Video: 20 years in the service of a genius: Henri Matisse and his Russian "odalisque"
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
Paintings Henri Matisse, a recognized genius of world painting, today are included in the collections of the largest museums and are sold under the hammer at auctions for millions of dollars. In love with the culture of the East, he repeatedly painted portraits of swarthy beauties, but in recent years, a completely different image began to appear on his canvases. It was the image of a Russian woman, a Siberian woman, whom the artist called "Kazakh" or "Tatar" …
The name of Lydia Delectorskaya is well known to art critics. This woman became Matisse's muse, his assistant, friend, support. Many argue whether she was a mistress, it is hardly possible to find out the truth today. Lydia herself called Henri the meaning of her life, admired his work, selflessly helped in the workshop, cleaning old canvases from paint, and even looked after Matisse's wife, Amelie, during her illness.
The life story of Lydia Delectorskaya before meeting with the famous painter was unhappy. As a child, she experienced the death of her parents from typhus, then there were years spent with her aunt in China, where Russian migrants fled in search of a better life, in the same Chinese Harbin Lydia married a Russian refugee, and a few years later she and her husband left for Paris … The marriage turned out to be tragic: the husband could raise his hand to Lydia and, in addition, became addicted to drugs, so the girl had no choice but to leave him. In search of a better life, she went to Nice, where the fateful meeting took place.
At first, Lydia got a job as an assistant in the workshop of Matisse, not at all fascinated him, and she herself was not fascinated by the artist's work. The girl, brought up in the traditions of classical art, did not understand the manner of the painter's writing. However, the years passed, Lydia turned out to be truly loyal to the Matisse family. Her education, intelligence, natural grace and beauty, refined style and restraint - all this could not leave Henri indifferent. Having discovered her whole image for himself, the artist got so carried away that he painted portraits of his muse again and again, and twice a year presented them to her as a gift. The best is the painting "Odalisque", on which the girl is depicted in red trousers. Many years later, Lilia Delektorskaya donated her portraits to Russian museums. Lydia lived for 22 years in the house of Henri, leaving it only after the death of the artist.
Do not forget that Matisse was not only a brilliant artist, he also became famous as a sculptor. In particular, the "Nude female figure from the back IV" created by him entered the top 10 most expensive sculptures sold at auction.
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