Recently, the Nashchokin House Gallery hosted an exhibition dedicated to the 125th anniversary of the famous artist from the Benois family, Zinaida Serebryakova.
This is amazing, cheerful and powerful, not at all feminine painting. And looking at her, it is completely impossible to guess what difficult fate God has prepared for this amazing woman.

Behind the toilet. Self-portrait.1908-1909. Tretyakov Gallery

I think everyone knows the Benois family, famous in our art.
So the sister of Alexander Nikolaevich Benois - Ekaterina Nikolaevna (she was also a graphic artist) married the sculptor Evgeniy Alexandrovich Lanceray. Evgeniy Aleksandrovich Lansere was the best artist animal painter of his time. I would even say not only mine.
The Lansere family owned the Neskuchnoye estate near Kharkov. And there, on December 10, 1884, their daughter Zinochka, their sixth and last child, was born.
Two sons Evgeniy and Nikolai also became creative personalities. Nikolai became a talented architect, and Evgeniy Evgenievich -

- like my sister, she is an artist. He played an important role in the history of Russian and Soviet art monumental painting and graphics.
When Zinochka was 2 years old, dad died of tuberculosis. And she, her brothers and mother went to St. Petersburg to visit her grandfather. To the big Benoit family.
Children's and teenage years Zinaida Evgenievna passed in St. Petersburg. The architecture and museums of St. Petersburg, and the luxurious park of Tsarskoye Selo, where the family went in the summer, had their influence on the formation of the young artist. Spirit high art reigned in the house. In the Benois and Lancer families, the main meaning of life was service to art. Every day Zina could watch how the adults worked selflessly, painted a lot in watercolors, a technique that everyone in the family mastered.

The girl’s talent developed under the close attention of older family members: her mother and brothers, who were preparing to become professional artists. The entire home environment of the family fostered respect for classical art: grandfather’s stories -

Portrait 1901
Nikolai Leontievich about the Academy of Arts, trips with children to Italy, where they got acquainted with the masterpieces of the Renaissance, visiting museums.

1876-1877: the fountain in front of the facade of the Admiralty, in collaboration with A.R. Geshvend, was made by N.L. Benoit.
In 1900, Zinaida graduated from a women's gymnasium and entered an art school founded by Princess M.K. Tenisheva. In 1903-1905, she was a student of the portrait artist O. E. Braz, who taught to see the “general” when drawing, and not to paint “in parts.” In 1902-1903 she travels to Italy. In 1905-1906 he studied at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris.

Winter in Tsarskoe Selo.
In 1905, in St. Petersburg, S. Diaghilev organized an exhibition of Russian portrait painters. For the first time, the beauty of the art of Rokotov, Levitsky, Borovikovsky, Venetsianov was revealed to the Russian public... Venetsianov's portraits of peasants and the poeticization of peasant labor inspired Zinaida Serebryakova to create her paintings and pushed her to seriously work on portraits.

Self-portrait
Since 1898, Serebryakova spends almost every spring and summer in Neskuchny. The work of young peasant girls in the fields attracts her special attention. Subsequently, this will be reflected more than once in her work.

Harvesting bread
Not far from the Lansere estate, on the other side of the river on a farm, there is the Serebryakovs’ house. Evgeniy Aleksandrovich Lansere’s sister, Zinaida, married Anatoly Serebryakov. Their son Boris Anatolyevich Serebryakov was thus the artist’s first cousin.

WITH childhood Zina and Borya are being raised together. They are nearby both in St. Petersburg and Neskuchny. They love each other, are ready to unite their lives, and their families accept their relationship. But the difficulty is that the church did not encourage marriages of close relatives. In addition, Zinaida is of the Roman Catholic faith, Boris is Orthodox. After long ordeals, trips to Belgorod and Kharkov to see the spiritual authorities, these obstacles were finally removed, and on September 9, 1905 they got married.
Zinaida was passionate about painting, Boris was preparing to become a railway engineer. Both, as they say, doted on each other and made the brightest plans for the future.

Peasant woman with kvass.
After the wedding, the young couple went to Paris. Each of them had special plans connected with this trip. Zinaida attended the Academy de la Grande Chaumiere, where she painted from life, and Boris enrolled in the Higher School of Bridges and Roads as a volunteer.

A year later, full of impressions, the Serebryakovs return home.

In Neskuchny, Zinaida works hard - she writes sketches, portraits and landscapes, and Boris, as a caring and skillful owner, mows reeds, plants apple trees, monitors the cultivation of the land and the harvest, and is interested in photography.

She and Zinaida are very different people, but these differences seem to complement and unite them. And when they are apart (which happens often), Zinaida’s mood deteriorates and her work falls out of her hands.
In 1911, Zinaida Serebryakova joined the newly recreated World of Art association, one of the founders of which was her uncle, Alexander Nikolaevich

Portrait of B. Serebryakov.
Since August 1914, B.A. Serebryakov was the head of the survey party in construction railway Irkutsk - Bodaibo, and later, until 1919, took part in the construction of the Ufa - Orenburg railway. This one in its own way happy marriage brought the spouses four children - sons Zhenya and Shura, daughters Tanya and Katya. (All of them subsequently connected their lives with art, becoming artists, architects, and decorators.) Tatyana Borisovna died in 1989. She was a very interesting theater artist, she taught at the Moscow Academy of Arts in memory of 1905. I knew her. She was a bright, talented artist until her old age with very bright, radiant, black cherry eyes. That's how it is with all her children.

At breakfast
If I had not seen these eyes myself in life, I would not have believed in the portraits of Z. Serebryakova.
Apparently everyone in their family had such eyes.
Serebryakova’s self-portrait (1909, Tretyakov Gallery (it’s above); first shown at a large exhibition organized by the World of Art in 1910) brought wide fame to Serebryakova.

The self-portrait was followed by “Bather” (1911, Russian Museum), a portrait of the artist’s sister

“Ekaterina Evgenievna Lanceray (Zelenkova)” (1913) and a portrait of the artist’s mother “Ekaterina Lanceray” (1912, Russian Museum)

- mature works, solid in composition. She joined the World of Art society in 1911, but differed from the other members of the group in her love for simple subjects, harmony, plasticity and generalizations in her paintings.

Self-portrait. Pierrot 1911
In 1914-1917, the work of Zinaida Serebryakova experienced a period of prosperity. During these years she painted a series of paintings on the themes folk life, peasant work and the Russian village, which was so close to her heart: “Peasants” (1914-1915, Russian Museum).

The most important of these works was “Whitening the Canvas” (1917, State Tretyakov Gallery). The figures of peasant women, captured against the sky, acquire monumentality, emphasized by the low horizon line.

They are all written powerfully, richly, very colorfully. This is the anthem of life.
In 1916, Alexander Benois received an order to paint the Kazan railway station (*) in Moscow; he invited Evgeny Lanceray, Boris Kustodiev, Mstislav Dobuzhinsky and Zinaida Serebryakov to take part in the work. Serebryakova took the theme of the East: India, Japan, Türkiye and Siam are allegorically represented as beauties. At the same time, she is working on a large painting on themes of Slavic mythology, which remains unfinished.

Zinaida met the October Revolution in her native estate Neskuchnoye. Her life suddenly changed.
In 1919, great grief happened to the family - her husband, Boris, died of typhus. At the age of 35, she is left alone with four children and a sick mother without any means of support. Here I cannot help but note that her mother was also left alone with the children at about this age, and both of them, monogamous, continued to be faithful until death to their deceased husbands, who left them so early at such a young age.

Portrait of B.A. Serebryakov. 1908
Hunger. Neskuchny's reserves were plundered. No oil paints- you have to switch to charcoal and pencil. At this time, she draws her most tragic work - House of Cards, showing all four orphaned children.

She refuses to switch to the futuristic style popular with the Soviets or to paint portraits of commissars, but finds work at the Kharkov Archaeological Museum, where she does pencil sketches exhibits. In December 1920, Zinaida moved to Petrograd to her grandfather's apartment. They really only had three rooms left. But fortunately they were filled with relatives and friends.
Daughter Tatyana started studying ballet. Zinaida and her daughter visit the Mariinsky Theater and go behind the scenes. In the theater, the artist constantly painted. Creative communication with ballerinas throughout three years reflected in an amazing series of ballet portraits and compositions.

Ballet restroom. Snowflakes

Portrait of ballerina L.A. Ivanova, 1922.

Katya in a fancy dress at the Christmas tree.


In the same house, on another floor, Alexander Nikolaevich lived with his family, and Zina paints a wonderful portrait of his daughter-in-law with her grandson

Portrait of A.A. Cherkesova-Benoit with her son Alexander.
In the first years after the revolution, lively exhibition activity began in the country. Serebryakova took part in several exhibitions in Petrograd. And in 1924 she became an exhibitor at a large exhibition of Russian visual arts in America, which was established for the purpose of financial assistance to artists. Of the 14 works presented by Zinaida Evgenievna, two were sold immediately. Using the proceeds, she, burdened with worries about her family, decides to travel abroad to organize an exhibition and receive orders. Alexander Nikolaevich Benois advised her to go to France, hoping that her art would be in demand abroad and she would be able to improve her financial situation. At the beginning of September 1924, Serebryakova left for Paris with her two children, Sasha and Katya, who were fond of painting. She left her mother with Tanya, who was fond of ballet, and Zhenya, who decided to become an architect, in Leningrad, hoping to earn money in Paris and return to them.
In the first years of her Parisian life, Zinaida Evgenievna experiences great difficulties: there is not enough money even for necessary expenses. Konstantin Somov, who helped her receive orders for portraits, writes about her situation: “There are no orders. There is poverty at home... Zina sends almost everything home... She is impractical, makes many portraits for nothing for the promise of advertising her, but all the while receiving wonderful things, she is forgotten..."
In Paris, Serebryakova lives alone, goes nowhere except museums, and really misses her children. All the years of emigration, Zinaida Evgenievna writes tender letters to her children and mother, who always spiritually supported her. She lived at this time on a Nansen passport and only in 1947 received French citizenship.

