Painting Archive

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You may have heard about the mystical figure of Orpheus from the Greek mythology. But, I think the background story needs to be told to understand the essence of this artwork. Orpheus was a proficient poet and musician with the magical ability to mesmerize all living things with his music. It was an incredible expertise for a musician. That’s why, everyone was always so eager to hear him. The legend goes further with the death of his wife. To redeem her from the grip of death, he went to the underworld. By his music, the things living in underworld got mesmerized and allowed him pass all the way to the Hades – the underworld king. Hades heard about his misery and decided to let his […]

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Animals, Dutch, Dutch Golden Age, Greek, Greek Mythology, Mythology, Orpheus

(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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Title of the painting represents two greatest artists from Russia. One is Ilya Repin himself and another is Leo Tolstoy, who doesn’t need any introduction. They both were ample artists and Ilya Repin is said to enjoy a respect in his art similar to Leo Tolstoy enjoyed in his literature. The convergence of these two big figures in one art-work is enough to make the art-work utterly important. Ilya Repin painted many portraits of Leo Tolstoy after they befriend in 1878. Leo Tolstoy Ploughing, Leo Tolstoy Barefoot and a pencil work called Leo Tolstoy Reading are the three works associated to Leo Tolstoy other than the current picture. Ilya Repin painted this portrait of Leo Tolstoy in 1887 with oil on canvas. It represents the […]

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Artist, Beard, Book, Individual Portrait, Leo Tolstoy, Reading, Russian, Writer

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In his time, painter of the “Portrait of an Arab”, Horace Vernet didn’t need an introduction, as he worked for the contemporary King Louis-Philippe and Napoléon III of France. Though, he is still remembered with an honor in art-communities. In early 19th century, he was renowned for his great artworks like Dog of the Regiment, Death of Poniatowski and Battle of Montmirail. His fields of interests varied only between portraits, Arabians and battles. And he didn’t want to paint in the traditional ways. He had grown a particular disinclination with traditional idealized ways of paintings. He wanted to draw things with more general touch and feel, instead of giving his subjects an idealized pose; he created his paintings with more vernacular manner. Thus, the viewer […]

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Arab, Arabian, Black Man, Desert, Man, Turban

(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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Kyobashi Bridge Takegashi Wharf (Bamboo Yards, Kyōbashi Bridge in English) is a woodblock print by the famous Japanese artist Utagawa Hiroshige. It is a part of the famous series called “One Hundred Famous Views of Edo” by the same artist. Out of the hundred pieces divided between seasons, this painting ranks at 76th number and falls under the section of ‘autumn’.  It is a Ukiyo-e painting, meaning the art of the floating world. Although, Hiroshige completed most of the paintings, after his death some leftover works were completed by Hiroshige II (student and adopted son of Hiroshige). The bridge shown in the painting is called Kyobashi (Capital Bridge in English) and was the only way of transportation over the Kyobashi River. It connected Nowadays the area […]

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Ansei Era, Boat, Boatman, Bridge, Edo Period, Moon, Night, River, ukiyo-e

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With sharp details and acute description, in “An Egyptian Beauty”, English painter William Wontner has portrayal a vivid depiction of an ancient Egyptian woman with contemporary attire. The rich attire, ornaments and the surrounding of a room (from a palace probably) shows her as a woman from an aristocrat or royal family. Painter has depicted her in such a grace and feminine posture that any person would immediately fall in love with her. The perfect clothing and the details of the clothes are astonishing. Look closely at the dual colored waist-cloth. That’s something really hard to achieve with oil on canvas. It seems deliberate choosing bright and attractive colors to gain instant attention at the lady. The title says the woman is from the Egyptian […]

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Aristocrat, Beautiful Woman, Egyptian Beauty, Egyptian Lady, Royal

(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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A funny experience the artist, Ilya Repin, had was that people were afraid of giving a pose for the painting as there was a belief among illiterate haulers that once a person’s image is put down on a paper, his soul leaves his possession. Finding no model (even after offering a fee) for his painting, he created all of his unique characters during his journey through Russia. The painting represents the hardship of the poor people in old times, around late 19th century. Painter gave importance to the hard life of the haulers by making this grand picture, which he asserted as his first professional painting. That time, the industrial revolution had just begun and a steam boat in far background on the left side […]

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Men, Peredvizhniki, Realism, Realist, Russian, Sea, Sea Shore, Ship, Workers

(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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The well-known Russian composer, Mikhail Glinka lived in early 19th century is thinking a composition for the celebrated Russia Opera Ruslan and Lyudmila (his second best known opera after “A Life of the Tsar”) which was based on the epic fairy tale poem by Alexander Pushkin. He was an influential composer in Russian music and led the famous band called “The Five” creating new music styles. Ilya Repin’s depiction of this legendary man shows him in a royal manner. He has calm, deep and tranquil expressions on his face as if have indulged in the thoughts to create a good music piece for the fairy tale opera. The opera was parted in six songs. Although, the writer of the fairy tale was drunk at the […]

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Artist, Man, Mikhail Glinka, Realist, Russian, Thinking Man

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Morning in the Pine­tree Forest by Ivan Shishkin is rated the second well-known painting in Russia after the Viktor Vasnetsov’s Bogatyrs.The picture is the beautiful depiction of the pine trees with a mother bear and three cubs. The details and the realistic depiction of the jungle, trees, environment and bears are breath-taking for its precise, colors and variety.

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Bear, Beautiful, Famous, Forest, Jungle, Peredvizhniki, Realist, Russian

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A simple painting at first sight, about three soldiers waiting for something or on their way to somewhere is the creation of Viktor Vasnetsov. Though, the importance and reach of the painting is conceived when we know that this ranks as the most popular painting in Russia, pushing Morning in a Pine Forest by Ivan Shishkin at the second place. Seemingly simple painting holds a grand history. The soldiers are the three most popular Bogatyrs of Russian folklore and myths – Alyosha Popovich, Ilya Muromets and Dobrynya Nikitich. Bogatyrs were the folklore heroes who would fight against the enemies and protect the homeland. Anyone could have become a bogatyr, even a peasant. Ilya Muromets was such a peasant before he embarked on the journey of […]

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Horse, Horsemen, Knight, Peredvizhniki, Romanticism, Russian, Soldier, Symbolist, Warriors

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The represented painting is the only picture of Elizabeth Bathory – the countess of Transylvania depicted in the late 16th century by an artist whose identification is not available today. Elizabeth Bathory has a notable legacy. She has left for us a life which is unbelievable, grotesque and to some extent makes us hate Vampires even more (not the phony vampire’s depicted in today’s novels, I won’t even consider them as genuine vampires.) According to modern researchers, she was a victim of Sadism – A mental disorder in which a person tries to gain pleasure (not happiness) through torturing others – humiliation, molesting, sexual abuse, excessive torturing, cutting body parts and murders. The range of the ways to gain pleasure for a sadistic person is […]

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Aristocrat, Coutness, Hungarian, Woman