Friday, January 04, 2008

Zinaida Serebriakova - the Great





These paintings were done by a GREAT Russian woman artist named Zinaida Serebriakova (1884-1967). She belonged to the artistic family of Lanceray and married her first cousin Boris Serebriakov. She spent time in Italy and studied in Paris from 1905-1906. Unfortunately, after spending some happy years painting up a storm, she experienced some tragic times and poverty when her husband died during the October Revolution (1919) and she was left with 4 children. She moved to Paris in 1924 to work on a commission with only two of her four children and, after that, was not allowed to have contact with the rest of her family until 1960. A year before her death she was celebrated in Russia as one of the greats and became very popular there. I first discovered her on the childrenincinema website and then again on femme femme femme. She not only painted a charming pierrot (female), but also, quite a few joyful female nudes. There is something so relaxed and natural about her style. Something so beautiful about her technique. Amazing work.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

that was fascinating. The 1909 self portrait looks so in the style of 1950's american illustration. It's uncanny, as if those american illustrators had had access to her work.

Amy Crehore said...

I agree, Liza. Some of her work looks like vintage American
magazine covers- even this
pierrot image. Maybe it was on
a French magazine cover, for all I know. She lived in Paris
from 1924 on...and also did commissions,
and perhaps
some Americans did happen to see her work.