Touching children, light and airy ballerinas, strong peasant women and positive self-portraits. It is hard to believe that behind such bright images from the canvases lies a huge heartache of Zinaida Serebryakova (1884-1967). The fate of the artist and her family can hardly be called easy and cloudless.
Toilet. Self-portrait. Zinaida Serebryakova
The life of this talented woman could boldly become the basis of a dramatic movie that could squeeze out a tear or two. The artist lost her father early, and was left a widow with four young children in her arms. She had to leave her homeland after the revolution, looking for a way to establish herself in France and get her children back on their feet. Two of the children she could not see for years, and the artist's talent was recognized only a few months before she passed away.
Zinaida was lucky enough to be born into a bohemian family. In the Benois-Lancer clan, almost everyone became a famous artist or architect. Serebryakova's youngest daughter will also become an artist. According to her, no one in the family learns to draw specially, just gets pencils at a very young age and makes the first samples.
Zinaida Serebryakova. Self-portrait with daughters. 1921
Serebryakova's father was a talented sculptor-animalist Yevgeny Lansere. Unfortunately, she hardly remembered him, as he died when Zina was still very young. Her maternal grandfather Nikolai Benois worked as an architect, and her mother Ekaterina Nikolayevna was known as a graphic artist. The mother's brothers were also artists and architects. A huge influence on the upbringing of Zinaida had a mother's brother Alexander Benois.
The artist would later express her special attitude to “Uncle Shura” in the form of a portrait.
Zinaida Serebryakova. Portrait of Albert Benois, 1924
In summer, the family lived in the Neskuchnoye estate, where the future artist was born. By cold weather they moved to St. Petersburg, where Zinaida's grandfather had a spacious apartment, not far from the Mariinsky Theater.
In their free time the whole family organized home productions, read books, played musical instruments. Drawing and creating in this creative family was completely natural.
It so happened that Zinaida's husband was her rather close relative, namely a cousin Boris Serebryakov - his mother was the sister of Serebryakova's father. The future spouses knew each other since childhood, in the summer vacationed together in Neskuchny, and their feelings were not a secret to loved ones. Parents took with understanding to such a relationship, but the law so closely related marriages did not approve. Influential relatives were able to find a priest who, for a fee of three hundred rubles, agreed to marry the couple.
During eight years of marriage the couple became the parents of four children and were incredibly happy.
On a terrace in Kharkov. Zinaida Yevgenyevna Serebryakova
Everything changed in 1917, when the October Revolution took place. The family had to flee from their own ancestral nest. However, the revolution of 1917 changed the lives of many artists, for example, landscape painter Konstantin Gorbatov and the wonderful impressionist Konstantin Korovin, they were also forced to emigrate, because they could not fit into the Soviet reality, and did not want to write paintings in the spirit of socialist realism.
The husband of the artist Boris Serebryakov chose quite a down-to-earth profession and became a specialist in the construction of railroads. He often had to travel for work, and after one of these trips he contracted typhus. Very quickly, a fairly young man - he was only 39 - died in his wife's arms.
Portrait of B. A. Serebryakov. Zinaida Yevgenyevna Serebryakova, 1913
The incredibly deep feeling for her husband can be judged by the portrait of Zinaida's brush, which is worthy of great attention. Looking into the depth of pure eyes and facial features of Boris Serebryakov in this work, you can literally feel how sincere and tender were the feelings of his wife.
Zinaida knew for sure that she would never be able to love another as she loved her Boris. The only joy in her life remained her children.
Zinaida Serebryakova. How Binka (Zhenya Serebryakov) fell asleep, 1908
Their own children loving mother depicted on the works incredibly vividly. The painting “So fell asleep Binka (Zhenya Serebryakov)” is worth it. It seems that the boy in the painting is about to turn around, move and yawn sweetly.
In search of a better life, the family was forced to move to Petrograd. Even her grandfather's apartment was now cramped, as Zinaida and her children were given only three rooms, and the rest were allocated to other tenants.
Zinaida's neighbors were the artist Dmitry Bushen and the art historian Sergei Ernst. Life was full of the colors of creativity, except that cutlets made from potato peelings became an everyday dish in the family.
Tata with vegetables. Zinaida Evgenyevna Serebryakova
During this same period, Zinaida often went backstage at the Mariinsky Theatre and painted ballerinas. How light and spiritual they seem in the paintings "Snowflakes. P. I. Tchaikovsky's Ballet "The Nutcracker" and other works of this period.
Snowflakes. Ballet by P. I. Tchaikovsky "The Nutcracker". Zinaida Evgenievna Serebryakova
The artist did almost all her work to order, but she barely had enough money for food. It was during this difficult time that Serebryakova decided to go to Paris to see her uncle Alexander Benois. There, an order for a large panel with a decent fee was supposed to await her.
In the capital of France, there was not as much work as expected. In the evenings, the artist felt incredibly lonely away from her loved ones. There were too many artists there, Maurice Utrillo, Marc Chagall, Pablo Picasso and many other talented painters were working in Paris at that time. Due to the exorbitant competition, the prices for work fell, and besides, the fashion for impressionism, in which the great Edgar Degas and Paul Gauguin painted, had not yet passed, and Serebryakova always worked in the style of realism.
You can feel all her experiences just by looking at the painting "Paris. Luxembourg Garden". The dark tones alone in this work are capable of conveying the emptiness and pain that Serebryakova felt.
Paris. Luxembourg Garden. Zinaida Evgenievna Serebryakova
The fashion for avant-garde deprived the artist of the opportunity to earn a decent living. She sent almost all the proceeds to her family, leaving herself only a little money for food and rent.
Her mood improved a little only after her youngest daughter Katerina and son Sasha were able to move in with their mother. The children helped their mother as best they could, and Sasha even tried to earn money to support the family.
It was then that Serebryakova painted the picture "Terrace in Collioure". This work clearly shows that the artist's state of mind is clearly improving, and she has new hopes.
Terrace in Collioure. Zinaida Evgenievna Serebryakova
The artist's financial situation did not allow her to pay models, so her own children were the models for most of her works. Gradually, her son and daughter began to work. Alexander became a sought-after specialist in the field of creating interiors and theater scenery. Ekaterina tried to actively help her mother, despite her own busy schedule.
The artist managed to visit and work in Morocco, thanks to the help of Baron Brouwer in exchange for the opportunity to receive several works by Serebryakova. Zinaida considered the cycle of works from this period to be one of the most successful.
Moroccan. Zinaida Evgenievna Serebryakova, 1932
Only in the mid-sixties did Serebryakova manage to see her eldest son Evgeny for the first time in decades. During this period, her paintings became of interest in the USSR, and exhibitions were held in the capitals of several republics with great success. Unfortunately, this happened only a year before the talented artist passed away.
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