7 common fakes about the history of famous paintings that many believe in

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

From time to time, anyone on the Internet came across cute stories that tell about people of art and reveal them from an unexpected side. These are flowers from the dead Mayakovsky, who even during his lifetime did not differ in special romanticism, then the sister of Faina Ranevskaya, who suddenly got along with a local butcher. What can we say about narrower topics, like fine art, in which false stories related to the creation of famous paintings are also spread.

There is always one-sidedness in relations with fakes, usually such legends are very widespread and do not even require proof, since most are considered initially true. Therefore, the factual base is collected by art historians and scientific laboratories in order to confirm or deny another story that has become widespread. Yes, beautiful legends are often destroyed that tell how hard the life of the legendary artist was, or how poor, romantic, suffered from unhappy love or persecuted by those in power. But it is even more interesting when it turns out that the authorship does not belong to the artist, or is not a painting at all, but a photograph.

1. Albrecht Durer, difficult childhood and brother's hands folded in prayer

Legend has it that the famous artist was born into a family with 18 children. Two of whom, Albrecht and Albert, had a talent in the visual arts, which is no wonder, considering that their father was a master of jewelry. But he could not pay for the studies of both sons at the Academy of Arts. Then the two brothers agreed to cast lots and determine which of them should go to study and who to go to work in the quarry in order to pay for this study. Albrecht was obviously lucky and became a famous painter. However, when he suggested that his brother also go to study, he refused, citing the fact that four years of work in the quarry destroyed the sensitivity of his hands and he would no longer be able to draw.

A sad and romantic story calls us to pay tribute to Dürer's brother, without whose efforts we would not have recognized the talent of the great artist. The hands of the praying one are the hands of Albert Durer, which the brother portrayed.

In the Durer family, 18 children were really born, but most of them did not survive, which was the perfect norm for those times. At the same time, no more than three children were brought up in the family, so there is no need to talk about the disastrous state of affairs in the jeweler's family. But the funny thing is that the Academy of Arts simply did not exist at that time. In addition, the father of the family is an excellent master himself and could teach his children the basics of drawing. And it is even difficult to imagine that an artisan who takes care of his hands and sees talent in his sons would send one of them to the quarry. At that time, it was natural to pass on the experience of their craft by inheritance, and the younger Durers had every reason to become what they became. In the picture, it is more likely that the hands of the artist himself are depicted.

2. Giovanni Bragolin, "Crying Boy" and a series of fires

The picture, which is associated with many legends and myths, and negative ones. Moreover, she almost tops the rating of the "damned" paintings of world art. There are two legends about the painting. According to the first, the artist made the child cry, since the boy was afraid of fire, the easiest way to do this was lighting matches in his face. The child, tired of such bullying, wished his father to burn. After that, the boy died of pneumonia, and the artist burned down in a fire in his own house.

Another version is also not very humane, when Giovanni was working on the canvas, there was a civil war in Spain and, allegedly, the artist painted in the house of orphans, children whose parents died. After the painting was finished, the building was engulfed in fire. However, both legends have one thing in common - the revenge of the boy from the picture. It is believed, wherever he appears, a destructive fire comes for him. Moreover, the picture itself, or rather its reproduction, does not suffer from the flame. It is noteworthy that the myth was dispelled by journalists, not art critics. The author of the picture was Bruno Amadio, born in Venice, a calm and quiet man who did not like fame, and therefore used a pseudonym. His Crying Boy is one of 27 paintings from the Gypsy Children series. All of them depict children with negative emotions. Bruno died of old age, 20 years after painting.

His series of paintings was popular and went on sale as reproductions, moreover, they were eagerly bought by residents of regional quarters. Hence, the second coincidence follows - it was in the dwellings of this category of citizens that fires most often happened. The reproduction, by the way, was printed on high-density paper and was fire resistant. That's the whole secret.

3. "Morning in a pine forest": two authors, four bears and unpainted hares

Perhaps this is one of the most famous Russian paintings, with which many stories are connected, which, for verification, turn out to be false. One of the most common - Shishkin's co-author was Vasnetsov, known for his landscapes. There should have been hares instead of bears. There were two bears. There were no bears at all. And the picture is called at best "Morning in a pine forest", at worst - "Three Bears." It seems difficult to add anything else to this list of conjectures.

