-1960) and older brother Evgeny Lansere were fond of drawing.

The family was not surprised when the gifted girl decided to become an artist. For several years she changed schools, countries and teachers in search of what she needed. In 1900 - the art school of Princess Tenisheva. A year later, a few months at the school of Ilya Repin. Then a year in Italy. In 1903-1905. apprenticeship with a portrait painter O.E. Braza (1873-1936). In 1905-1906. - Académie Grande Chaumière in Paris.

In 1905, Zinaida Lanceray married Boris Serebryakov, who was her cousin. They have known each other since childhood. And in 1910, the artist Zinaida Serebryakova received recognition for the painting "Behind the toilet". Family happiness and the joy of creativity!

The October coup found Zinaida Serebryakova in Neskuchny. In 1919, her husband died of typhus. She was left with four children and a sick mother. The estate was plundered, and in 1920 she went to Petrograd to her grandfather's apartment. There was a place after compaction.

Serebryakova left for Paris in 1924 and never returned. After some time, they managed to smuggle the children Sasha and Katya to her. She helped her mother and Tata and Zhenya as much as she could.

For half of her life, the brilliant artist Zinaida Serebryakova lived in impoverished Parisian emigration. Abroad, fame came to her after her death. And in the homeland? In the USSR in 1960, after 36 years of separation, her daughter Tatyana Borisovna Serebryakova, Tata, came to her in Paris. But the artist did not dare to follow her to Russia. There was no energy to move. Only in the spring of 1965, the 80-year-old artist realized her dream - she came to Moscow to open her first exhibition in the USSR.

