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==Biography== ==Biography==
===Family=== ===Family===
Zinaida Serebryakova was born on the estate of Neskuchnoye near ] (now ]) into one of the most refined and artistic families of Russia. Zinaida Serebriakova (other spellings of her name are wrong!) was born on the estate of Neskuchnoye near ] (now ]) into one of the most refined and artistic families of Russia.


She belonged to the artistic family of Lansere (sometimes spelled '''Lanceray'''). Her grandfather ] was a famous ], chairman of architect's society and member of ]. Her uncle ] was a famous painter, founder of the '']'' art group. Her father, ], was a well-known sculptor, and her mother, who was Alexandre Benois's sister, was good at drawing. One of Zinaida's brothers, ], was a talented architect, and her other brother, ], had an important place in Russian and Soviet art as a master of monumental painting and ]. Great Russian ] ] and Russian-English actor and writer ] were also her relatives. She belonged to both artistic families of Lanceray (sometimes spelled '''Lansere''') and Benois. Her grandfather ] was a famous ], chairman of architect's society and member of ]. Her uncle ] was a famous painter, founder of the '']'' art group. Her father, ], was a well-known sculptor, and her mother, who was Alexandre Benois's sister, was good at drawing. One of Zinaida's brothers, ], was a talented architect, and her other brother, ], had an important place in Russian and Soviet art as a master of monumental painting and ]. Russian-English actor and writer ] was her relative.


===Youth=== ===Youth===
In ] she graduated from women's ] and entered the art school founded by ] ]. She learned from ] (since ]) and from ] ] ] (]–]). In ]–1903 she traveled to ]. In 1905–] she studied at ] in ]. In ] she graduated from women's ] and entered the art school founded by ] ]. She learned from ] (since ]) and from ] ] ] (]–]). In ]–1903 she traveled to ]. In 1905–] she studied at ] in ].


In 1905, Zinaida Lansere married student (later ] engineer) Boris Serebryakov and took his surname. In 1905, Zinaida Lansere married student (later ] engineer) Boris Serebriakov, her own cousin, and took his surname.


===Happy years=== ===Happy years===
Ever since her youth Zinaida Serebryakova strove to express her love of the world and to show its beauty. Her earliest works—''Country Girl'' (1906, ]) and ''Orchard in Bloom'' (], private collection)—speak eloquently of this search, and of her acute awareness of the beauty of the Russian land and its people. These works are etudes done from nature, and though she was young at the time, her extraordinary talent, confidence and boldness were apparent. Ever since her youth Zinaida Serebriakova strove to express her love of the world and to show its beauty. Her earliest works—''Country Girl'' (1906, ]) and ''Orchard in Bloom'' (], private collection)—speak eloquently of this search, and of her acute awareness of the beauty of the Russian land and its people. These works are etudes done from nature, and though she was young at the time, her extraordinary talent, confidence and boldness were apparent.


Broad public recognition came with Serebryakova's self-portrait ] (], ]); first shown at a large exhibition mounted by the ] in ]. The self-portrait was followed by ''Girl Bathing'' (], Russian Museum), a portrait of ''Ye.K. Lansere'' (1911, private collection), and a portrait of the artist's mother ''Yekaterina Lansere'' (], Russian Museum)—mature works, strict in composition. Broad public recognition came with Serebriakova's self-portrait ] (], ]); first shown at a large exhibition mounted by the ] in ]. The self-portrait was followed by ''Girl Bathing'' (], Russian Museum), a portrait of ''Ye.K. Lanceray'' (1911, private collection), and a portrait of the artist's mother ''Yekaterina Lanceray'' (], Russian Museum)—mature works, strict in composition.


She joined the ''Mir iskusstva'' movement in 1911, but stood out from the other members of the group because of her preference for popular themes and because of the harmony, plasticity and generalized nature of her paintings. She joined the ''Mir iskusstva'' movement in 1911, but stood out from the other members of the group because of her preference for popular themes and because of the harmony, plasticity and generalized nature of her paintings.