There are actually two authors of the picture, if the landscape belongs to Shishkin, then the bear cubs were painted by Konstantin Savitsky. True, he subsequently renounced his authorship in favor of Shishkin. Now the author's surname is one, it is indicated on the canvas itself, which is kept in the Tretyakov Gallery. The official name of the painting is "Morning in a Pine Forest", although the name with the mention of pine forest has become more widespread. In fact, there were no bears, only on another similar canvas, which is kept in a private collection in Poland. The number of bears increased during the painting, at first there were half of them.

4. The severed ear of Van Gogh and his self-portrait

The story of how the eminent artist cut off his ear has been repeatedly refuted, spreading a new myth, according to which his close friend, the artist Paul Gauguin, inflicted damage on him. The Post-Impressionists were actually very close, but at the same time they constantly argued, which gave rise to speculation that Gauguin, who was also an excellent swordsman, cut off Van Gogh's ear in the heat of a quarrel. The injuries were later recorded in the self-portrait, but questions were also raised by the fact that the left ear was bandaged in the portrait, while the right one was injured.

Based on the artist's subsequent suicide, it can be concluded that he actually had an impulsive character and could harm himself. As for the self-portrait, it is painted in a mirror image, since Van Gogh copied from the mirror, which is quite logical. In addition, with a high degree of probability, the artist was left-handed, which explains the damage to his right ear - it was more convenient for the left-hander to cut him on his own.

5. Mona Lisa and her smile diagnosis

How many legends and conjectures are associated with the smile of the most famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci can not be said. The canvas became famous after it was stolen, before that it was considered only one of the paintings of the Renaissance. But, lo and behold, the canvas was found, and the whole world suddenly froze in an attempt to unravel the mystery of the woman's smile from the picture. Although this is not even a smile, and not a grin, but some kind of triumph over the viewer. Perhaps that is why Mona Lisa leaves no one indifferent?

Now doctors are actively involved in the research. Otolaryngologists saw facial nerve paralysis on Gioconda's face, since such a frozen facial expression is actually characteristic of people with such a diagnosis. There was even a definition of "Mona Lisa disease". But dentists-orthodontists, according to the position of the mouth and lips, concluded that the beauty had no teeth at all.

Specialists in neurophysiology came closest to solving the problem, explaining the secret of Jocona's smile to the peculiarities of human perception. And it turned out not at all in the talent of the legendary artist. This is the specificity of human vision - depending on where the gaze is directed, it seems that a smile appears and disappears. The so-called peripheral vision, when the whole face is covered by the look - Mona Lisa smiles, when the central vision is turned on and it is directed to the details - the smile subsides.

6. Gustav Klimt "Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer" - a beautiful love story turned out to be an invention

Gustav Klimt, perhaps, was known as a loving playmaker even more than an artist. One of his famous paintings is also accompanied by a beautiful legend, which in fact turns out to be an invention. Adele was allegedly the artist's mistress, and her husband, who found out about their relationship, turned out to be very insidious and decided to order a portrait of his wife from a famous artist. His idea was as follows: the creation of the portrait should be stretched as much as possible in time, and during this period Klimt, accustomed to changing his mistresses, should lose interest in Adele. And the unfaithful wife would see how the lover loses interest in her - for a young woman this would be the best punishment.

In fact, husband Adele Ferdinand was a wealthy and self-confident Jew who ordered a portrait of his beloved wife as a gift for her parents from the most famous and expensive artist. The picture turned out to be so successful, personified the Viennese splendor and luxury of life. And at the same time, pious Catholics immediately began to whisper, remembering the artist's reputation.

7. A painting that turned out to be not a painting

Thanks to the Internet, fake stories have become even more frequent, and moreover, they are becoming widespread, thanks to pseudo-lovers of art. Kenan Malik, a writer from Great Britain, has published a series of photographs adapted from the paintings of great artists. And as they say, it began. The painting by Gustav Klimt "The Blooming Garden", which turned out to be like a photograph of Kenan, was especially bad. In some versions, the photograph was called a fragment of a painting or even another version. In fact, this photo was taken in London, it shows flowers growing in the Olympic Park. The picture is called "Wild Meadow". In fairness, it should be noted that there really is a similarity.

Any stories related to paintings, one way or another, increase the number of people interested in them. Perhaps sometimes it is not at all necessary to know whether this is a beautiful invention or a real story. Modern people have their own view of art - 12 Russian stars who coolly recreated famous works of art in self-isolation at home.