Serebryakova - the joy of life

Wearing a scarf, 1911

Pierrot. Portrait 1911

Biography of Serebryakova

1884. November 28 (December 12) - birth in the Neskuchnoye estate of the Belgorod district of the Kursk province in the family of the sculptor Yevgeny Alexandrovich Lansere and his wife Ekaterina Nikolaevna (nee Benois) daughter Zinaida.
1886. March 23 - the death of his father from tuberculosis. Autumn - moving to St. Petersburg to the mother's parents - academician of architecture Nikolai Leontyevich Benois and grandmother Camilla Albertovna.
1893. Studying at the Kolomna Women's Gymnasium.
1898. December 11 - the death of grandfather N.L. Benoit.
1899. Summer - the first summer after the death of his grandfather, wholly spent in the Neskuchnoye estate.
1900. Graduation from the gymnasium and admission to the Art School of M.K. Tenisheva.
1902. Ekaterina Nikolaevna's trip with her daughters Ekaterina, Maria and Zinaida to Italy on Capri - "Capri" sketches.
1903. March - moving to Rome, acquaintance under the guidance of A.N. Benois with the art of Antiquity and the Renaissance. Summer - work in Neskuchny on landscapes and sketches of peasants. Autumn - admission to the workshop of O.E. Braza (training in it until 1905).
1905. Spring - visit organized by S.P. Diaghilev of the historical exhibition of portraits in the Tauride Palace. September 9 - marriage to Boris Anatolyevich Serebryakov. November - departure with his mother to Paris to study at the Academy de la Grande Chaumière. December - the arrival in Paris of her husband, who entered the Paris Higher School of Roads and Bridges.
1906. Studying at the Academy de la Grande Chaumière. April - return to St. Petersburg. May 26 - the birth of a son in Neskuchny, named after the artist's father Evgeny.
1907. September 7 - the birth of his son Alexander.
1908-1909. Serebryakova painted landscapes and portraits in Neskuchny.
1910. February - participation in the VII exhibition of the Union of Russian Artists in St. Petersburg with thirteen works. Acquisition of three works by the Tretyakov Gallery.
1911. December - participation in the exhibition "World of Art" in Moscow. Serebryakova was elected a member of the association.
1912. January 22 - the birth of daughter Tatyana.
1913. June 28 - the birth of daughter Catherine.
1914. May-June - a trip to Northern Italy (Milan, Florence, Padua, Venice). On the way - Berlin, Leipzig, Munich.
1915. November - participation of Serebryakova in the exhibition of sketches, sketches and drawings "The World of Art" in Petrograd.
1916. December - participation in the exhibition "World of Art" in Petrograd. Work on panel sketches for the Kazansky railway station. Images of oriental beauties did not appear in the painting of the station.
1917. January - Serebryakova was nominated for the title of academician of the Academy of Arts. S.R. Ernst completed a monograph on the work of Serebryakova, published in 1922.
1918. Serebryakova with her mother and children lived in Kharkov in temporary apartments. Sometimes she came to Neskuchnoye.
1919. January - Zinaida Serebryakova came to her husband in Moscow. March 22 - death of B.A. Serebryakova from typhus in Kharkov. Autumn - the Neskuchnoye estate was looted and destroyed. November - resettlement with mother and children to Kharkov. End of the year - participation in the "First Art Exhibition of the Kharkov Council of Workers' Deputies".
1920. January-October - work in the Archaeological Museum at Kharkov University. December - return to Petrograd.
1921. April - Serebryakova's family moved to the "Benois House". Acquisition by the Society for the Encouragement of Arts of a number of works by the artist with their subsequent transfer to the Russian Museum and the Tretyakov Gallery.
1922. May-June - participation in the exhibition "World of Art" in Petrograd. The beginning of work at the Choreographic School and the Mariinsky Theater on sketches of artistic dressing rooms, portraits of ballerinas.
1924. January - participation in the exhibition of artists "World of Art". March 8 - opening in New York of an exhibition of one hundred Russian artists in the United States. Of the 14 paintings by Serebryakova, two have been sold. August 24 - Serebryakova's departure from the USSR. September 4 - arrival in Paris.
1925. Spring - Serebryakova in England with her cousin H.L. Ustinova. May-June - work on custom portraits. Summer - the arrival of Alexander's son in France. Moving with his son to Versailles, working on sketches in the Versailles park.
1927. March 26 - April 12 - Serebryakova's exhibition in the gallery of J. Charpentier. June-August - arrival on a business trip E.E. Lansere.
1928. March - daughter Katya arrives in Paris. Summer - work in Bruges on portraits of members of the family of Baron J.A. de Brower. December - the beginning of a six-week trip to Morocco.
1929. January - the end of the trip to Morocco. February 23 - March 8 - exhibition of Moroccan works by Serebryakova at the Bernheim Jr. Gallery. April 30 - May 14 - Serebryakova's exhibition in the gallery of V.O. Hirshman.
1930. January-February - participation in the exhibition of Russian art in Berlin. Summer - a trip to the south of France, the creation of numerous landscapes in Collioure and Menton. Participation in the exhibition of Russian art in Belgrade.
1931. March-April - participation in exhibitions of portraits of the French Association of Artists. July-August - a trip to Nice and Menton. November-December - exhibition (together with D. Bushen) in Antwerp and Brussels.