Tanya and Katya. girls at the piano 1922.

self-portrait with daughters 1921.

Zhenya 1907

Zhenya 1909
Zinaida travels a lot. In 1928 and 1930 he travels to Africa and visits Morocco. The nature of Africa amazes her; she draws the Atlas Mountains, Arab women, Africans in bright turbans. She also paints a series of paintings dedicated to the fishermen of Brittany.

Marrakesh. Walls and Towers of the city.


Moroccan woman in a pink dress.

Marokesh. Pensive man.

During the Khrushchev Thaw, contacts with Serebryakova were allowed. In 1960, after 36 years of separation, her daughter Tatyana (Tata), who became a theater artist at the Moscow Art Theater, visited her. In 1966, large exhibitions of Serebryakova's works were shown in Moscow, Leningrad and Kyiv. Suddenly she becomes popular in Russia, her albums are printed in millions of copies, and her paintings are compared to Botticelli and Renoir. The children called her to return to Russia. However, Serebryakova finds it inappropriate to burden children and loved ones with worries about themselves at such an advanced age (80 years old). In addition, she understands that she will no longer be able to work fruitfully in her homeland, where her best works were created.
On September 19, 1967, Zinaida Serebryakova died in Paris at the age of 82. She was buried in the cemetery of Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois.
Serebryakova's children are Evgeny Borisovich Serebryakov (1906-1991), Alexander Borisovich Serebryakov (1907-1995), Tatyana Borisovna Serebryakova (1912-1989), Ekaterina Borisovna Serebryakova (1913- ____).

In October 2007, the Russian Museum hosted a personal exhibition “Zinaida Serebryakova. Nudes"
For me, this is a completely separate topic in her work. She writes and draws nudes so powerfully and sensually, completely unfeminine. female body. I don't know another woman artist like her.
One of her most famous from this series:

Bathhouse.

"Bath". 1926

Reclining nude.

And now we just admire her paintings:

Still life with a jug.

Self-portrait.

Self-portrait with scarf 1911.

Serebryakov Boris Anatolievich.

Lansere Olga Konstantivna.

In the kitchen. Portrait of Katya.

Portrait of S.R. Ernst. 1921

Self-portrait with a brush, 1924.

Old lady in a cap. Brittany

Self-Portrait (1922).

Self-Portrait (1946).

Benois Alexander Nikolaevich (1924).

Balanchine George (in costume as Bacchus, 1922).

Benois-Clément Elena Alexandrovna (Elena Braslavskaya, 1934).

Lola Braz (1910).

Scenery. The village of Neskuchnoye, Kursk province.

Paris. Luxembourg Garden.

Menton. View of the city from the harbor.

Menton. Velan Ida (portrait of a lady with a dog, 1926).

HER. Lancer in a hat 1915.

Lifar Sergey Mikhailovich (1961).

Lukomskaya S.A. (1948).

Well, many of you see this all the time

(girl with a candle, self-portrait, 1911).
Also tell me that you don’t know such an artist. After all, every day our Zina reminds us of her :)):)
And finally

Yusupov Felix Feliksovich (prince, 1925).

Yusupova Irina Alexandrovna (princess, 1925).

Original taken from aldusku in Blue Express of Zinaida Serebryakova's creativity

Yesterday I managed to jump into the last carriage of the departing train of the retrospective exhibition of Zinaida Serebryakova, which carried through the Engineering Building of the Tretyakov Gallery. Stages flashed outside the window creative life great artist from youthful drawings made in the estate in Neskuchny to the majestic panels for the Belgian villa Manoir du Relay in Pomreille. Taking into account the huge distance, an express ticket was inexpensive - 600 rubles. Attentive conductors did not allow vacationers to capture the wonderful moment in a photo.

It's a pity that photography was prohibited. A wonderful catalog album was released for the exhibition (a must-purchase!) and 4 more were offered, but... printing inks cannot convey the full flavor of Serebryakova. For example, the canonical work - “Behind the toilet. Self-portrait" 1909, which I began to look at in deep childhood on a postage stamp, turned out to be very light, simply shining with the whiteness of January frost (and not at all the dirty gray-white color of melting March snow from Levitan’s landscapes). I was surprised to discover that almost all reproductions truncate the painting - the mirror frame is cut off (giving the effect of a painting within a painting), and the only element that is reflected and makes it clear that we are seeing only the artist’s reflection is the candlestick (only its reflection is left).

It was a revelation to me how amazing and diverse the artist’s world is. Landscapes from the bright Little Russian hinterland to dark gray Paris, portraits from a Kharkov peasant to a Moroccan odalisque. And of course, portraits of people surrounding Zinaida Evgenievna are great cultural figures for us. It is interesting to observe the transformation of the artist’s creativity and personality. At first, leading a closed lifestyle in the Neskuchny estate - self-portraits, from the moment of marriage, portraits of her husband and children were added. And then... the revolution, the death of her husband, separation from her children, a foreign land - painfully expanded the range of the artist’s creative interests.

Our heroine is from the super-talented Benois-Lancer family. The only non-artist from this family is her husband, Boris Anatolyevich Serebryakov, who is also her cousin, who chose the fate of a railway worker. He died early, in 1919 in Kharkov from typhus. And she left the children and went to Paris. A lot has been written about the artist’s suffering in a foreign land and her painful break with her children. In my opinion, this was a conscious and rather selfish choice. Zinaida Evgenievna’s character was not sweet, what is worth is the way she threw mud at her financial patron, philanthropist Baron J.-A. Brouener.

Most of all I liked the work "At breakfast". 1914 (Tretyakov Gallery, acquired in 1955 from the collection of L.A. Ruslanova). It has everything: an incredibly beautiful blue color, and a combination of Van Gogh’s yellow (the whole picture is variety of blue color with egg yellow jug, soup, buns, napkin holders, stove valve). The bright-dark, piercing eyes of children are as if from icons. You can see a lot of everyday life: the character of the son Evgeniy (the future architect and restorer) is depicted melancholic in the background, emphatically similar to his father.

A big discovery for me was that portraits of loved ones and self-portraits are quite far from reality. Towards idealization. As for depicting yourself, all you have to do is take photos and everything becomes obvious. As my beloved said, Zinaida Evgenievna did not offend herself... This also applies to friends. For example, the author of the first study on Serebryakova’s work, her friend Sergei Rostislavovich Ernst, turned from a plump, red-cheeked Vologda youth into a thin aristocrat with sharp, angular features. Descriptions of Ernst’s appearance are found in many figures of the Silver Age, but I took it from the founder, a member Mug for lovers of fine publications Weiner P.P.

I was surprised to see a whole series dedicated to ballet. Some things are very consonant with Degas (I forgot to note that in the early Little Russian landscapes I could see bright traces of the Impressionists). Remember: gentle work: “Sylph girls. Ballet "Chopiniana" And bright blue portrait of the greatest theater artist and bibliophile Serge Lifar .

Sketches for the design of the Kazansky railway station restaurant in Moscow take us to the fabulous world of the East. They are reminiscent of the works of Pavel Varfolomeevich Kuznetsov (1878–1968), a member of the “World of Art”.

"The Peasant Cycle" made an impression. Its bright, piercing colors bring to mind both the Renaissance and iconography. I was familiar with this side of Serebryakova’s work only from the series of postcards “Types of Peasants of the Kursk Province,” published by the Community of St. Eugenia. I remember the works of Pieter Bruegel the Elder.

Posed for many paintings carpenter Ignat Dmitrievich Golubev, working on an estate in Neskuchny. This is how a simple peasant went down in history, outdoing the number of portraits of Serebryakova’s famous contemporaries. And the female characters were painted from Pelageya Grechkina.

Separately, I would like to highlight Serebryakova’s passion for the color blue. The infinity of shades of blue can be seen in the works only when seen in person.

Half of Zinaida Evgenievna’s works are one-fourth unfinished; there is space left unfilled with paints or tempera on the canvases. In many portraits, the background is written only in the head area to add volume and better color rendition. In some works this gives the effect of incompleteness and understatement.

I will conclude my note by continuing the analogy with the train. In Paris, where our heroine lived most of her life, there is the Lyon Station, where the famous “Blue Express” (Le Train Bleu) arrives. A deep blue high-speed train consisting of 12 luxury carriages transporting aristocrats from the Cote d'Azur to the English Channel on the South African Railway. At the beginning of the 20th century, it became a symbol of luxury and gave the name to the famous restaurant at this station. The interior of the favorite restaurant of K. Chanel and L. Besson is full of gold, beautiful picturesque landscapes and blue color. But despite the grandeur and aristocracy, it remains a restaurant at the station, and here ladies in expensive evening dresses coexist with dark-skinned residents of former French colonies running in in tracksuits. So in Serebryakova’s work, ordinary peasants suddenly find themselves accidentally against the backdrop of the deep blue Renaissance, the great is combined with the small, the Russian soul with the African heat...

When posting electronic reprints of Serebryakova’s paintings here, I was guided not by chronology or anything else, but solely by my own preferences. At the end of the note: preface to the exhibition and in the form of a separate note, a chronicle of the life and work of Zinaida Serebryakova (did not fit :)).

I would also like to draw your attention to the wonderful reviews of this exhibition by my LiveJournal friends: galik-123 And pro100-mica

House of the Lansere family in Neskuchny. 1904. Paper, watercolor, graphite pencil. 24.1x33.5 (timing)

In the workshop of O.E. Braza. 1904. Paper, gouache, graphite and charcoal pencils. 43.5 x 31.5. Tretyakov Gallery

...You are asking about my studies in O.E.’s workshop. Braza? Actually, he did not have a teaching system - everyone drew or wrote as anyone wanted, the model was always female - there were more female students than students. Osip Emmanuilovich appeared quite rarely in the studio himself, busy with his own orders (he painted, for example, in a neighboring studio a portrait of Maria Nikolaevna Kuznetsova, artist, singer Mariinsky Theater). Yes, I remembered valuable advice It is important for all his students to see the “general” when drawing, and not draw in “parts”.

