Many artists addressed the theme of childhood in their work, and they themselves were very wayward children, which, in their opinion, later only helped them become famous masters of the brush. We will talk about the childhood of some famous artists and what influence it had on their work in this article.
Norman Rockwell. Young Golfers.
Salvador Dali was distinguished by his eccentric behavior since childhood. Even his birth was presented in a very peculiar way by his parents. The fact is that Dali had an older brother, who, unfortunately, died of meningitis. His parents were very upset and announced to Dali that he was the reincarnation of his brother, and therefore chose the name Salvador for him, which translated as "Savior".
Salvador Dali. Memories of a Child-Woman
As the artist admitted, he was a very naughty child, often capricious and yet always able to get his own way. But not everything in his childhood was smooth: for some reason he was very afraid of ordinary grasshoppers. About this learned classmates who disliked arrogant and capricious Dali and decided to play a cruel joke on him. They collected a few grasshoppers and threw them in his face. Dali later said that if he had the choice of jumping off the cliff, or enduring the grasshoppers touching him, he would rather jump down. This fear was absurd and unreasonable, and why grasshoppers inspired such terror in him, he never understood throughout his life.
Salvador Dali. The Persistence of Memory
But Dali understood from childhood that being different from everyone else and behaving differently for a true creator is akin to finding a gold mine, even if at first it seemed like a vicious habit and a strange whim.
Salvador Dali. Elephants
American artist Mary Cassatt painted magnificent and very touching paintings reflecting the relationship and deep love between mother and child. Only the artist had no children of her own, and her creativity attracted her more strongly than marriage and family worries. However, Cassatt was not a soulless selfish lady: she loved her relatives and friends very much, diligently took care of her sick mother and sister, even without finding the strength to create.
Mary Cassatt. A Mother's First Caress.
When her younger brother died, she was so upset that she gave up painting for six years. Cassatt later said that only children can be truly spontaneous and sincere, and any adult is prone to posing, and the older they are, the more so.
Mary Cassatt. Mother and Child
Marc Chagall spoke about the day when he first decided to become an artist: “My mother was baking bread in the oven, and I, seeing how she smoothed the dough on a long spatula before lowering it into the oven, for some reason went up to her and categorically declared that I would paint pictures and did not want to do anything else.”
Marc Chagall. Above the City
But studying was not easy for him. At the school of the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts, young Chagall was often criticized, and he could not please his strict teachers. When he heard once again: "What kind of buttock did you draw? And you are a scholarship holder!", Chagall left school forever.
Marc Chagall. Walk
American artist Norman Rockwell was not original and said that as a child he loved to draw most of all. He listened to Dickens's novels, which his father read every night before going to bed, and tried to depict their heroes on paper. Later, his passion for literature allowed him to become an excellent storyteller, only he wrote them not with words, but with paints on his magnificent paintings.
Norman Rockwell. Girl with a Black Eye.
Many of them can easily be used to imagine a whole story, although not always as dark as in the paintings of the Itinerants.
Norman Rockwell. Tom Sawyer Painting a Fence.
American artist Donald Zolan has been painting for many years, painting pictures that simply glow with cuteness and cause an attack of uncontrollable affection in girls and women.
Donald Zolan. Girl with a Kitten
He is a fifth-generation artist, he began drawing at the age of 4, and at 13 he received a scholarship from the Art Institute of Chicago, where he was welcomed with open arms. His childhood was truly happy, perhaps that is why he loves to refer to it in his work to the delight of many viewers.
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