1932. February-March - a trip to Morocco: work on portraits, landscapes, everyday scenes. Summer - work in Italy: landscapes of Florence and Assisi. December 3-18 - Serebryakova's exhibition at the J. Charpentier Gallery, articles by A.N. Benois and K. Mauclair. December - participation in the exhibition "Russian Art" in the gallery "Renaissance" in Paris. Participation in the exhibition "Russian Painting of Two Centuries" in Riga.
1933. March 3 - the death of his mother in Leningrad. April - participation in the exhibition of portraits of the French Association of Artists. Summer - a trip to Switzerland and the south of France. Transfer to Rue Blanche in Montmartre.
1934. April - participation in the exhibition of portraits in the House of Artists in Paris. July-August - Serebryakova in Brittany: work on landscapes, portraits of lacemakers and fishermen.
1935. Spring - participation in the exhibition of Russian art in London. Summer - a trip to Esteny (Auvergne), the creation of still lifes with grapes. End of the year - preparation for painting the hall of the villa of Baron Zh.A. de Brouwer "Manoir du Relay". Participation in the exhibition "Russian art of the XVIII-XX centuries" in Prague.
1936. Work on a panel for Manoir du Relay. December - Serebryakova in Belgium to "try on" four panels in the Manoir hall.
1937. April - Serebryakova in Belgium for the delivery of panels and finalization of maps written by her son Alexander. June - visit to the Soviet pavilion at the World Exhibition in Paris. June-August - trips to Brittany, to the south of France, to the Pyrenees.
1938. January 18 - February 1 - Serebryakova's exhibition in the gallery of J. Charpentier in Paris. June-August - trips to England and Corsica. Serebryakova has a sharp deterioration in her health - heart neurosis. On the recommendation of doctors, she went to Italy, to San Gimignano. December - eye surgery.
1939. May 6 - death of K.A. Somov. July-August - Serebryakova in Switzerland: work on portraits and landscapes. September 3 - France enters World War II. Transfer to Rue Campagne Premier.
1940. The beginning of the year - the termination of postal communication with relatives in the USSR. June 14 - German troops enter Paris.
1941. June 22 - German attack on the USSR. Autumn - participation in the Autumn Salon with three works. Work on the landscapes of the Tuileries and the Luxembourg Gardens.
1942. Operation for Graves' disease. Death in prison in Saratov of brother H.E. Lansere, who was arrested in 1938.
1944. August 25 - the liberation of Paris.
1946. September 13 - death in Moscow of brother E.E. Lansere. December - the resumption of correspondence with relatives.
1947-1948. Serebryakova in England: work on commissioned portraits and still lifes.
1949. August - a trip to the French provinces of Auvergne and Burgundy to work on commissioned portraits.
1951. Beginning of a permanent exhibition in the USSR of Serebryakova's works at exhibitions from private collections and museum funds.
1953. Summer - Serebryakova in England: work on landscapes.
1954. May-June - a nine-day exhibition of works, together with A.B. and E.B. Serebryakov, in the workshop on Campagne Premier Street.
1955 November - Decision to bequeath several of his works to museums in the Soviet Union.
1956. August - meeting with A.N. Benois and in his workshop with F.S. Bogorodsky.
1957. May-September - visits to Serebryakova by Vice-President of the Academy of Arts of the USSR V.S. Kemenov.
1958. March - Serebryakova's meeting with V.S. Kemenov and USSR Ambassador to France S.A. Vinogradov, who offered to return to their homeland. June - visit to the tour performance of the Moscow Art Theater "The Cherry Orchard", meeting with the theater management and actress K. Ivanova.
1960. February 9 - death of A.N. Benois in Paris. April is the first visit to Paris of Tatyana's daughter after thirty-six years of separation. December 15 - the opening of the exhibition "The Benois Family" in London, in which Serebryakova participated in three landscapes.
1961. Address by T.B. Serebryakova to the board of the Union of Artists to organize an exhibition of her mother in the USSR. March - a visit to Serebryakova by employees of the Soviet embassy, a visit by S.V. Gerasimova, D.A. Shmarinova, A.K. Sokolov to view the work.
1962. February 17 - participation in four works in the evening in favor of Russian invalids of the First World War.
1964. May - the arrival of Tatyana's daughter from Moscow. Spring-summer - Serebryakova selected and put in order works for an exhibition in Moscow. Sending work with the help of the Soviet embassy. Autumn - correspondence about the design of the poster and the catalog of the exhibition.
1965. May-June - exhibitions of Zinaida Serebryakova in Moscow in the Exhibition Hall of the Union of Artists and Kyiv in the Kiev State Museum of Russian Art.
1966. February - a visit to Serebryakova art critic I.S. Silberstein. March-April - an exhibition of paintings by Serebryakova in Leningrad at the Russian Museum, which was a huge success. Spring - visit of the Director of the Russian Museum V.A. Pushkareva. The Russian Museum acquired 21 works by Serebryakova from the exhibition. December - the first visit to Paris of the son of Eugene.
1967. Spring - Eugene and Tatyana arrive in Paris to meet with their mother. Creation of portraits of Tatyana and Evgeny, V.A. Pushkareva. September 19 - Zinaida Evgenievna Serebryakova died after a short illness. She was buried in the cemetery of Saint Genevieve de Bois near Paris.

