“Vassiliev’s principal themes, which were born while he was in Russia and continue to the present day, are his memories of home and houses, roads, forests, fields, friends, and family. Vassiliev always starts his creative process from very personal memory, from his sacred space, the safeguarded inner center, and connects it with the visual image. Vassiliev masterfully incorporates elements from different times and spaces and arranges them throughout his paintings according to the logic and ‘energetic’ space of the painting”, 2004: Ye. Petrova, N. Kolodzei, et al., Oleg Vassiliev: Memory Speaks: Themes and Variations, St Petersburg: Palace Editions, Moscow, Russia.

Oleg Vasiliev was born on November 4, 1931, in Moscow. Since childhood, he loved to draw, initially – to sketch from postcards. Having entered the Tretyakov Gallery (Russia) for the first time, the future artist became its regular visitor. In 1952-1958 he studied at the graphic (although he dreamed of getting into the painting) faculty of the Moscow State Art Institute named after V. I. Surikov. But in the academic school of painting, Vasiliev did not find ways of artistic expressiveness, consonant with his own inner vision of the world. After graduating from the institute, he continues his creative search and turned to the experience of the Russian avant-garde of the 1920s.

In the early 1990s, a strong interest in the art of Soviet nonconformist artists arose in the West, and Vasiliev, as a brilliant representative of this art, flew to the United States, where his personal exhibition was successfully held, and since then, the artist has emigrated to the United States (died on January 26, 2013, in New York, USA).

“For the first time, I saw in nature reflections of the light and understood the laws of energy in the white canvas during our trip, together with Eric Bulatov, to the North of Russia on island Anzer in the White See. A House of the Island Anzer, 1965, is the first painting that I decided to sign as my own. I consciously put aside everything and began to work on the interactions of the surface space in the canvas. That was the beginning of my so-called “abstractionist period,” – Oleg Vassiliev. 

“By the early 1960s, Favorsky’s theories about physics for color and the movement of color through space had led Vassiliev to a series of experiments that culminated with the House on the Island Anzer in 1965. With the House on the Island Anzer, Vassiliev found his voice. “It was the first time I realized that this was mine. These were not Falk’s ideas, not Favorsky’s. This was mine.” The quote is from Amei Walach (OlegVassiliev: The Treachery of Memory, the Space of Light in “Oleg Vassiliev Memory Speaks”), and I personally think that it in its deepest way reflect the importance of this piece to the artist and his background, because it reflects the beginning of his creative and truly unique path as a person who found the important knowledge and experience.

As for me, it reflects so much at one moment, even though it is ably made in its minimalistic transitions and forms. The spectrum of the colors in it is so active and intense that they translate what the artist felt at that moment yourself because colors in the most masterful way give us the idea and feeling of the atmosphere of what the artist wanted us to see.

“The work of Oleg Vasiliev resembles a road, a path where each step opens another dimension of reality. By its storyline, it is really connected with the theme of the road that an artist, a person must walk along in order to discover himself and his future possibilities. Steppe or forest, highway or path – this road determines human destiny, full of uncertainty and expectations” was meditating about the works he infused Vitaly Patsyukov. And again, this is an accurate interpretation of the experience and knowledge which the artist wanted to explore and in the end give to humanity because this is exactly what he wanted to evoke in people’s minds. He certainly did a great job with that!

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oleg_Vassiliev_(painter)#cite_note-2

https://www.artsy.net/artist/oleg-vassiliev

https://www.saatchigallery.com/artist/vassiliev_oleg_breaking_the_ice

https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2018/russian-paintings-online-n09913/lot.14.html

4 ноября родился Олег Владимирович ВАСИЛЬЕВ

https://www.art4.ru/museum/vasilev-oleg/

Is a fascinating French artist who was innovative in explorations of color and form while participating in the development of abstract art in the early 20th century.

But, to be honest, I choose this artist not only because of the vivid colors and interesting shapes of her works but also because she intrigued me with her biography and the place where she was born. To be precise, she was born in the small village, Hradyz’k, Poltava Oblast in Ukraine on November 13, 1885 (some sources argue that she was born in Odesa, Ukraine). And well, this is the place where my grandfather resided, so I was highly excited to learn about herself as well as moments of life that motivated, inspired, and led her into the expressionism movement.

“Sonia Delaunay was a multi-disciplinary abstract artist and a key figure in the Parisian avant-garde. Alongside her husband, Robert Delaunay, she pioneered the movement of Simultanism. Her exploration of the interaction between colors has created a sense of depth and movement throughout her oeuvre”, Tate.

At the age of seven, she started to live with her “middle class” uncle, Henri Terk, and his wife, Anna, in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Because of the rich culture and wealthy city she was living in at a time, Sonia was infused with a special inspiration and knowledge, experience in it, which greatly influenced her life and future decisions (especially in art). “Nevertheless, her childhood memories of Ukraine remained with her and she often referred back to the ‘pure’ color and bright costumes of the Ukrainian peasant weddings”, Tate.

