Because of what scandals flared up around the paintings of great artists, which were refused by customers, and critics were furious

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Art is a very peculiar field. The perception of any works is so personal that sometimes unpleasant incidents happen. Sometimes simply unusual creations are taken for masterpieces, especially often today, in pursuit of new trends. But there have also been reverse situations in history when paintings by famous artists were not accepted by their contemporaries and found recognition later.

1. "Dormition of Our Lady", Caravaggio

The artist painted this picture by order of the Church of Santa Maria della Scala. The monastery was located in one of the poorest quarters of Rome, and, perhaps, therefore, Caravaggio moved away from the classical tradition. He decided to address his canvas to the simplest, most uneducated people. Most likely, these same poor people were the models of the painter, and the artist painted the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ from an unnamed corpse. According to rumors, it was a drowned prostitute, she was fished out of the Tiber. Caravaggio realistically and carefully wrote out all the hard-hitting details: swollen flesh, dirty bare feet. Before us is not a saint, but an ordinary earthly woman, over whose death we want to grieve. It is this emotional fullness that makes the great canvas so tragic.

Before Caravaggio, it was customary to portray this canonical plot in a completely different way. Shining in glory, Mary usually ascends to heaven, where she is greeted by a joyful son and a host of saints. Almost none of the painters, even much later than Caravaggio, hesitated to paint the "Dormition" as a real death and sincere grief. The customers, of course, were shocked. They expected something completely different from the famous artist, so they refused to pay for the painting and hang it in the church. The order passed to another artist, little-known today Carlo Saraceni. The church was pleased with his version of the painting, but time has put everything in its place. Five years later, Peter Paul Rubens saw Caravaggio's masterpiece. This artist was still a collector and, in modern terms, an art dealer. He bought a canvas for the Duke of Mantua, and then "Assumption" changed owners several times. Among them, by the way, were the English king Charles I and the French king Louis XIV. As a result, Caravaggio's masterpiece "settled" in the Louvre.

2. "Night Watch", Rembrandt

The huge canvas was commissioned by the Shooting Society - a detachment of the civilian militia of the Netherlands. According to the idea, the picture was supposed to be a group portrait of six companies. For his work, Rembrandt received 1,600 guilders, which was a very generous payment. In those days, ceremonial group portraits were the traditional way of capturing yourself for centuries - about the same as now a group photo, in which the whole family or work collective gathered. In the 17th century, such commemorative images were much more expensive, but the customers are the same at all times. Having laid out a round sum, they want everything in the picture to be “beautiful”, and in this case - it should also be “bravo, belligerent”.

Rembrandt, instead of frozen ceremonial figures, depicted warriors in motion. Descendants have created many theories to explain the composition of this painting. A huge number of hidden meanings and symbols are found on it, but the customers did not need this at all. The disorderly crowd of people in the painting caused their displeasure, but the order was paid for and hung on the wall - in the banquet hall of the new building of the Society. It is generally accepted that after this "unsuccessful" painting from the point of view of his contemporaries, the career of the great artist began to decline, although there are no documents confirming that this particular painting was the culprit. Today "Night Watch" is incredibly popular, although in the XX century the canvas suffered several times from the attack of vandals. Twice he was cut with a knife and once doused with acid. Why this particular masterpiece was so disliked by mentally unbalanced subjects is still a mystery.

3. "Ivan the Terrible and his son Ivan on November 16, 1581", Ilya Repin

One of the most famous paintings written on the theme of Russian history, after its creation, caused a very mixed reaction. The public was divided. Someone liked the canvas, but there were many negative reviews:

(Professor of the Imperial Academy of Arts F. P. Landcert)

(K. P. Pobedonostsev)

Among the people dissatisfied with the picture was the emperor. Repin, conceiving this difficult plot, was impressed by the assassination of Alexander II, but his son, Alexander III, forbade the painting to be exhibited. The collector Pavel Tretyakov, who bought the painting, was given the highest order:

The ban was lifted three months later, but the picture is still controversial, although it is considered a generally recognized masterpiece. In 1913, Ivan the Terrible was attacked - the canvas was cut by an Old Believer icon painter, and exactly one hundred years later, in 2013, a group of Orthodox activists turned to the Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky with a request to remove the canvas from the public domain, since it offends the patriotic feelings of the Russian people and

The list of such historical and artistic incidents is quite long. Many canvases that are today considered canonical for art were at one time met with criticism "with hostility": "Dance" by Henri Matisse, "Breakfast on the Grass" by Edouard Manet were accused of violating moral standards, in the "Portrait of Jeanne Samary" by Renoir critics did not like flashy colors, and the creator of "American Gothic" Grant Wood was forced to respond to a barrage of outraged letters. The common people saw in the picture a mockery of themselves and the American way of life. Today this painting is considered one of the most recognizable. The popularity of "American Gothic" is also evidenced by the fact that the picture has been the target of caustic jokes and parodies for over 80 years.