Paintings by Serebryakova

Successfully started life of a talented artist Z.E. Serebryakova, after 1917 turned into years of wandering, suffering and memories of the past. She was torn between the need to create and the need to earn money to support her family. But Serebryakova's paintings are always beauty and harmony, an open and benevolent look.

Serebryakova in Moscow

Komsomolskaya, 2. Kazansky railway station. In 1916, Z. Serebryakov, at the invitation of his uncle A.N. Benois participated in the painting of the station.
Lavrushinsky, 10. Tretyakov Gallery. After the exhibition, organized in 1910 by the association "World of Art", the Tretyakov Gallery acquired several paintings by Serebryakova.

Zinaida Evgenievna Serebryakova is a famous Russian artist. She was a prominent representative of the association of artists "". She is also known as one of the first Russian women who entered the history of Russian painting.

Zinaida Serebryakova (before marriage - Lansere) was born on December 12, 1884 in the village of Neskuchnoye in the Kharkov province. From childhood, she was surrounded by creativity and art. The fact is that Zinaida Evgenievna was born into a family that was glorified by real talents in various types of creativity. Her grandfather was the famous architect Nikolai Benois (1813-1898). Zinaida's father (1848-1886) was also a famous sculptor. Zinaida also had a sister, Alexandra Benois, who was engaged in graphics, brother Nikolai, an architect, and brother Evgeny, a graphic artist and painter. It is worth noting that the family of talented sculptors and artists did not end with Zinaida Serebryakova. Daughter Eugene became an architect and restorer, son Alexander became a famous designer and artist, daughter Tatiana became an honored artist of the RSFSR, daughter Ekaterina became an artist.

Zinaida Lansere graduated from the women's gymnasium and art school. She was a student of the famous painter Osip Emmanuilovich Braz (1873-1936). She also studied at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris. In 1905 she married railway engineer Boris Serebryakov.

The art of the artist, who glorified Russian painting, is very sincere and warm. With the help of her work, she tried to convey to the viewer the beauty of the Russian land and Russian culture. She also traveled a lot. In 1924 she left for Paris and for a long time could not see her children. For the first time after separation, she met her daughter only 36 years later in 1960, when the Khrushchev thaw came. She died in Paris on September 19, 1967. Currently, her paintings are in the collections of such major museums as: the Odessa Art Museum, the Russian Museum, the State Tretyakov Gallery.

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Zinaida Serebryakova paintings

Self-portrait dressed as Pierrot

Self-portrait of Zinaida Serebryakova in a white blouse

Self portrait with daughters

Ballerinas in the restroom

Canvas bleaching

Brittany. The town of Pont-l Abbe. Port

Bakery from Lepic Street

In the dressing room

Girl with black braids

Girl with a candle

Elena Braslavskaya

At breakfast

Behind the toilet. self-portrait

Zinaida Evgenievna Serebryakova (maiden name Lansere; December 12, 1884, Neskuchnoe village, Kharkov province, now Kharkov region, Ukraine - September 19, 1967, Paris, France) - Russian artist, member of the World of Art association, one of the first Russian women who entered the history of painting.

Biography of Zinaida Serebryakova

Zinaida Serebryakova was born on November 28, 1884 in the Neskuchnoye family estate near Kharkov. Her father was a famous sculptor. Mother came from the Benois family and was a graphic artist in her youth. Her brothers were no less talented, the younger one was an architect, and the older one was a master of monumental painting and graphics.

Zinaida owes her artistic development primarily to her uncle Alexandre Benois, her mother's brother and older brother.

The artist spent her childhood and youth in St. Petersburg in the house of her grandfather, the architect N. L. Benois, and in the Neskuchny estate. Zinaida's attention was always attracted by the work of young peasant girls in the field. Subsequently, this is reflected more than once in her work.

In 1886, after the death of his father, the family moved from the estate to St. Petersburg. All family members were busy with creative activities, Zina also painted with enthusiasm.

In 1900, Zinaida graduated from the women's gymnasium and entered the art school founded by Princess M. K. Tenisheva.

In 1902-1903, during a trip to Italy, she created many sketches and studies.

In 1905 she marries Boris Anatolyevich Serebryakov. After the wedding, the young went to Paris. Here Zinaida attends the Academy de la Grande Chaumière, works hard, draws from nature.

A year later, the young return home. In Neskuchny, Zinaida works hard - she creates sketches, portraits and landscapes. In the very first works of the artist, it is already possible to discern her own style, to determine the range of her interests. In 1910, Zinaida Serebryakova was waiting for real success.

During the civil war, Zinaida's husband was on a survey in Siberia, and she and her children were in Neskuchny. It seemed impossible to move to Petrograd and Zinaida went to Kharkov, where she found work in the Archaeological Museum. Her family estate in "Neskuchny" burned down, all her works perished. Boris later died. Circumstances force the artist to leave Russia. She goes to France. All these years the artist lived in constant thoughts about her husband. She painted four portraits of her husband, which are kept in the Tretyakov Gallery and the Novosibirsk Art Gallery.

In the 1920s, Zinaida Serebryakova returned with her children to Petrograd, to Benois's former apartment. Zinaida's daughter Tatyana began to study ballet. Zinaida, together with her daughter, visit the Mariinsky Theater, they also go backstage. In the theater, Zinaida constantly painted.

The family is going through hard times. Serebryakova tried to paint paintings to order, but she did not succeed. She loved to work with nature.

In the first years after the revolution, a lively exhibition activity began in the country. In 1924 Serebryakova became an exhibitor of a large exhibition of Russian fine arts in America. All the paintings presented to her were sold. With the proceeds, she decides to go to Paris to arrange an exhibition and receive orders. She leaves in 1924.