Artist was truly creative and unique at the work she was doing, so it is no surprise that her talent and ideas expanded beyond painting, and, as such one of the many works that reflect the idea of it is an illustration for the cover of Vogue in 1926…

“As well as a major retrospective at the Kunstmuseum Bielefeld in 1958, Delaunay was the first living female artist to have a retrospective exhibition at the Louvre in 1964. She has also had her work shown at Musée d’Art Moderne in Paris, Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Musée National d’Art Moderne and Tate Modern”, Tate.

The painting above is one of the most popular ones Sonia has created in 1914, and it displays Delaunay’s trademark – concentric circles at their best. Interpreted as an ode to modernity, she paints the lights and the rush of Boulevard Saint Michel into an almost complete abstraction of colors and texture, except two figures, which remain “discernible” in the lower center of the painting. The name of the piece, translated in English will be Electric Prisms, as for me, hints into the symbolic meaning of the living organism, or I better write person, who caught the attention of the artist with the way they were, and so, redistributing into the abstract manner they became prisms, with the electricity instead of the zest they had in the artist’s eyes and unique world view.

This piece caught my attention to the same extent as the previous one not only because of the colors the artist masterly choose but also because of the “silhouettes” of the fruits I can clearly recognize. The interesting part for me was that if you will not concentrate on the “products in the market” only, but on the whole painting, you will see the face with the colored eye on the left and the big nose at the center…

To conclude (even though I do not want to finish yet), I will quote some of the thoughts that were remarkable and that impressed me, as such:

I always changed everything around me… I made my first white walls so our paintings would look better. I designed my furniture; I have done everything. I have lived my art.

Colour is the skin of the world.

Colour was the hue of number.

One who knows how to appreciate color relationships, the influence of one color on another, their contrasts and dissonances, is promised infinitely diverse imagery.

Sources:

https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/ey-exhibition-sonia-delaunay/delaunay-introduction

https://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2012/inventingabstraction/?work=70

https://www.moma.org/collection/works/79091

https://www.moma.org/collection/works/33389

There is the saying in Ukraine and Russia, “Kartina Repina Priplyli”, and it is used when you appeared in a stalemate situation which is totally embarrassing and confusing.

And I assume you will partly understand why people out there have this saying if you will take a look at the works of this talented, unique, and mesmerizing artist whose name is Ilya Yefimovich Repin.

He was born in 1844 in Chuguev (Kharkiv province, Ukraine). The artist’s father was a “ticket soldier” and his mother, Tatyana Stepanovna, came from a well-educated family. Repin discovered a passion for painting at an early age so that in 1855 he was sent to a school of typographers, but in 1857 the school got closed, and Repin went as a student to an icon-painting workshop. He quickly became the best and at the age of 16, he began to work independently, enrolling in an artel, which was engaged in the construction and restoration of churches. In 1863, Repin decided to go to St. Petersburg and enter the Academy of Arts. He did not enter immediately, but after going through a course in an evening art school, he finally made it. After that, from 1863 he became a student of the Academy (until 1871). For 8 years of studying, he managed to receive several awards, including a large gold medal of the Academy.

The artist set himself a goal of creating a monumental canvas dedicated to the life of the people and not only revealing the severity of its share but also praising its spiritual strength. The painting above was revolutionary because of its disgusting reality which was widely normalized and maybe that is why it is one of the most popular paintings in Russia, to specify, it is reflected in the people’s own lives. “It depicts 11 men who are physically dragging a barge on the banks of the Volga River. They are at the point of collapse from exhaustion, oppressed by heavy-duty, hot weather, [and almost on the verge of death because of hunger and thirst]”, Wikipedia. It depicts dirty, tired, poor, and helpless people who a desperately looking into the viewer for something as if they are pleading for help. “[This work as if subtly hints at the] condemnation of profit from inhumane labor. Although they are presented as stoical and accepting, the men are defeated; only one stands out: in the center of both the row and canvas, a brightly colored youth fights against his leather binds and takes on a heroic pose. Repin conceived the painting during his travels through Russia as a young man and depicts actual characters he encountered”, Wikipedia.

This painting, with the old, mad man and his dead son made a huge wave of criticism and indignation in tsar’s Russia, not only because of its “absurd” penetration of the ruler but also because of its true darkness and not entering the framework of Christianity. It was believed that this painting was possessed by the devil because of its true craziness indeed. In the painting, you could see the dead body and true insanity, and it is all because the father killed his own son, and probably Repin caught that right moment when the ruler understands what he is done, by that entering the actual hell of repentance and pain. Also, we can see how dark the actual tones are in this painting, only the area of the two people is alighted, and maybe here is the moment when someone in the Repin’s imagination is opening the door, seeing the horrific. The dead son, if you will take a closer look, have a teardrop on his cheek, and I think that this adds a more obscure atmosphere to the painting, which a lot of people, in reality, wanted to destroy, because they believed that the ruler was a better person and also because of its accurate and deep penetration of the moment which sometimes happened in Russian Empire…

This is, indeed, is a very interesting and profound artist, who covered his works into savory symbolism, straightforward realism and whom I would like to write more about, because I for sure know that there is a lot more to share.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilya_Repin

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ilya-Yefimovich-Repin

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barge_Haulers_on_the_Volga

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_the_Terrible_and_His_Son_Ivan

What do you think art is? You might think that this is, for example, an expensive and very rare diamond or an architectural monument somewhere in Italy, or maybe France… Thinking this way, you will not be wrong, but this particular way of thinking directs you into something unattainable, sublime, and even too delusive.