Z.E. Serebryakova - A.N. Savinov. Paris, 01/08/1965 // Serebryakova. Letters. P. 207

Plowing. Not boring. 1908 Paper, tempera. 42 x 56. Graphite pencil. Private collection, London

House in the village of Neskuchny. 1919. Paper, gouache, tempera. 49.8x64 GTG

Cypress trees in Crimea. 1911. Paper, tempera. 43.3 x 43.5 GTG.

Self-portrait. 1906. Oil on canvas. 69.5 x 6. Private collection, Moscow

Behind the toilet. Self-portrait. 1909. Oil on canvas on cardboard. 75 x 65. Tretyakov Gallery

Sketch of a girl. Self-portrait. 1911. Oil on canvas. 72x58.5. Timing belt SPb.

At breakfast. 1914. Oil on canvas. 88.5x107 (Tretyakov Gallery, acquired in 1955. Previously was in the collection of L.A. Ruslanova)

Portrait of E.E. Lancer in a hat. 1915. Paper, tempera. 33 x 22. Private collection, Moscow

Depicted is Evgeny Evgenievich Lansere (1875–1946), elder brother of Z.E. Serebryakova, graphic artist and painter, master of monumental painting.

He was a member of the World of Art and an active participant in the association’s exhibitions. Worked on illustrations for stories by L.N. Tolstoy "Hadji Murat" and "Cossacks". He traveled throughout Europe several times, visited Siberia, Manchuria and Japan. In 1914 he was on the Caucasian front as a war correspondent. Worked in Dagestan, Chechnya (1912–1919).

In 1922-1929 he traveled through Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and mountainous Dagestan, worked in Zangezur, Svaneti, and Dagestan. Visited Turkey. In 1927, on instructions from the People's Commissariat of Education of Georgia, he was sent to Paris. Lived in Tbilisi (1920-1934), taught at the Academy of Arts in Georgia. Since 1934 he lived in Moscow. Executed painting the hall of the Kazansky railway station restaurant in Moscow. Head of the monumental workshop of the All-Russian Academy of Arts, professor. Honored Artist of the Georgian SSR, People's Artist of the RSFSR.

Bather. 1911. [Portrait of a sister - Ekaterina Zelenkova]. Host, oil. 103.5x89.5. Timing belt SPb.

Children in the meadow (Zhenya and Shura). 1909. Paper, tempera. 39x48 Private collection, Moscow

Shura sleeps under a patchwork blanket. 1908. Paper, tempera. 23 x 33.5 Private collection, Moscow

Family portrait. (In Benoit's house). 1914 Paper, tempera, gouache, whitewash. 34.3 x 46.3. Collection KGallery, St. Petersburg

Peasant woman with kvass. (Pelageya Grechkina). 1914. Oil on canvas. 87x73. Nizhny Novgorod GKhM

Portrait of I.D. Golubeva. 1914. State Russian Museum

Ignat Dmitrievich Golubev worked as a carpenter for Serebryakov. He is depicted in the painting “Peasants”, 1914. When my mother first saw a postcard from this work, she exclaimed: “Yes, this is my father!” And she told us that he was very similar. For the Serebryakovs, the grandfather worked not only as a carpenter - he was a “jack of all trades,” obedient, and efficient. He was highly valued, they treated him well, he was a joke, he was smart, talented...

Fedorenko E.G. Family Z.E. Serebryakova // Serebryakova. Letters. P. 232.

Portrait of S.R. Ernst. 1921. Oil on canvas. 81x72. Nizhny Novgorod GKhM

Portrait of S.R. Ernst. 1922 Paper, tempera. 64 x 47.5. Pencil. timing belt

Portrait of the artist Bouchain in fancy dress. 1922. Paper, pastel. 64x45. Tretyakov Gallery

Pictured Dmitry Dmitrievich Bushen (1893–1993), painter, graphic artist, set designer. A descendant of the Huguenots who settled in Russia during the reign of Catherine II. Born in France, where his mother was treated for tuberculosis. After the early death of his mother (1895), he was transported to St. Petersburg and raised in the family of his aunt, E.D. Kuzmina-Karavaeva (nee Bushen). In 1912 he graduated from the 2nd St. Petersburg Gymnasium. He went to Paris, attended the Ranson Academy and met M. Denis and A. Matisse. In 1913 he entered the Faculty of History and Philology of St. Petersburg University. During my studies I met the future art critic S.R. Ernst, who until the end of his days was his closest friend. I met the artists of the World of Art society. Was friendly with A.A. Akhmatova and N.S. Gumilev. Simultaneously with his studies at the university, he studied at the Drawing School of the College of Arts, where he attracted the attention of the school director N.K. Roerich.

In 1915-1917 he worked as an assistant curator of the Museum of the OPH.

In 1918-1925 he worked as a junior custodian of the State Archive in the department of porcelain and jewelry.

During the years of the revolution, he was patronized by A.N. Benoit. Together with S.R. Ernst occupied a room in the Serebryakov apartment in the Benoit family house. He created bookplates and designed books for the Aquilon publishing house: “Three Stories” by A. de Regnier (1922), “Venetian Glass” by A.N. Cuba (1923) and “On Bronze” by P.P. Weiner (1923). In 1925 he settled in Paris. All subsequent years he painted small-format paintings in pastel and gouache: flowers, still lifes, landscapes of France, Italian cities, especially Venice, scenes from the life of the theater and circus. In the late 1920s, he developed fabric designs and clothing models for the French fashion houses of Patou. Ricci Lanvan and Lelong. Created costume designs for Anna Pavlova and Ida Rubinstein. From the mid-1930s, he devoted his main attention to work in the theater. In 1977 he illustrated the French edition of “Poem without a Hero” by A.A. Akhmatova.

I couldn’t resist: a photo of the joint grave of Dmitry Bushen and Sergei Ernst. Inscription below: “WHAT A JOY YOU HAVE COME.” Montparnasse cemetery..

Evgeny Isidorovich Zolotarevsky (1908-1967), decorative artist, son of the sculptor Isidor Samoilovich Zolotarevsky (1885-1961) and Fanny Solomonovna (nee Bronstein, cousin of L.D. Trotsky).

I.S. Zolotarevsky, famous death mask S.A. Yesenin, invented the technique of facsimile reproduction of sculpture and came up with the idea of ​​​​creating museum “stations” throughout the country, which, like electric light, “will dispel the darkness of ignorance among the broad masses.” He brought this idea to life by creating a workshop in his apartment for making copies and distributing them throughout various regions of the country.

I.S. Zolotarevsky was close to the artists of the World of Art; his portrait was painted in 1922 by B.M. Kustodiev (GRM). His 14-room apartment on Bolshaya Morskaya with a large number of antique collections resembled a palazzo, according to A.A. Osmerkin, who visited him in 1927. It was in this environment that Z.E. was written. Serebryakova’s portrait of his son Evgeniy, whose image is reminiscent of images of young men of the Italian Renaissance.

Portrait of M.A. Troinitskaya. 1924. Oil on canvas. 75 x 65. Timing belt

Marfa Andreevna Troinitskaya (nee Panchenko, 1889–1942?), first married to the artist S.P. Yaremich, by his second marriage - wife S.N. Troinitsky, art critic, director of the State University (1918–1927).

Girls at the piano. 1922. Oil on canvas. 96x68. Private collection. Moscow

Blue ballerinas. 1922. Paper, pastel. 63x48. timing belt

Sylph girls. Ballet "Chopiniana". 1924 Oil on canvas. 82.5 x 103 GTG

Paris. View of the embankment. Mid-1920s Gouache on paper. 45 x 58 Private collection, Paris

Alexander Alexandrovich Popov (1880-1964), a career officer in the Russian Imperial Army, emigrated to France in 1919. In 1920 he opened the antique gallery Popoff & Co. in Paris. The largest collector of Russian art in France, the owner of one of the most significant collections of Russian porcelain located outside of Russia, an expert in Russian watercolors of Pushkin's time. Beginning in the 1930s, his clients included members of the British royal family, as well as G. Agnelli, M.L. Rostropovich and L. Bernstein. Popov communicated closely with representatives of the Russian emigration, among whom were Z.E. Serebryakova, K.A. Korovin, Yu.P. Annenkov, F.A. Malyavin, K.A. Somov and others. The works of these artists were exhibited in his gallery.

In 1935 the gallery was awarded the first honorary Grand Prix of Paris for highest quality exhibited works.

After Popov's death, his gallery was acquired by the family of hereditary French antiquarians Baruch, who retained the famous former name of the gallery and continued to collect, study and show Russian art. A significant part of the collection - watercolors and drawings by artists of Pushkin's era - was presented in 1999 at the State Mining Museum at the exhibition “Contemporaries of Pushkin. 100 watercolor portraits from the Paris collection In 2008, the catalog “Masterpieces of Russian Porcelain of the 18th Century from the Collection of the Popov and Co. Gallery” was published. In 2009 auction house Christie's held an auction of the Russian collection: the Popov and Co. galleries.

Portrait of S.M. Lifar. 1961 Oil on paper. 71.8 x 58. Collection of A.N. Volodchinsky, Moscow

Lately I’ve had several “sessions”: I made 2 sketches of Sergei Mikhailovich Lifar, who kindly agreed to pose for me. I painted it in oil on paper. He is an interesting person, who has seen a lot and traveled a lot around the world...<...>Most of all, he and I talked about Pushkin - after all, he has in his collection genuine letters from Pushkin to Natalya N. Goncharova! He himself published a book with the full text of these letters, organized the Pushkin exhibition here in 1937, and then the Lermontov exhibition...