The years spent in Paris did not bring her joy and creative satisfaction. She yearned for her homeland, sought to reflect her love for her in her paintings. Her first exhibition took place only in 1927. She sent the money she earned to her mother and children.

In 1961, two Soviet artists, S. Gerasimov and D. Shmarinov, visited her in Paris. Later in 1965, they arrange an exhibition for her in Moscow.

In 1966, the last, large exhibition of Serebryakova's works took place in Leningrad and Kyiv.

In 1967, in Paris, at the age of 82, Zinaida Evgenievna Serebryakova died.

Creativity Serebryakova

Even in her youth, the artist always expressed her love for Russia in her sketches. Her painting "The Garden in Bloom" and some others clearly speak of the charm of Russian vast expanses, meadow flowers, fields.

The paintings that appeared in the expositions of the exhibitions of 1909-1910 express a peculiar and inimitable style.

The greatest delight among the audience was caused by the self-portrait “Behind the toilet”. A woman living in a small village, one of the short winter evenings, looking in the mirror, smiles at her reflection, as if playing with a comb. In this work of the young artist, like herself, everything breathes freshness. There is no modernism; a corner of the room, as if illuminated by youth, appears before the viewer in all its charm and joy.

The greatest peak of the artist's work falls on the pre-revolutionary years. These are paintings about peasants and beautiful Russian landscapes, as well as everyday genres, for example, the painting “At Breakfast”, “Ballerinas in the Dressing Room”.

behind the toilet At breakfast Canvas bleaching

One of the significant works of these years is the painting "Whitening of the Canvas", written in 1916, where Serebryakova acts as a muralist.

The figures of village women in the meadow near the river look majestic, because of the image of the low horizon. In the early morning they spread the freshly woven canvases and leave them for the day under the bright rays of the sun. The composition is built in red, green and brown tones, which gives the small canvas the properties of a monumental and decorative canvas. This is a kind of hymn to the hard work of the peasants. The figures are made in different color and rhythmic keys, which creates a single plastic melody, closed within the composition. All this is a single majestic chord that glorifies the beauty and strength of the Russian woman. Peasant women are depicted on the banks of a small river, from which pre-morning fog rises. The reddish rays of the sun give a special charm to women's faces. "Whitening of the Canvas" is reminiscent of ancient frescoes.

The artist interprets this work as a ritual act, showing the beauty of people and the world, using the picturesque and linear rhythm of the picture. Unfortunately, this is the last big work of Zinaida Serebryakova.

In the same year, Benois was ordered to decorate the Kazansky railway station with paintings and he invited his niece to work. The artist decides to create an oriental theme in her own way. Imagine India, Japan, Turkey and Siam as the beautiful women of the East.

In the prime of her work, the artist suffers great grief. Having fallen ill with typhus, in a short time, the husband burns out from this terrible disease, and Serebryakova's mother and four children remain in her arms. The family is in dire need of literally everything. The stocks that were in the estate were completely looted. There are no colors, and the artist writes her "House of Cards" with charcoal and pencil, in which she depicts her children.

Serebryakova responds with a categorical refusal to master the style of futurism and finds work in the archaeological museum of Kharkov, making sketches of exhibits with a pencil.

Art lovers buy her paintings almost for free, for food or old things.

Serebryakova travels to African countries. Exotic landscapes surprise her, she paints the Atlas Mountains, portraits of African women, creates a cycle of studies about the fishermen of Brittany.

In 1966, exhibitions of Serebryakova's works were opened in the capital of the USSR in Moscow and some large cities, many of the paintings were acquired by Russian museums.

In her youth, Zinaida fell in love and married her own cousin. The family did not approve of their marriage, and the young were forced to leave their native lands.

In the canvases of the Russian artist Zinaida Serebryakova there are many paintings describing the life and work of the peasant population. She painted people working on the land from life right on the field where the peasants worked. In order to have time to grab all the details, the artist got up before the workers, came to the field with paints and brushes before the start of all work.

Due to constant poverty, Serebryakova was forced to make paints on her own, since there was simply nothing to buy them for. Today, fabulous sums are offered for Serebryakova's works, although Zinaida did not always manage to sell her paintings during her lifetime, and the artist had to live in poverty for almost all the time allotted on earth.

Having left for France, and leaving her daughter and son in Russia, Serebriakova could not even imagine that the next time she would see her own child only after 36 years.