Graceful portraits of an artist who was criticized for being one-sided and had clients queuing up for him
Graceful portraits of an artist who was criticized for being one-sided and had clients queuing up for him

Video: Graceful portraits of an artist who was criticized for being one-sided and had clients queuing up for him

Video: Graceful portraits of an artist who was criticized for being one-sided and had clients queuing up for him
Video: Кто такие «Путинферштееры», европейские сторонники Кремля? / Редакция - YouTube 2024, November
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Genre painting by Alfred Stevens
Genre painting by Alfred Stevens

Alfred Stevens is an artist who worked in the second half of the 19th century in Paris. Despite the fact that critics noted the one-sidedness of his work, the master's paintings were successfully acquired by ordinary people immediately after writing. Stevens loved genre painting. Beautiful women dressed in the latest fashion always looked from his canvases. The artist perfectly coped with the play of light, conveying the shine of silk or the luxury of velvet on the canvas.

The lady at the window feeding the birds. A. Stevens, 1859
The lady at the window feeding the birds. A. Stevens, 1859

Alfred Stevens is considered a French artist, but he was born in Brussels. The entire Stevens family was directly related to art. My father collected paintings, my mother ran a café in which people of art gathered, one brother was an art critic, and the other was an animal painter. So the fate of Alfred was predetermined.

The father assigned his son to the studio of the respected artist François Navez. It was he who instilled in Stevens a sense of unity with nature and the desire for a realistic image.

Autumn flowers, A. Stevens, 1866
Autumn flowers, A. Stevens, 1866
The joys of life. A. Stevens
The joys of life. A. Stevens

Despite the fact that Alfred Stevens can find marinas, paintings with a highly social plot, the artist still preferred genre painting. Young, beautiful and fashionably dressed ladies always looked from his canvases. The authoritative jury of the Paris Salon, where only the best paintings were exhibited, spoke favorably about Stevens' painting "Joy of Life", but did not award a medal for it, since it was a genre scene. To this the painter replied:.

Before the promenade. A. Stevens, 1859
Before the promenade. A. Stevens, 1859
Happy mother. A. Stevens
Happy mother. A. Stevens

It is worth noting that ordinary people, and not scholarly critics, liked Stevens' work. The paintings were successfully sold. Suffice it to say that in 1902 at auction the painting by Bruegel the Elder "The Census in Bethlehem" went under the hammer for 9,200 francs, and Stevens's painting "The Joy of Life" was sold for 25,000 francs. In addition, the artist did not succumb to the temptation of wealth and continued to create.

Japanese Parisian. A. Stevens, 1871
Japanese Parisian. A. Stevens, 1871
Outside the city. A. Stevens
Outside the city. A. Stevens

The painter's paintings were exhibited at exhibitions in Paris, Antwerp, Brussels. In 1900 took place lifetime personal exhibition Alfred Stevens (an exceptional event at that time).

Lady in blue. A. Stevens
Lady in blue. A. Stevens
Japanese mask. A. Stevens, 1877
Japanese mask. A. Stevens, 1877
After the ball. A. Stevens, 1873
After the ball. A. Stevens, 1873
Letter. A. Stevens
Letter. A. Stevens
Nice letter. A. Stevens, 1860
Nice letter. A. Stevens, 1860

The title of "virtuoso of one genre" was awarded to the Russian portrait painter Alexei Kharlamov. Coming from a serf family, he managed not only to get his freedom, but also to become famous in Paris.

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