Painting Russian Royals in the Eighteenth Century
Tags/ Posted by Stephen PainI would like to make you more aware of yourself as a human, and thus, ultimately a better person.continue reading this poem
Undoubtedly, the court, which delighted in what we call “bling” today, would prefer the portrait by van Loo, who fulfilled everything required of him. He kowtowed to convention in style and beauty, and painted what a princess should look like.
Virg’s World – The Art of Micro-Interventions
Tags/ Posted by Stephen PainI know there is a song for all of this, something hard and wild, black as night, and rising.continue reading this poem
A curator at Galerie für Landschaftskunst said that Virg’s art was “bewitching”. Yes, it is, in the manner of Harry Potter or the magic realist texts. These inanimate objects are charmed into something amusing that stop you in the tracks.
Zinaida Serebriakova and the Soviet Nude
Tags/ Posted by Stephen PainA half-naked woman dove into this pool in December.continue reading this poem
Does Serebriakova deserve her reputation? Can we criticize her art after the Silver Period as being anachronistic, and racist at times? Can a female nude painting by a woman of a different ethnic background be excused because the painting is by a woman?
Mikhail Vrubel
Tags/ Posted by Stephen PainA skin boat Rises on the breast Of an unswum seacontinue reading this poem
The art of Mikhail Vrubel (1856-1910) is simply extraordinary, and will take you, like the greatest Russian literature, to depths that both educate and endanger your sensibility.