Z.E. Serebryakova - T.B. Serebryakova. Paris, 12/23/1961 // Serebryakova. Letters. P. 175.

Menton. Beach. 1931. Paper, tempera, varnish. 43x59. Tretyakov Gallery

View of the port. Collioure. 1930 Paper, gouache. 43x60. Private collection, Paris

Reclining odalisque in a blue blanket. 1932 Paper, pastel. 48x63. Fondation Serebriakoff, Paris

Jurisprudence. 1936-1937 Oil on canvas. 165x100. Part of a panel for the Belgian villa Manoir du Relay in Pomreuil. Customer: Baron J.-A. Brouener. Gallery "Triumph", Moscow

San Gimignano. 1937 Paper, gouache. 40 x 60. Private collection, Paris

Assisi. 1932 Paper, gouache. 44 x 60. Private collection, Paris

Boboli Garden. Florence. 1932 Paper, tempera. 42 x 57. Private collection, Paris

About the exhibition (text by curators)

2017 marks the 50th anniversary of the death of Zinaida Serebryakova (1884–1967) and marks the centenary of the revolutionary events of 1917 - the time when the fate of Serebryakova, like many, many people, tragically changed. An exhibition of the artist’s works at the Tretyakov Gallery and an accompanying publication are dedicated to these dates.

The first major monographic exhibition of Serebryakova was prepared by the Tretyakov Gallery in 1986. In 2013, the Gallery hosted an exhibition of the Parisian heritage of Zinaida Evgenievna, as well as the works of her children, Alexander and Catherine, entirely composed of works stored in French collections. The current retrospective is the most complete display of Serebryakova's work over the past 30 years, which focuses on the most vibrant, Russian period of her work.

This exhibition includes more than 220 works of painting and graphics from museum and private collections. Presented are Serebryakova’s earliest, almost childish works, performed in Benois’s house, during her travels abroad, and in O.E.’s studio. Braz and the Parisian Académie de la Grande Chaumiere, which help trace the formation and development of the talent of the representative of the Benois artistic family - Lanseray.

A special place is given to portraits - the main genre in Serebryakova’s work. These works, depicting close family and friends, were not created to order and retain the warmth of a home environment. Children's portraits, as well as scenes of family life, are presented separately. Painted in tempera and pastel, these quick sketches vividly convey the atmosphere of the Serebryakovs’ house.

A significant place among the works of the Russian period is given to landscape. In her images of Neskuchny, painted primarily in tempera, the artist strives for pictorial completeness and an epic sound of the images. The same features are inherent in the landscapes of Crimea and Tsarskoye Selo.

The peasant theme is represented by portrait sketches, studies, sketches and paintings “Bath”, “Harvest”, “Whitening the Canvas”.

Special sections include sketches of monumental murals to the Kazansky railway station in Moscow and a series of paintings revealing the behind-the-scenes world of the Mariinsky Theater.

Works from the Parisian period were selected French collections. None of them repeat the previous show at the 2013 exhibition. These works are being exhibited in Russia for the first time. Also for the first time, decorative panels of the villa of J.-A. are presented to the Moscow viewer. de Brouwer, who were long considered dead during the Second World War. Discovered in the 1990s, they were brought to Russia, restored and exhibited at the State Russian Museum in 2007.

The works are grouped according to thematic and chronological principles and correlated with the stages of the artist’s life. Each section is accompanied by fragments of art historical texts and memoirs of people who came into close contact with Serebryakova’s art and retained vivid memories of her personality. These quotes allow us to compare the current perception of Serebryakova’s works with the perception of her contemporaries, help to better understand her worldview, and identify artistic preferences and character traits. The exhibition aims to show the artist’s art through the prism of the life around her, thereby affirming the importance of nature in her artistic development. “I had neither then (nor now) “certain ideological quests,” and you are right that my stay in Neskuchny allowed me to see the topic that excited me - painting peasants and being carried away by their images...”- Serebryakova wrote.

I already made a post about . But in connection with the exhibition currently taking place at the Nashchokin House Gallery dedicated to its 125th anniversary, I cannot help but rewrite it.
Because this exhibition is not enough for me. It's a pathetic distillation of her work. And I love her no less than Valentina Serova. This is amazing, cheerful and powerful, not at all feminine painting. And looking at her, it is completely impossible to guess what difficult fate God has prepared for this amazing woman.

Behind the toilet. Self-portrait.1908-1909. Tretyakov Gallery

I think everyone knows the Benois family, famous in our art.
So the sister of Alexander Nikolaevich Benois - Ekaterina Nikolaevna (she was also a graphic artist) married the sculptor Evgeniy Alexandrovich Lanceray. Evgeny Aleksandrovich Lanceray was the best animal artist of his time. I would even say not only mine.
The Lansere family owned the Neskuchnoye estate near Kharkov. And there, on December 10, 1884, their daughter Zinochka, their sixth and last child, was born.
Two sons Evgeniy and Nikolai also became creative personalities. Nikolai became a talented architect, and Evgeniy Evgenievich -

- like my sister, she is an artist. He played an important role in the history of Russian and Soviet art of monumental painting and graphics.
When Zinochka was 2 years old, dad died of tuberculosis. And she, her brothers and mother went to St. Petersburg to visit her grandfather. To the big Benoit family.
Zinaida Evgenievna spent her childhood and teenage years in St. Petersburg. The architecture and museums of St. Petersburg, and the luxurious park of Tsarskoye Selo, where the family went in the summer, had their influence on the formation of the young artist. The spirit of high art reigned in the house. In the Benois and Lancer families, the main meaning of life was service to art. Every day Zina could watch how the adults worked selflessly, painted a lot in watercolors, a technique that everyone in the family mastered.

The girl’s talent developed under the close attention of older family members: her mother and brothers, who were preparing to become professional artists. The entire home environment of the family fostered respect for classical art: grandfather’s stories -

Portrait 1901
Nikolai Leontievich about the Academy of Arts, trips with children to Italy, where they got acquainted with the masterpieces of the Renaissance, visiting museums.

1876-1877: the fountain in front of the facade of the Admiralty, in collaboration with A.R. Geshvend, was made by N.L. Benoit.
In 1900, Zinaida graduated from a women's gymnasium and entered an art school founded by Princess M.K. Tenisheva. In 1903-1905, she was a student of the portrait artist O. E. Braz, who taught to see the “general” when drawing, and not to paint “in parts.” In 1902-1903 she travels to Italy. In 1905-1906 he studied at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris.

Winter in Tsarskoe Selo.
In 1905, in St. Petersburg, S. Diaghilev organized an exhibition of Russian portrait painters. For the first time, the beauty of the art of Rokotov, Levitsky, Borovikovsky, Venetsianov was revealed to the Russian public... Venetsianov's portraits of peasants and the poeticization of peasant labor inspired Zinaida Serebryakova to create her paintings and pushed her to seriously work on portraits.

Self-portrait
Since 1898, Serebryakova spends almost every spring and summer in Neskuchny. The work of young peasant girls in the fields attracts her special attention. Subsequently, this will be reflected more than once in her work.

Harvesting bread
Not far from the Lansere estate, on the other side of the river on a farm, there is the Serebryakovs’ house. Evgeniy Aleksandrovich Lansere’s sister, Zinaida, married Anatoly Serebryakov. Their son Boris Anatolyevich Serebryakov was thus the artist’s first cousin.

Since childhood, Zina and Borya have been raised together. They are nearby both in St. Petersburg and Neskuchny. They love each other, are ready to unite their lives, and their families accept their relationship. But the difficulty is that the church did not encourage marriages of close relatives. In addition, Zinaida is of the Roman Catholic faith, Boris is Orthodox. After long ordeals, trips to Belgorod and Kharkov to see the spiritual authorities, these obstacles were finally removed, and on September 9, 1905 they got married.
Zinaida was passionate about painting, Boris was preparing to become a railway engineer. Both, as they say, doted on each other and made the brightest plans for the future.

Peasant woman with kvass.
After the wedding, the young couple went to Paris. Each of them had special plans connected with this trip. Zinaida attended the Academy de la Grande Chaumiere, where she painted from life, and Boris enrolled in the Higher School of Bridges and Roads as a volunteer.

A year later, full of impressions, the Serebryakovs return home.

In Neskuchny, Zinaida works hard - she writes sketches, portraits and landscapes, and Boris, as a caring and skillful owner, mows reeds, plants apple trees, monitors the cultivation of the land and the harvest, and is interested in photography.

She and Zinaida are very different people, but these differences seem to complement and unite them. And when they are apart (which happens often), Zinaida’s mood deteriorates and her work falls out of her hands.
In 1911, Zinaida Serebryakova joined the newly recreated World of Art association, one of the founders of which was her uncle, Alexander Nikolaevich

Portrait of B. Serebryakov.
Since August 1914, B.A. Serebryakov was the head of the survey party for the construction of the Irkutsk - Bodaibo railway, and later, until 1919, he took part in the construction of the Ufa - Orenburg railway. This happy marriage, in its own way, brought the couple four children - sons Zhenya and Shura, daughters Tanya and Katya. (All of them subsequently connected their lives with art, becoming artists, architects, and decorators.) Tatyana Borisovna died in 1989. She was a very interesting theater artist, she taught at the Moscow Academy of Arts in memory of 1905. I knew her. She was a bright, talented artist until her old age with very bright, radiant, black cherry eyes. That's how it is with all her children.

At breakfast
If I had not seen these eyes myself in life, I would not have believed in the portraits of Z. Serebryakova.
Apparently everyone in their family had such eyes.
Serebryakova’s self-portrait (1909, Tretyakov Gallery (it’s above); first shown at a large exhibition organized by the World of Art in 1910) brought wide fame to Serebryakova.