If I will state to you that art might be, same as those precious diamonds, a fresh, morning air, or a freshly cut grass, it may be a sunset or a feeling that you belong, sometimes a first love or a cup of coffee (or tea) with a lovely book besides. It is totally different from diamonds, isn’t it? But, somehow you feel better while thinking about it. You may feel the opposite since you may not like coffee or your first love ended up as heartbreak, but, in some strange way, it evokes feeling inside. Different cognition and this is where the art begins.

The Art is in the architectural monuments in Spain, similar to the hug of your parents because both of these make you feel, it is where the art is born.

The painting above is made by the highly admired artist, Johannes Vermeer, who depicts a regular woman, a maid most likely, who pours milk from a jug. She is simple, she is quiet and calm, same as everything around her, but, somehow, the great Vermeer decided to paint her, as if he saw something special in the way she is doing her work, something artistically unusual about her that made him feel.

“Johannes Vermeer, Johannes also rendered Jan, (baptized October 31, 1632, Delft, Netherlands—buried December 16, 1675, Delft), was a Dutch artist who created paintings that are among the most beloved and revered images in the history of art. Although only about 36 of his paintings survive, these rare works are among the greatest treasures in the world’s finest museums. Vermeer began his career in the early 1650s by painting large-scale biblical and mythological scenes, [cityscapes and allegorical scenes], but most of his later paintings—the ones for which he is most famous—depict scenes of daily life in interior settings. These works are remarkable for their purity of light and form, qualities that convey a serene, timeless sense of dignity”, Britannica.

To note my comments about this artist, well, it is pure adoration. He reflected a broad range of emotions and details which he specifically and uniquely saw, then transmitted all of them into the canvas. The ordinary girl which you see above points her gaze at the viewer, she is calm, same as the Milkmade, she is quiet, but has some specific details which evoke different feelings when you are looking at her. There is something special in the way she is forever looking at the observer, and in the way as if she wants something to say… It all looks kind of hazy and at the same time very defined. She penetrates stillness and silence, at the same time colors and joy.

One of the many of his artworks, this one shows us the life of regular people. It is simple too, but because of its simplicity and exceptional imprinting of regular life, it is special. It shows us that looking after the home, cleaning the yard, or darning the cloth may be art because this painting is an art indeed. It shows that to be simple is enough to exist, by that to feel.

The works we saw are all about the routine, about modest, humble, and maybe this is what catches our sight because we can rely on it and totally and deeply understand it. And it is not bad at all, of course, it is just very real and open, and the way Johannes Vermeer created this atmosphere is a true masterliness and ingenuity of an unremarkable artist who is living till now in his works which reflect the eternal.

Sources:

https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/the-milkmaid/9AHrwZ3Av6Zhjg?hl=en-GB

https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/girl-with-a-pearl-earring-johannes-vermeer/3QFHLJgXCmQm2Q?hl=en-GB

https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/the-little-street-johannes-vermeer/YAGJRuPz8yVuRQ?hl=en-GB

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Vermeer

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Johannes-Vermeer

This man was a great artist of the High Renaissance & Mannerism movement of 1450-1516 in the Netherlands.

“He is one of the most notable representatives of the Early Netherlandish painting school”, Wikipedia. Well, I will not even try to argue with this statement. Because when I had a first look at the paintings he created, right away I knew that I look at the works of a talented, unique person. The way he chose the colours, tones, shades, his imagination is truly incredible. How do I know that? I think it is all about the atmosphere of the works he did because when you look at them, you feel what the artist felt back then, starting from the anger and rich colours, and ending with his personal conflicts and abstract, imaginary worlds.

Hieronymus Bosch was born in Brabant, and was named as Jheronimus van Aken. He lived all his life in the city he was born in. His grandfather was an artist too, and his father was an artistic adviser, and known people even think that Bosh gained knowledge of his artistic skills through his two relatives.

Out there you could find not that broad amount of information about his life, thoughts, personality. But I think that the artworks penetrate to us all those qualities which did not survive to our days in dairies or another sort of notes, where we could find a little bit more about him. And yes, let’s be honest, his masterpiece looks eerie.

“Bosch produced at least sixteen triptychs, of which eight are fully intact, and another five in fragments, [which were] mostly on oak panels using oil as a medium”, Wikipedia. All those works are interesting, different and they alternate from Flemish style to the Impasto.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hieronymus_Bosch

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/death-and-the-miser-1490-hieronymus-bosch.html

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/2-the-garden-of-earthly-delights-right-panel-hieronymus-bosch.html

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/the-visions-of-tondal-1479-hieronymus-bosch.html

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/the-garden-of-earthly-delights-center-panel-hieronymus-bosch.html

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/christ-in-limbo-1575-hieronymus-bosch.html