In ]–], Zinaida Serebryakova was in her prime. During these years she produced a series of pictures on the theme of Russian rural life, the work of the peasants and the Russian countryside which was so dear to her heart: ''Peasants'' (1914–], Russian Museum), ] (private collection). In ]–], Zinaida Serebriakova was in her prime. During these years she produced a series of pictures on the theme of Russian rural life, the work of the peasants and the Russian countryside which was so dear to her heart: ''Peasants'' (1914–], Russian Museum), ] (private collection).


The most important of these works was ''Bleaching Cloth'' (1917, Tretyakov Gallery) which revealed Zinaida Serebryakova's striking talent as a monumental artist. The figures of the peasant women, portrayed against the background of the sky, gain majesty and power by virtue of the low horizon. The most important of these works was ''Bleaching Cloth'' (1917, Tretyakov Gallery) which revealed Zinaida Serebriakova's striking talent as a monumental artist. The figures of the peasant women, portrayed against the background of the sky, gain majesty and power by virtue of the low horizon.


When in ] Alexander Benois was commissioned to decorate the ] ] in ], he invited Yevgeny Lansere, ], ], and Zinaida Serebryakova to help him. Serebryakova took on the theme of the ]: ], ], ], and ] are represented allegorically in the form of beautiful women. At the same time she began compositions on subjects from classical mythology, but these remained ]. When in ] Alexander Benois was commissioned to decorate the ] ] in ], he invited Yevgeny Lansere, ], ], and Zinaida Serebriakova to help him. Serebryakova took on the theme of the ]: ], ], ], and ] are represented allegorically in the form of beautiful women. At the same time she began compositions on subjects from classical mythology, but these remained ].


===Revolution=== ===Revolution===
Zinaida met the ] at her family estate of Neskuchnoye. Suddenly her whole life changed. In ] her husband Boris died of ]. She was left with her four children and sick mother without any income. Hunger. All reserves of Neskuchnoye were marauded. She had to stop oil painting for the less expensive techniques of coal and pencil. This was the time of her most tragic painting ] showing all her four orphaned children. Zinaida met the ] at her family estate of Neskuchnoye. Suddenly her whole life changed. In ] her husband Boris died of ], contracted in bolchevic jails. She was left with her four children and sick mother without any income. Hunger. All reserves of Neskuchnoye were marauded. She had to stop oil painting for the less expensive techniques of coal and pencil. This was the time of her most tragic painting ] showing all her four orphaned children.


She did not want to switch to the ] style popular in earlier Soviet art, nor paint portraits of ]s, but she found some work at the Kharkov Archeological Museum, where she made pencil drawings of exhibits. In ] ] she moved to ] to her grandfather’s apartment. After the October Revolution inhabitants of private apartments were forced to share them with new inhabitants sent for ''podseleniye''. Lansere's family was given actors of the ] (MKhAT). This was the time of her theatric series of paintings. She did not want to switch to the ] style popular in earlier Soviet art, nor paint portraits of ]s, but she found some work at the Kharkov Archeological Museum, where she made pencil drawings of exhibits. In ] ] she moved to ] to her grandfather’s apartment. After the October Revolution inhabitants of private apartments were forced to share them with new inhabitants sent for ''podseleniye''. Her daughter Tatiana enter the ballet academy. This was the time of her theatric series of paintings.


===Paris=== ===Paris===
In the autumn of ], Serebryakova went to Paris, having received a commission for a large decorative mural. On finishing this work she intended to return to Russia, where her mother and two children remained. But life turned out differently and she was not able to return to Russia and became separated from all of her beloved children. In the autumn of ], Serebriakova went to Paris, having received a commission for a large decorative mural. On finishing this work she intended to return to Russia, where her mother and two children remained. But life turned out differently and she was not able to return to Russia and became separated from all of her beloved children.