The self-portrait was followed by “Bather” (1911, Russian Museum), a portrait of the artist’s sister

“Ekaterina Evgenievna Lanceray (Zelenkova)” (1913) and a portrait of the artist’s mother “Ekaterina Lanceray” (1912, Russian Museum)

- mature works, solid in composition. She joined the World of Art society in 1911, but differed from the other members of the group in her love for simple subjects, harmony, plasticity and generalizations in her paintings.

Self-portrait. Pierrot 1911
In 1914-1917, the work of Zinaida Serebryakova experienced a period of prosperity. During these years, she painted a series of paintings on the themes of folk life, peasant work and the Russian village, which was so close to her heart: “Peasants” (1914-1915, Russian Museum).

The most important of these works was “Whitening the Canvas” (1917, State Tretyakov Gallery). The figures of peasant women, captured against the sky, acquire monumentality, emphasized by the low horizon line.

They are all written powerfully, richly, very colorfully. This is the anthem of life.
In 1916, Alexander Benois received an order to paint the Kazan railway station (*) in Moscow; he invited Evgeny Lanceray, Boris Kustodiev, Mstislav Dobuzhinsky and Zinaida Serebryakov to take part in the work. Serebryakova took the theme of the East: India, Japan, Türkiye and Siam are allegorically represented as beauties. At the same time, she is working on a large painting on themes of Slavic mythology, which remains unfinished.

Zinaida met the October Revolution in her native estate Neskuchnoye. Her life suddenly changed.
In 1919, great grief happened to the family - her husband, Boris, died of typhus. At the age of 35, she is left alone with four children and a sick mother without any means of support. Here I cannot help but note that her mother was also left alone with the children at about this age, and both of them, monogamous, continued to be faithful until death to their deceased husbands, who left them so early at such a young age.

Portrait of B.A. Serebryakov. 1908
Hunger. Neskuchny's reserves were plundered. There are no oil paints - you have to switch to charcoal and pencil. At this time, she draws her most tragic work - House of Cards, showing all four orphaned children.

She refuses to switch to the futuristic style popular with the Soviets or to draw portraits of commissars, but finds work at the Kharkov Archaeological Museum, where she makes pencil sketches of exhibits. In December 1920, Zinaida moved to Petrograd to her grandfather's apartment. They really only had three rooms left. But fortunately they were filled with relatives and friends.
Daughter Tatyana started studying ballet. Zinaida and her daughter visit the Mariinsky Theater and go behind the scenes. In the theater, the artist constantly painted. Creative communication with ballerinas over three years was reflected in an amazing series of ballet portraits and compositions.

Ballet restroom. Snowflakes

Portrait of ballerina L.A. Ivanova, 1922.

Katya in a fancy dress at the Christmas tree.


In the same house, on another floor, Alexander Nikolaevich lived with his family, and Zina paints a wonderful portrait of his daughter-in-law with her grandson

Portrait of A.A. Cherkesova-Benoit with her son Alexander.
In the first years after the revolution, lively exhibition activity began in the country. Serebryakova took part in several exhibitions in Petrograd. And in 1924, she became an exhibitor at a large exhibition of Russian fine art in America, which was organized with the aim of providing financial assistance to artists. Of the 14 works presented by Zinaida Evgenievna, two were sold immediately. Using the proceeds, she, burdened with worries about her family, decides to travel abroad to organize an exhibition and receive orders. Alexander Nikolaevich Benois advised her to go to France, hoping that her art would be in demand abroad and she would be able to improve her financial situation. At the beginning of September 1924, Serebryakova left for Paris with her two children, Sasha and Katya, who were fond of painting. She left her mother with Tanya, who was fond of ballet, and Zhenya, who decided to become an architect, in Leningrad, hoping to earn money in Paris and return to them.
In the first years of her life in Paris, Zinaida Evgenievna experiences great difficulties: there is not enough money even for necessary expenses. Konstantin Somov, who helped her receive orders for portraits, writes about her situation: “There are no orders. There is poverty at home... Zina sends almost everything home... She is impractical, makes many portraits for nothing for the promise of advertising her, but all the while receiving wonderful things, she is forgotten..."
In Paris, Serebryakova lives alone, goes nowhere except museums, and really misses her children. All the years of emigration, Zinaida Evgenievna writes tender letters to her children and mother, who always spiritually supported her. She lived at this time on a Nansen passport and only in 1947 received French citizenship.

Tanya and Katya. girls at the piano 1922.

self-portrait with daughters 1921.

Zhenya 1907

Zhenya 1909
Zinaida travels a lot. In 1928 and 1930 he travels to Africa and visits Morocco. The nature of Africa amazes her; she draws the Atlas Mountains, Arab women, Africans in bright turbans. She also paints a series of paintings dedicated to the fishermen of Brittany.

Marrakesh. Walls and Towers of the city.


Moroccan woman in a pink dress.

Marokesh. Pensive man.

During the Khrushchev Thaw, contacts with Serebryakova were allowed. In 1960, after 36 years of separation, her daughter Tatyana (Tata), who became a theater artist at the Moscow Art Theater, visited her. In 1966, large exhibitions of Serebryakova's works were shown in Moscow, Leningrad and Kyiv. Suddenly she becomes popular in Russia, her albums are printed in millions of copies, and her paintings are compared to Botticelli and Renoir. The children called her to return to Russia. However, Serebryakova finds it inappropriate to burden children and loved ones with worries about themselves at such an advanced age (80 years old). In addition, she understands that she will no longer be able to work fruitfully in her homeland, where her best works were created.
On September 19, 1967, Zinaida Serebryakova died in Paris at the age of 82. She was buried in the cemetery of Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois.
Serebryakova's children are Evgeny Borisovich Serebryakov (1906-1991), Alexander Borisovich Serebryakov (1907-1995), Tatyana Borisovna Serebryakova (1912-1989), Ekaterina Borisovna Serebryakova (1913- ____).

In October 2007, the Russian Museum hosted a personal exhibition “Zinaida Serebryakova. Nudes"
For me, this is a completely separate topic in her work. She writes and draws the naked female body so powerfully and sensually, in a completely unfeminine way. I don't know another woman artist like her.
One of her most famous from this series:

Bathhouse.

"Bath". 1926

Reclining nude.

And now we just admire her paintings:

Still life with a jug.

Self-portrait.

Self-portrait with scarf 1911.

Serebryakov Boris Anatolievich.

Lansere Olga Konstantivna.

In the kitchen. Portrait of Katya.

Portrait of S.R. Ernst. 1921

Self-portrait with a brush, 1924.

Old lady in a cap. Brittany

Self-Portrait (1922).

Self-Portrait (1946).

Benois Alexander Nikolaevich (1924).

Balanchine George (in costume as Bacchus, 1922).

Benois-Clément Elena Alexandrovna (Elena Braslavskaya, 1934).

Lola Braz (1910).

Scenery. The village of Neskuchnoye, Kursk province.

Paris. Luxembourg Garden.

Menton. View of the city from the harbor.

Menton. Velan Ida (portrait of a lady with a dog, 1926).

HER. Lancer in a hat 1915.

Lifar Sergey Mikhailovich (1961).

Lukomskaya S.A. (1948).

Well, many of you see this all the time

(girl with a candle, self-portrait, 1911).
Also tell me that you don’t know such an artist. After all, every day our Zina reminds us of her :)):)
And finally

Yusupov Felix Feliksovich (prince, 1925).

Yusupova Irina Alexandrovna (princess, 1925).

Quote from Bo4kaMeda message

Stars of the Epoch. Zinaida Serebryakova

SERAFIMA CHEBOTAR

Z. Serebryakova. Self-portrait in red. 1921

Perhaps her name is not as famous as she deserves to be. But everyone probably remembers one of her paintings, the self-portrait “3a on the toilet” - once you see it, it is impossible to forget it. A young girl combs her hair in front of the mirror long hair, and peace
her full of happiness and light. It seems that the artist’s whole life was just as joyful and happy - just like winter morning when Zina Serebryakova looked in the mirror...

1964. Paris

She was born into a family where it was impossible not to draw: in the house they liked to say that “all children are born with a pencil in their hand.” Zinaida's father, Evgeny Aleksandrovich Lansere, was an excellent sculptor - one of the most talented animal painters. His wife Ekaterina Nikolaevna Benois came from a famous family of artists - she was the daughter of Nikolai Benois, a famous architect.

E. A. and E. N. Lansere, Serebryakova’s parents

Almost all of his children followed in their father’s footsteps: Leonty Nikolaevich also became an architect (and his daughter Nadezhda, who married Jonah von Ustinov, became a mother famous actor and the writer Peter Ustinov), Albert Nikolaevich taught watercolor painting at the Academy of Arts, but Alexander Nikolaevich became most famous - a famous painter, one of the founders of the World of Art, a famous theater artist and for some time the head of art gallery Hermitage.

E. N. Lansere with children. On the left in her mother’s arms is Zina

“Sometimes you look around like this: this relative, this one, but this one probably didn’t draw. Then it turns out that he also drew. And not bad either,” recalled one of Benoit’s relatives. Ekaterina Nikolaevna herself also drew - her specialty was graphics.

Louis Jules Benoit, Serebryakova's great-grandfather, with his wife and children. Third from the left (with a flag) is the artist’s grandfather Nikolai Benois.
Olivier, around 1816

She and Evgeniy Lanceray had six children - and half of them connected their lives with art: son Nikolai became, following the example of his grandfather, an architect, and Evgeniy achieved recognition as a muralist. Zina, the youngest of the Lansere children, with early childhood grew up in an atmosphere of service to art. She was born on December 10, 1884 in the Lansere Neskuchnoye estate, near Kharkov, and her first years passed there. But, unfortunately, in 1886, at the fortieth year of his life, the father of the family died of transient consumption. Having buried her husband, Ekaterina Nikolaevna and her children returned to her parents’ home in St. Petersburg.

