“Blue dancers” and “Madonna and child”. 7 masterpieces of the Pushkin Museum
June 13, 1912, the opening of the Museum of fine arts named after Alexander III, now known as State Museum of fine arts. Of A. S. Pushkin.
To see the masterpieces of world level, many tend to get in overseas museums. Not everybody knows that Vincent van Gogh is not necessary to go far in Amsterdam, and Edgar Degas in Paris.
On the contrary, art lovers from different countries specially come to Moscow to the State Museum of fine arts. A. S. Pushkin to evaluate one of the largest art collections of foreign art.
Today, the collection of the Pushkin Museum is about 700 thousand works of different eras — Aify tells about the most famous masterpieces of the permanent exhibition.
Vincent van Gogh “Red vineyards at Arles. The Montague”
Where: the Department of art of Europe and America XIX—XX centuries — hall “art Gallery of Europe and America XIX—XX centuries”.
In the Pushkin Museum from 7 of van Gogh’s paintings, including one of his most famous works is “the Red vineyards in Arles. The Montague”. For a long time it was believed that this is the only work that the famous impressionist managed to sell during his lifetime.
In fact, there was more and the landscape, “Red vineyard at Arles” for decent at the time 350 francs acquired by the Belgian artist Anna Bosch. After this, van Gogh wrote enthusiastically to his brother Theo that his paintings finally began to buy.
For the first time “Red grapes” was exhibited at the exposition of the symbolists in Brussels, where he attracted attention with their bright colors and anxious emotional state. If you look closely at the picture, you can see that if the sun is made of brush strokes. Obviously, the Dutch artist would squeeze paint directly onto the canvas.
Pablo Picasso “Girl on the ball”
Where: the Department of art of Europe and America XIX—XX centuries — hall “art Gallery of Europe and America XIX—XX centuries”.
Pablo Picasso is one of the most expensive artists of the world, and his famous painting “Girl on the ball” — another pride of the Pushkin Museum.
The painting of the Spanish master is depicted a traveling group of acrobats. Nearly the entire canvas is two: fragile gymnast balancing on a ball, powerful and athletic, thanks to which the artist plays with the contrast of movement and stillness.
In 1913 the painting was bought in Paris a Moscow businessman, Ivan Morozov, and in 1948 she was in the collection of the Pushkin Museum.
It is noteworthy that because of their values “balloon Girl” rarely leaves the borders of our country.
For example, Picasso himself was turned into a Museum with the request temporarily to take the picture to present one of his latest personal exhibitions, but Soviet officials refused. Only in 2011, when he passed the year of Spain in Russia, the picture was taken in the Prado Museum in Madrid.
Pierre Auguste Renoir “Portrait Of Jeanne Samari”
Where: the Department of art of Europe and America XIX—XX centuries — hall “art Gallery of Europe and America XIX—XX centuries”.
One of the most popular models of the famous Frenchman Pierre Auguste Renoir in 1870-e years was Jeanne Samari. Young actress of the theater “Comedie Francaise” Renoir painted four times, but the portrait that is kept in the Pushkin Museum, critics unanimously called the best (although it is considered to be a preparatory sketch for the main portrait, stored now in the Hermitage).
“Her joyful laughter, her charming kids nature, cute jokes, everything about her attracted Renoir, who had never done portrait with great pleasure, than this,” recalled a friend of Renoir, Georges rivière.
It is known that the original painting has an unusual optical effect that is not capable of transmitting reproduction: when looking at a certain angle green dress Jeanne becomes blue.
Lucas Cranach the Elder “Madonna and child (Madonna in the vineyard)”
Where: Main building of the Pushkin Museum. Alexander Pushkin — hall No. 8.
“Madonna and child” — one of three masterpieces by Lucas Cranach the Elder, stored in the Pushkin Museum. The picture was painted in the 20-ies of the XVI century and came to us damaged (lost the bottom and right part of the composition depicting a grape pergola).
The famous German artist painted the Madonna as a very ordinary earthly woman. But the picture was still saved Christian symbols: the vine, the true Church, the bunch of grapes, which deals with the baby — his future sacrificial death, a stream of water out of rocks — the source of new life.
Edgar Degas “Blue dancers”
Where: the Department of art of Europe and America XIX—XX centuries — hall “art Gallery of Europe and America XIX—XX centuries”.
The famous Frenchman Edgar Degas not occupied landscapes, he painted scenes from ordinary life, and one of his favorite subjects was the ballet.
The most famous “ballet” painting by the artist are considered “Blue dancers”, which is currently located on the second floor of the Pushkin Museum.
The first time he saw the painting so close, people noted that the movements of the dancers create a sense of dance, so it’s hard to tell, the picture shows four of a ballerina or a figure of the same dancers, but in different corners. In addition, painting like shot, which failed to accommodate everything.
It is believed that it has affected the artist’s interest in photography, however, contemporaries laughed at this in the manner of Degas, attributing to him the “inability” to meet the dimensions of the canvas.
Claude Monet “luncheon on the grass”
Where: the Department of art of Europe and America XIX—XX centuries — hall “art Gallery of Europe and America XIX—XX centuries”.
In the permanent collection of the Pushkin Museum can see more than 10 works of one of the founders of impressionism Claude Monet. But there’s one which is not accidentally confused with the eponymous painting by Edouard Manet — “luncheon on the grass”.
Monet conceived a huge canvas (width of over six metres) to participate in the Salon of 1866 on the same subject with which his colleague for a couple of years before that created a furor. But if Manet painted the picnic with the participation of well-dressed gentlemen and ladies naked, Monet planned a scandal of a different kind — to create an impressionistic picture, which received official recognition at the Salon. The heroes of his paintings he made friends (one of them shown twice), and female models, mostly taken from the covers of fashion magazines.
However, on the eve of the exhibition, the artist, dissatisfied with his job, scored almost finished a monumental canvas and cut the canvas into three parts (two of the surviving fragment are in the Museum d’orsay in Paris). Later, the master returned to this theme and written a reduced version of the composition, which is in the collection of the Pushkin Museum.
Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn’s “Ahasuerus, Haman and Esther”
Where: Main building of the Pushkin Museum. Alexander Pushkin — hall No. 10.
“Ahasuerus, Haman and Esther” — the “suffering” Rembrandt.
In 1819, she was damaged by fire, after which it was transferred to canvas and restored four times.
The Pushkin Museum picture is the largest representative of the Golden age of Dutch painting was in 1924, a goal, and it was created in the last decade of the life of the master. It is based on the biblical story: the wife of Persian king Ahasuerus, the Jewess Esther, accuses during a feast of the favorite courtier of the king of Haman’s desire to destroy her people. Not accidentally feast on the table are an Apple and grapes, the symbols of sin and redemption, and the round dish on which the rolling Apple reminds of the wheel of Fortune.