Serebryakova's long years away from Russia and her family were full of nostalgia and brought her neither joy nor creative satisfaction. She struggled to obtain even a little money to send back to her children in Russia. Serebriakova's long years away from Russia and her family were full of nostalgia and brought her neither joy nor creative satisfaction. She struggled to obtain even a little money to send back to her children in Russia.


Zinaida Serebryakova traveled a great deal. In ] and ] she travels to ], visiting ] and ]. Landscapes of Africa's north astonished her, she paints ], ] women, ] in ethnic clothes. She also paints a cycle devoted to ]'s fishermen. The salient feature of her later landscapes and portraits is the artist's own personality—her love of beauty, whether in nature or in man. And yet, the most important thing was missing—the connection with what was near and dear to her. Zinaida Serebriakova traveled a great deal. In ] and ] she travels to ], visiting ] and ]. Landscapes of Africa's north astonished her, she paints ], ] women, ] in ethnic clothes. She also paints a cycle devoted to ]'s fishermen. The salient feature of her later landscapes and portraits is the artist's own personality—her love of beauty, whether in nature or in man. And yet, the most important thing was missing—the connection with what was near and dear to her.


During ]'s ], the Soviet Government allowed contact with her. In ], after 36 years of forced separation she was visited by her daughter Tatiana (]), who became a theatrical artist working for the Moscow Art Theatre. In ], a large exhibition of Zinaida Serebryakova's works was mounted in Moscow, Leningrad, and ]. She instantly became very popular in Russia, her albums were selling by the millions and she was compared to ] and ]. During ]'s ], the Soviet Government allowed contact with her. In ], after 36 years of forced separation she was visited by her daughter Tatiana (]), who became a theatrical artist working for the Moscow Art Theatre. In ], a large exhibition of Zinaida Serebriakova's works was mounted in Moscow, Leningrad, and ]. She instantly became very popular in Russia, her albums were selling by the millions and she was compared to ] and ].


On ], ], at the age of eighty-two, Zinaida Serebryakova died in Paris. Most of her works were returned to Russia. On ], ], at the age of eighty-two, Zinaida Serebryakova died in Paris. Her works are mostly in Russia and France.


==Selected works== ==Selected works==

Revision as of 14:48, 17 October 2006

At the Dressing-Table, 1909

Zinaida Yevgenyevna Serebryakova (Template:Lang-ru) (December 10, 1884–September 19, 1967) was the first female Russian painter of distinction.

Biography

Family

Zinaida Serebriakova (other spellings of her name are wrong!) was born on the estate of Neskuchnoye near Kharkov (now Ukraine) into one of the most refined and artistic families of Russia.

She belonged to both artistic families of Lanceray (sometimes spelled Lansere) and Benois. Her grandfather Nikolay Leontyevich Benois was a famous architect, chairman of architect's society and member of Russian Academy of Science. Her uncle Alexandre Benois was a famous painter, founder of the Mir iskusstva art group. Her father, Yevgeny Nikolayevich Lanceray, was a well-known sculptor, and her mother, who was Alexandre Benois's sister, was good at drawing. One of Zinaida's brothers, Nikolay Yevgenyevich Lanceray, was a talented architect, and her other brother, Yevgeny Yevgenyevich Lanceray, had an important place in Russian and Soviet art as a master of monumental painting and graphic art. Russian-English actor and writer Peter Ustinov was her relative.

Youth

In 1900 she graduated from women's gimnasium and entered the art school founded by princess Tenisheva. She learned from Repin (since 1901) and from portrait artist Braz (1903–1905). In 1902–1903 she traveled to Italy. In 1905–1906 she studied at Academie de la Grande Chaumiere in Paris.

In 1905, Zinaida Lansere married student (later railroad engineer) Boris Serebriakov, her own cousin, and took his surname.

Happy years

Ever since her youth Zinaida Serebriakova strove to express her love of the world and to show its beauty. Her earliest works—Country Girl (1906, Russian Museum) and Orchard in Bloom (1908, private collection)—speak eloquently of this search, and of her acute awareness of the beauty of the Russian land and its people. These works are etudes done from nature, and though she was young at the time, her extraordinary talent, confidence and boldness were apparent.