Alexander Nikolaevich Benois, the artist’s uncle. Serebryakova 1953 (left)
Albert Nikolaevich Benois, the artist’s uncle. Serebryakova 1924 (right)

The situation in the Benois family was very unusual: three generations of artists, sculptors and architects lived under one roof, breathing art, living it and thinking about it. Disputes about painting, about the merits or demerits of architectural plans, advice on drawing techniques or theoretical discussions about pure art filled the house.

A.K. Kavos, Serebryakova’s great-grandfather

It is not surprising that the fragile, big-eyed Zina learned to draw almost before she learned to talk. According to relatives, she grew up
withdrawn, shy, “a sickly and rather unsociable child, in which she resembled her father and did not at all resemble her mother, nor her brothers and sisters, who all
they were distinguished by a cheerful and sociable disposition,” wrote Alexander Benois. She spent almost all her free time drawing - with the help of her brothers and uncles, she very early mastered the technique of watercolor and oil painting, and tirelessly trained all day long, drawing everything that surrounded her - rooms at home, relatives, landscapes outside the window, plates with dinner ...

Z. Serebryakova. Portrait of A.N. Benois. 1924

The greatest authority for Zina was Alexander Benois: when he, who discovered
for himself the work of the almost forgotten Venetsianov, became an ardent promoter of his manner - his niece also fell in love with this artist. Alexander's works - bright peasant landscapes full of inner joy, female images and genre scenes from Venetsianov's paintings - made a deep impression on Zina. Inspired by Benois, Zina wrote a lot in Neskuchny, where she spent every
summer, peasant nature - fields and village houses, peasant women and their children.

In the gymnasium. In the first row, third from the right - Zina Lansere. Late 1890s

After graduating from high school in 1900, Zina entered the Art School of Princess Tenisheva: this educational institution was supposed to prepare young people to enter the Academy of Arts, and one of the teachers was Ilya Repin himself. Students under his leadership painted plaster, went to sketches and copied masterpieces of the Hermitage - the paintings of the old masters gave Zina strict lines, restraint of composition and a love of realistic style as opposed to impressionism and its derivatives that were beginning to come into fashion. “I worked a lot, wrote a lot, and was not at all susceptible to artistic fashion. She did what came from her heart,” her brother said about Zinaida.

1900s Self-Portrait

In the fall of 1902, Zinaida and her mother went to Italy - for several months they wandered through museums and galleries, examined ancient ruins and looked into cathedrals, painted sun-drenched shores and hills overgrown with dense greenery. Returning in the spring of 1903, Zina began studying in the class of Osip Immanuilovich Bran, a fashionable portrait painter: they recalled that Bran, overwhelmed with orders, had few
paid attention to his students, but even observing his work was very valuable.

In the workshop of O. E. Braz. In the second row, second from left is Zinaida Lansere. Early 1900s

But the months in her beloved Neskuchny brought Zinaida the most joy - drawing
She was ready for him endlessly. Alexander Benois described Neskuchnoye, the favorite corner of the whole family: “Rows of low hills stretched one after another, increasingly dissolving and turning blue, and along their round slopes meadows and fields turned yellow and green; In some places, small, lush clumps of trees stood out, among which bright white huts with their friendly square windows stood out. The windmills sticking out everywhere on the hills gave a peculiar picturesqueness. All this breathed with grace...”

Neskuchnoe estate, Kursk province. A. B. Serebryakov, 1946

<...>There, in Neskuchny, Zinaida met her fate. On the opposite bank of the Muromka River, the Serebryakovs lived on their own farm - the mother of the family, Zinaida Aleksandrovna, was sister Zina's father. Her children grew up with Lancere's children, and it is not surprising that Boris Serebryakov and Zina Lancere fell in love with each other as children. They had long agreed to get married, and the parents on both sides did not object to the choice of children, but there were other difficulties: Lanceray and Benoit traditionally adhered to the Catholic religion - French blood flowed in their veins (the first Benoit fled to Russia from French Revolution, Lansere's ancestor remained after the war of 1812), only slightly diluted with Italian and German, and the Serebryakovs were Orthodox. In addition, Zina and Boris were cousins, and both religions did not approve of such closely related marriages. It took a lot of time and even more trouble with the church authorities for the lovers to obtain permission to marry.

Z. Serebryakova. Portrait of B.A. Serebryakov. ca.1905

Zinaida Lansere and Boris Serebryakov got married in Neskuchny on September 9, 1905. Soon after the wedding, Zina left for Paris - every self-respecting artist simply had to visit this world capital of art. Soon Boris joined Zina - he studied at the Institute of Railways, wanted to be an engineer, build railways in Siberia.

Z. E. Serebryakova. Early 1900s

In Paris, Zina was stunned by the diversity of the latest trends, art schools, directions and styles, but she herself remained faithful to realism, although it acquired some modernist features under the influence of the Parisian air: the lines in Serebryakova’s paintings became alive, like the Impressionists, they had movement and indescribable joy of the moment. On the advice of Alexandre Benois, Zina studied for some time at the studio of the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere - however, to her
much disappointment, little attention was paid to direct training here, preferring only to evaluate finished works. In fact, Serebryakova’s artistic education ended at the Paris Academy: from now on she moved according to her chosen creative path on one's own.

House in Neskuchny. A. B. Serebryakov, 1946

Returning from France, the Serebryakovs settled in Neskuchny, only returning to St. Petersburg for the winter. It was in Neskuchny that their children were born: in 1906 Evgeniy, a year later - Alexander. Family life Serebryakov was surprisingly happy: so different in character and appearance, hobbies and temperament, they, as it turned out, complemented each other perfectly. Several years passed in calm happiness...

In Neskuchny with children Shura, Zhenya, Tata and Katya, 1914

Zina took care of the children, drew a lot, waited for her husband to return from his trips - during one of these waits she painted that very self-portrait. “My husband Boris Anatolyevich,” Serebryakova recalled, “was on a business trip to explore the northern region of Siberia, in the taiga... I decided to wait for his return in order to return to St. Petersburg together. The winter of this year came early, everything was covered with snow - our garden, the fields around - there were snowdrifts everywhere, it was impossible to go out, but the house on the farm was warm and cozy. I started drawing myself in the mirror and had fun depicting all sorts of little things “on the toilet.”

Zinaida Serebryakova
Behind the toilet. Self-portrait, 1909
Canvas, oil. 75×65 cm
State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

At the end of December 1909, brother Evgeniy, a member of the World of Art group, wrote to Zinaida with a request to send some works to the upcoming exhibition of the World of Art. Without thinking twice, she sent him the recently completed self-portrait “Behind the Toilet.” At the exhibition where works by Serov, Kustodiev, Vrubel hung, this painting was not famous artist not only did it not get lost, but created a real sensation. Stunned by the skill of his own niece, Alexander Benois enthusiastically wrote: “Serebryakova’s self-portrait is undoubtedly the most pleasant, the most joyful thing... There is complete spontaneity and simplicity: true artistic temperament, something ringing, young, laughing, sunny and clear, something absolutely artistic ... What is especially sweet to me about this portrait is that there is no “demonism” in it that has become Lately straight street vulgarity. Even the certain sensuality contained in this image is of the most innocent, spontaneous quality. There is something childish in this side glance of the “forest nymph”, something playful, cheerful... And both the face itself and everything in this picture is young and fresh... There is not a trace of any modernist sophistication here . But the simple and even vulgar environment of life in the light of youth becomes charming and joyful.” On the advice of Valentin Serov, who was also impressed by the skill and unprecedented cheerfulness of the painting, “Behind the Toilet” and two other paintings were acquired by the Tretyakov Gallery.

Z. E. Serebryakova draws, on the left is B. A. Serebryakov with his son Zhenya. 1900s

The success of Serebryakova and her film was incredible - it seemed to both the public and critics that
that from now on Serebryakova will deservedly join the first ranks of Russian painters. “In the artist’s art, with rare power, the main, most wonderful element of creativity is revealed,” the critics wrote, “that excitement, joyful, deep and heartfelt, which creates everything in art and with which only one can truly feel and love the world and life.” She was accepted as a member of the “World of Art”, invited to galleries and vernissages, but Zinaida avoided noisy gatherings, preferring the beauty and peace of her native Neskuchny to the bustling St. Petersburg, and quiet evenings with her family to conversations with critics and fellow workers. She gave birth to her husband two more daughters - Tatyana in 1912 and a year later Katya, who was called Cat at home.

At work in his workshop in Neskuchny...

And yet, these years are considered the heyday of her art: in the early 1910s, Serebryakova created such unforgettable paintings as “Bather” - a portrait of her sister Catherine, combining classicist grandeur and the indescribable lightness of the wind playing in her hair, “Bath”, “ Peasants”, “Sleeping Peasant Woman”, “Whitening Canvas”, self-portraits and images of children. In her canvases, the Ukrainian sun is combined with the joyful lightness of the brushstroke, beautiful bodies they live in unity with the landscape, and the eyes in the portraits, with their almond-shaped cut and slight slyness, subtly resemble the eyes of Serebryakova herself.

Z. Serebryakova. Bather

In 1916, Alexander Benois received an order to paint the Kazansky railway station in Moscow: he invited Evgeny Lanceray, Boris Kustodiev, Mstislav Dobuzhinsky and Zinaida Serebryakova to take part in the work. Zinaida received panels on an oriental theme - perhaps the Asian flavor was especially close to her, because her beloved Boris at that time headed a survey party for the construction of a railway in South-Eastern Siberia. Unfortunately, this order was withdrawn, and Serebryakova’s sketches - embodied in beautiful female images— India, Japan, Siam and Türkiye remained unembodied.

Family on a farm in Neskuchny. In the center in Panama - W.E. 1900s

Zinaida met the revolution in her beloved Neskuchny. At first we lived as usual - the trends of the capital always took a very long time to reach the provinces, but then the world seemed to collapse. One day, peasants came to the Serebryakovs’ house to warn them that their house would soon be destroyed, like everyone else. manorial estates in District. Zinaida, who lived there with her children and elderly mother - Boris was in Siberia - got scared, quickly packed her things and fled to Kharkov. Later they told her - the estate and the truth
was destroyed, the house burned down, and with it - her paintings, drawings, books...

Z. Serebryakova. Self-portrait in a white blouse. 1922

In Kharkov they found themselves almost without funds. But even then, Zina continued to paint - however, due to lack of funds, she had to take charcoal and pencil instead of her favorite oil paints. Fortunately, Zina managed to get a job at the local Archaeological Museum, sketching exhibits for catalogs. But the connection with her husband was lost - for several months Zina was looking for him throughout Russia.

“Not a line from Bori, it’s so scary that I’m going completely crazy,” she wrote to her brother. At the beginning of 1919, she finally met her husband, miraculously reaching Moscow for the occasion, and even persuaded Boris to go to Kharkov for a couple of days to see the children. On the way back, his heart sank, he decided to return, moved to a military train - and there he became infected with typhus. He barely managed to reach his family and died in his wife’s arms. Ironically, he, like Zinaida’s father, was only thirty-nine years old... Ekaterina Nikolaevna Lanceray wrote about this day to one of her sons: “It was terrible, the agony lasted five minutes: before that he said and no one thought that he'll be gone in five minutes. You can imagine, my dear, what kind of grief it was - the crying, the sobbing of the children, the boys were inconsolable (Katyusha did not understand). Zinok cried little, but did not leave Borechka...”

Z. Serebryakova. Portrait of B.A. Serebryakov. 1913

Zinaida, faithful to her husband’s memory, will never marry again, will not fall in love, and will not allow herself any hobbies. She knew how to love, but only once and for the rest of her life. She was left with four children and an elderly mother, but she no longer had the same joy or love. “...It always seemed to me,” she wrote to a friend, “that to be loved and to be in love is happiness, I was always, as if in a child, not noticing the life around me, and I was happy, although even then I knew sadness and tears ... It’s so sad to realize that life is already behind us, that time is running out, and there is nothing more but loneliness, old age and melancholy ahead, but there is still so much tenderness and feeling in the soul.” Serebryakova expressed her feelings of those difficult days in one of the most tragic paintings "House of Cards", artistic metaphor of that sad time: four children dressed in mourning are building a house out of cards, fragile as life itself.

Z. Serebryakova. "House of cards"

In the fall of 1920, Serebryakova was able to return to Petrograd: not without the help of Alexandre Benois, she was not only offered a choice of two jobs - to work in a museum or the Academy of Arts - but also provided travel for the whole family. However, Serebryakova preferred independent work: forced work in the museum limited, as it seemed to her, her talent, and she could not and did not want to teach anyone other than her children. She moved back into Benoit's house - but how he had changed!

“Benois House” in St. Petersburg on Nikolskaya, 15 (now Glinka Street)

Books and furnishings were looted, the same family home compacted, dividing the huge apartments into many small apartments. However, fortunately, the actors moved in with Benoit - and the creative atmosphere that the guests of the house so appreciated was preserved. Former friends, brothers, connoisseurs and collectors came to visit Zina - they were attracted by her passion for art, and the indescribable comfort that she knew how to create around herself literally out of nothing, and her own beauty - both external and internal, “I I still won’t forget what a strong impression her beautiful radiant eyes, recalled the artist’s colleague Galina Teslenko. - Despite great grief... and insurmountable everyday difficulties - four children and a mother! — she looked much younger than her age, and her face was striking in the freshness of its colors. Deep inner life“The way she lived created such an external charm that there was no way to resist.”

In the St. Petersburg apartment of A.N. Benoit. Z.E. Serebryakova, her mother Ekaterina Nikolaevna, sister Maria Evgenievna and brother Nikolai Evgenievich

However, Serebryakova’s work did not find its way to the court in post-revolutionary Petrograd: always very critical of her work, Zinaida could not agree to design buildings or demonstrations, like many artists, and the “revolutionary” futurist art so valued at that time was not close to her. Instead, she continues to draw her children, landscapes, self-portraits... She especially often painted children, whom she adored.

Z. Serebryakova. Self-portrait with daughters. 1921

“I was struck by the beauty of all Zinaida Evgenievna’s children,” wrote Galina Teslenko. -Each one in its own way. The youngest, Katenka - the other children called her Cat - is a fragile porcelain figurine with golden hair and a delicate, delightfully colored face. The second, Tata - older than Katenka - amazed with her dark motherly eyes, alive, shiny, joyful, eager to do something right now, at the moment. She was brown-haired and also had magnificent complexion. Katya was about seven years old at that time, Tata was about eight. The first impression was later completely justified. Tata turned out to be a lively, playful girl, Katya was quieter and calmer. Zinaida Evgenievna’s sons were not alike: Zhenya is blond with blue eyes, with a beautiful profile, and Shurik is brown-haired with dark hair, too gentle and affectionate for a boy.”

Z. Serebryakova. This is how Binka (Zhenya Serebryakov) fell asleep. 1908

The Serebryakovs lived a very difficult life: there were few orders, and they were poorly paid. As one of her friends wrote, “Collectors generously took her works for free, for food and used items.” And Galina Teslenko recalled: “In material terms, life was difficult for the Serebryakovs, very difficult. As before, cutlets made from potato peels were a delicacy for lunch.” When daughter Tatyana became interested in ballet and was even able to enroll in a choreographic school, Zinaida shared her love for dancing - she was allowed to be present backstage at the Mariinsky Theater on the days of performances, and she enthusiastically drew ballerinas, scenes from performances, and everyday sketches of backstage life.

Z. Serebryakova. Portrait of the son Alexander. 1925

Gradually artistic life the former capital was returning to its previous course: exhibitions and salons were organized, visitors and local collectors bought some works. In 1924, the USA hosted big exhibition works by Soviet artists - Serebryakova was exhibited among them. Two of her works were immediately bought, and inspired by this success, Zinaida decided to go abroad - perhaps there she would receive orders and be able to earn money that she would send to Russia. Having received the necessary documents with the help of the same Alexander Benois, in September 1924 Zinaida, leaving her children with her mother, left for France.

Z. Serebryakova. Portrait of E.N. Lansere. Mother. 1912

“I was twelve years old when my mother left for Paris,” Tatyana Serebryakova recalled many years later. — The steamer going to Stetin was moored at the Lieutenant Schmidt Bridge. Mom was already on board... I almost fell into the water, my friends caught me. Mom believed that she was leaving for a while, but my despair was boundless, I seemed to feel that I was parting with my mother for a long time, for decades...” And so it happened: Zinaida Serebryakova was able to return to her homeland only for a short time, after three decades.

House in Paris on the street. Campagne-Premier, 31 The last workshop of Z.E. Serebryakova (middle window on the top floor)

At first, Serebryakova managed to get an order in Paris for a large decorative panel, but then things didn’t go so well. She painted a lot of portraits and even gained some fame, although she did not bring in almost any income. “She’s impractical, she does a lot of portraits for nothing for the promise of advertising, but everyone, when they receive wonderful things, forgets about her and doesn’t lift a finger,” Konstantin Somov wrote about her. Although Zinaida was almost French by blood, she did not communicate with almost any of the locals in Paris - shy and reserved by nature, she painfully felt like a stranger in France. Her social circle consisted of a few emigrants she knew from Petrograd, whom she met at exhibitions or at Alexander Benois's - he left the USSR in 1926, also intended to return someday, but in the end he remained abroad.

[b]
Workshop in Paris on Rue Blanche. Z.E.Serebryakova

Only travel, during which she painted a lot, saved her from longing for home and for the children left there: first she traveled around Brittany, then visited Switzerland, and in 1928, with the help of Baron Brouwer, who greatly appreciated her work, she was able to travel to North Africa.

The trip to Morocco seemed to resurrect Serebryakova: a riot of colors, the sun, the long-forgotten joy of life and the lightness of being returned to her paintings. Many of the Moroccan works were later exhibited - the press responded very favorably to them, calling Serebryakova “a master of European significance,” “one of the most remarkable Russian artists of the era,” but the exhibition did not have much resonance. At that time, completely different art was in fashion, and the few reviews of Serebryakova’s drawings were drowned in an avalanche of articles about abstract art, surrealism and others modernist movements in painting. Her paintings seemed outdated, outdated, and gradually the artist herself began to feel unnecessary, outdated...

Z. Serebryakova. Morocco. Marrakesh

In letters to her family, Zina constantly complained of loneliness, of longing for her children, from which she gave up. “Here I am alone,” she wrote to her mother, “no one takes to heart that starting without a penny and with such responsibilities as mine (sending everything I earn to children) is incredibly difficult, and time goes by, and I’m struggling.” everything is in the same place. At least now - it’s impossible for me to work here in such heat, stuffiness and with such a crowd everywhere, I’m incredibly tired of everything... I’m worried about how our winter will be... I’m sending less and less money, i.e. To. Now there is such a money crisis here (with the fall of the franc) that there is no time for orders. In general, I often repent that I have traveled so hopelessly far from my family...”

In the end, the relatives managed to send her son Shura to her: as soon as he arrived, the young man rushed to help his mother. He painted scenery for film studios, designed exhibitions, illustrated books, and created interior sketches. Over time, he grew into a wonderful artist, whose watercolors preserved the magical appearance of pre-war Paris.