Broad public recognition came with Serebriakova's self-portrait At the Dressing-Table (1909, Tretyakov Gallery); first shown at a large exhibition mounted by the Union of Russian Artists in 1910. The self-portrait was followed by Girl Bathing (1911, Russian Museum), a portrait of Ye.K. Lanceray (1911, private collection), and a portrait of the artist's mother Yekaterina Lanceray (1912, Russian Museum)—mature works, strict in composition.

She joined the Mir iskusstva movement in 1911, but stood out from the other members of the group because of her preference for popular themes and because of the harmony, plasticity and generalized nature of her paintings.

In 1914–1917, Zinaida Serebriakova was in her prime. During these years she produced a series of pictures on the theme of Russian rural life, the work of the peasants and the Russian countryside which was so dear to her heart: Peasants (1914–1915, Russian Museum), Sleeping Peasant Girl (private collection).

The most important of these works was Bleaching Cloth (1917, Tretyakov Gallery) which revealed Zinaida Serebriakova's striking talent as a monumental artist. The figures of the peasant women, portrayed against the background of the sky, gain majesty and power by virtue of the low horizon.

When in 1916 Alexander Benois was commissioned to decorate the Kazan Railway Station (see) in Moscow, he invited Yevgeny Lansere, Boris Kustodiev, Mstislav Dobuzhinsky, and Zinaida Serebriakova to help him. Serebryakova took on the theme of the Orient: India, Japan, Turkey, and Siam are represented allegorically in the form of beautiful women. At the same time she began compositions on subjects from classical mythology, but these remained unfinished.

Revolution

Zinaida met the October Revolution at her family estate of Neskuchnoye. Suddenly her whole life changed. In 1919 her husband Boris died of typhus, contracted in bolchevic jails. She was left with her four children and sick mother without any income. Hunger. All reserves of Neskuchnoye were marauded. She had to stop oil painting for the less expensive techniques of coal and pencil. This was the time of her most tragic painting House of Cards showing all her four orphaned children.

She did not want to switch to the futurist style popular in earlier Soviet art, nor paint portraits of commissars, but she found some work at the Kharkov Archeological Museum, where she made pencil drawings of exhibits. In December 1920 she moved to Petrograd to her grandfather’s apartment. After the October Revolution inhabitants of private apartments were forced to share them with new inhabitants sent for podseleniye. Her daughter Tatiana enter the ballet academy. This was the time of her theatric series of paintings.

Paris

In the autumn of 1924, Serebriakova went to Paris, having received a commission for a large decorative mural. On finishing this work she intended to return to Russia, where her mother and two children remained. But life turned out differently and she was not able to return to Russia and became separated from all of her beloved children.

Serebriakova's long years away from Russia and her family were full of nostalgia and brought her neither joy nor creative satisfaction. She struggled to obtain even a little money to send back to her children in Russia.

Zinaida Serebriakova traveled a great deal. In 1928 and 1930 she travels to Africa, visiting Morocco and Algeria. Landscapes of Africa's north astonished her, she paints Atlas mountains, Arab women, Africans in ethnic clothes. She also paints a cycle devoted to Britannia's fishermen. The salient feature of her later landscapes and portraits is the artist's own personality—her love of beauty, whether in nature or in man. And yet, the most important thing was missing—the connection with what was near and dear to her.

During Khruschev's Thaw, the Soviet Government allowed contact with her. In 1960, after 36 years of forced separation she was visited by her daughter Tatiana (Tata), who became a theatrical artist working for the Moscow Art Theatre. In 1966, a large exhibition of Zinaida Serebriakova's works was mounted in Moscow, Leningrad, and Kiev. She instantly became very popular in Russia, her albums were selling by the millions and she was compared to Boticelli and Renoir.

On September 19, 1967, at the age of eighty-two, Zinaida Serebryakova died in Paris. Her works are mostly in Russia and France.

Selected works

External links

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