“He draws all day long, tirelessly,” Zinaida wrote. “He is often dissatisfied with his things and gets terribly irritated, and then he and Katyusha fight over trifles and upset me terribly with their harsh characters (that’s right, both took after me, and not Borechka!).” Katya was able to be transported to Paris in 1928 with the help of one of her grateful clients: Zinaida did not see the rest of the children for many years.

Z. Serebryakova. Collioure. Katya on the terrace. 1930

Drawing remained for Zinaida Serebryakova the only activity, the main entertainment and way of life. Together with their daughter, they went either to make sketches in the Louvre, or to sketch in the Bois de Boulogne, but Zinaida could not help but feel that she was moving further and further away from the creative life that always seemed to be seething in Paris. “I remember my hopes,” the plans of her youth - how much she wanted to do, how much was planned, and nothing came of it - life broke down in its prime,” she wrote to her mother. She really literally physically felt that her whole life was falling apart like a house of cards - part here, part there, and there was no way to put it back together or fix it...

Early 20s

Serebryakova strived with all her heart to return to Russia - but for some reason the long efforts could not be crowned with success. “If you knew, dear Uncle Shura,” she wrote to Alexandre Benois, “how I dream and want to leave in order to somehow change this life, where every day there is only acute concern for food (always insufficient and bad) and where my the income is so insignificant that it is not enough for the basic necessities. Orders for portraits are terribly rare and are paid in pennies, consumed before the portrait is ready.”

Z. Serebryakova. Self-portrait. 1938

She didn’t have time before the war, and after that she already felt too old, tired, sick... She was visited by Soviet artists who came to Paris - Sergei Gerasimov, Dementy Shmarinov - they called her to the USSR, but after so many years, she could not make up her mind, she was afraid to be of no use to anyone there.

“Maybe I should come back too? - she wrote to her daughter. - But who will need me there? You, dear Tatusik, can’t sit on your neck. And where to live there? I’ll be superfluous everywhere, and even with drawing, folders...”

Meanwhile, the children left behind in the Soviet Union grew up. Evgeniy graduated from the Faculty of Architecture of the Leningrad Institute of Municipal Construction, worked in Vladivostok, and returned to Leningrad, where he was involved in the restoration of Peterhof. Tatyana, having graduated from the choreographic school, eventually also exchanged dance for decorative art: she painted fabrics, worked as a graphic designer and decorator in theaters, for example, in the famous Moscow Art Theater. At the end of the fifties, when the “thaw” made the first thawed patches in the “Iron Curtain,” Tatyana decided to visit her mother.

Z. E. Serebryakova in the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris. 1900s

“Thank you for writing and that you want to start “actively” collecting documents, etc. for a trip to us! - she responded. - This will be such a great joy for us that I’m even afraid to believe in such happiness... When I left on August 24, 1924, I thought that in a few months I would see all my adored ones - my grandmother and children, but my whole life passed in anticipation, in some kind of annoyance pinching my heart and in self-reproach for having parted with you...”

In 1960, they were finally able to see each other: the grown Tatyana and the aged Zinaida Evgenievna. “Mom never liked acting,” Tatyana recalled, “I couldn’t imagine what she looked like now, and I was glad to see that she had strangely changed little. She remained true to herself not only in her beliefs in art, but also in her appearance. The same bangs, the same black bow at the back, and a jacket with a skirt, and a blue robe and hands, from which came some kind of familiar smell of oil paints from childhood.”

Through the efforts of Tatyana Borisovna, in 1965, an exhibition of Zinaida Serebryakova was organized in the Soviet Union - more than a hundred works by the artist created in exile. The exhibition was an unprecedented success, and it was repeated in Kyiv and Leningrad.

Z. E. Serebryakova (in the center) in a workshop on Campan-Premier Street with children and S. K. Artsybushev. 1960

She died on September 19, 1967, after suffering a stroke. She was buried in the cemetery of Saint-Genevieve-des-Bois: on the day of the funeral it was pouring rain, mourning the great Russian artist, who had crumbled like a house of cards, far from her homeland...

Sometimes freezing in front of the paintings of great artists, you realize that you know nothing either about the canvas or about its creator himself. But famous people in the past often lived so interesting life that when reading their biographies a whole range of feelings arises - from admiration to bewilderment and even rejection. Today's story on the site is about a great artist who was famous and popular during her lifetime, but for some reason she received a pittance for her work...

“Each of her works evoked an enthusiastic roar,” said her fellow artist S. Makovsky about the work of artist Zinaida Serebryakova.

The painting that became a passport to the world of great art

Born into a creative family

Serebryakova

She began to draw a lot, forgetting about everything, at a young age. Favorite childhood hobby became a calling.

And Zina could not help but become an artist - her path, it seemed, was predetermined from birth: the girl grew up in a family where everyone was a creative person.

Grandfather and great-grandfather were recognized architects, father Evgeniy Lansere was a sculptor, mother Ekaterina Nikolaevna also studied painting, sister of the famous critic and artist Alexandre Benois. Zina found herself in the spiritually elevated atmosphere of the Benoit family from the age of two: her father died of consumption, and her mother and all her children returned to her father’s house in St. Petersburg.

There was a special atmosphere in the house; the younger members of the family constantly heard conversations about the high purpose of art and the artist, and visited the Hermitage, theaters and exhibitions.

Zina re-read rare books on art from her huge home library several times. All the relatives were engaged in creative work: they painted, went to sketches.

Growing up, Zina worked in the studio under the guidance of the famous painter Ilya Repin.

The student talentedly copied Hermitage paintings, and really appreciated this activity, because the works of the old brush masters taught her a lot.

Widowhood is a heavy cross

The morning that brought glory

Serebryakova

Later, 21-year-old Zinaida, already a married lady, studied painting in Paris, where in October 1905 she left with her mother.

Soon he joined them the artist's husband Boris Serebryakov, travel engineer.

They were close relatives to each other - cousins, so they had to fight for their happiness, since their relatives prevented marriage between blood relatives.

After France, the young artist usually spent summer and autumn near Kharkov on the family estate Neskuchny - she painted sketches of peasant women, and went to St. Petersburg for the winter.

1909 was a happy year for Zinaida’s creative development, when she stayed longer on the estate.

Early winter came, the garden, fields, and roads were covered with snow, and the work of writing sketches had to be interrupted.

One sunny morning, the artist came up with the idea of ​​painting a painting, which soon brought fame - self-portrait “Behind the toilet”.

Waking up, Zinaida admired nature from the window and went to the mirror. She pulled her thick dark hair aside, waved her comb and froze.

The mirror reflected her face, which shone with peace and happiness. The artist suddenly felt the desire to paint her reflection.

“Multi-colored bottles, pins, beads, a corner of a snow-white bed, candlesticks with long, slender candles, a rustic one, with jugs and basins, a washstand.

And myself in a white shirt that has fallen off the shoulder, with a light childish blush on my cheeks and a clear smile. In general, the way she really was and would like to be a little bit,”

This is how this most famous portrait of the artist describes Researcher Hermitage V. Lenyashin.

The result was not a traditional self-portrait, but genre scene, the story of one happy morning of a young woman.

The general public saw it at the exhibition of the Union of Russian Artists in the winter of 1910. Serebryakova’s painting hung next to paintings by Serov, Kustodiev, Vrubel.

It did not get lost among the paintings of recognized masters, moreover - The debutante's work was acquired by the Tretyakov Gallery.

The fame of the Russian artist Zinaida Serebryakova began with the painting “Behind the Toilet.”

Talent and money - one excludes the other

Family and loneliness

Serebryakova

She was working at the archaeological museum at Kharkov University when the revolution occurred.

Troubled, anxious times, uncertainty, and difficult life filled the life of Z. Serebryakova’s family. In 1919, she suffered great grief - her husband died.

After a long separation, they met in Moscow, and, a month later, Zinaida persuaded Boris to go to Kharkov for three days to see the children.

After a short meeting with his family, he said goodbye to his family again - he was in a hurry to go to work. On the way, I suddenly had a heart attack and had to return to Kharkov.

Boris boarded a military train, where he contracted typhus. The disease took its toll quickly, he died in front of his confused wife and the crying sick mother and children.

Having buried her husband, Zinaida was left alone in charge of a large family consisting of a mother in poor health and four children.

In her diary, the widow wrote with anguish about the everyday hardships that befell her and her depressed state of mind.

In the fall of 1920, she received an invitation to transfer to the Petrograd department of museums and accepted it, but life did not become easier.

“I still won’t forget what a strong impression her beautiful radiant eyes made on me,” recalled the artist’s colleague G.I. Teslenko.

- Despite great grief and insurmountable everyday difficulties - four children and a mother! - She looked much younger than her age, and her face was striking in the freshness of its colors.

The deep inner life she lived created such an external charm that there was no way to resist.”

Galina Teslenko became the artist’s friend for many years. “You are so young, loved, appreciate this time,” Serebryakova told her in 1922. “Oh, it’s so bitter, so sad to realize that life is already behind us...”

Unusually emotional by nature, she reacted sharply to everything that happened around her, taking grief and joy to heart.

Contemporaries noted her amazingly sincere attitude towards people and events; she responded vividly to requests, appreciated kindness in people, admired everything beautiful, and hated evil.

Zinaida did not even think about remarriage; she was monogamous by nature. Times were hard, Serebryakova’s family was barely making ends meet.

The artist, having received permission to go behind the scenes of the former Mariinsky Theater on the days of ballet performances, made sketches for three years, sessions continued at home, ballerinas came to her willingly.

This is how it arose a series of ballet portraits and compositions. This work was almost the only source of income for a large family.

Hope for an improvement in the situation arose after Serebryakova’s participation in a large American exhibition organized with the aim of providing financial assistance to Russian artists.

Two of her paintings were immediately sold. Encouraged by success, Zinaida Evgenievna used the proceeds went to Paris.

She planned to live in a foreign land for several months, wanted to earn money from private orders and return to Russia. But it turned out that she left the country forever.