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Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky loved to draw since childhood, but the family was poor, and Russia would not have seen a great artist if not for the mayor of Feodosia A. I. Kaznacheyev. It was with his help that Aivazovsky was admitted first to the gymnasium in Simferopol, and then to the St. Petersburg art Academy. In St. Petersburg, Aivazovsky quickly talks about: communicates with Bryullov, Glinka, Krylov.

Aivazovsky's fate was the sea. The artist wrote his first sea studies while still at the Academy, and some of them were awarded prizes. But the biography of the Russian artist might have been quite different if in 1838 Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky had not gone to the Crimea for two years. At this time, Aivazovsky meets the future sea heroes of Russia-Nakhimov, Lazarev, Kornilov. Acquaintance leaves an imprint on creativity: now it's not just sea sketches, but battle paintings.

In 1840, Aivazovsky went abroad, where he worked so productively, so vividly revealed his talent that he was awarded the gold medal of the French art Academy and became a knight of the Legion of Honor.

To create this large-scale canvas, the artist, who by that time was already eighty-one years old, spent only 10 days. Looking at the huge picture of stormy sea waters, it's hard to believe. The canvas was one of the most beloved by the master and was personally bequeathed to him as a gift to his native city — Feodosia.

An interesting story is connected with the creation of the canvas. Initially, in the center of the picture, among the raging waves, was a tiny boat with sailors who were able to escape from the sinking ship. But one of Ivan Konstantinovich's relatives, an experienced naval officer, said that such a tiny, fragile boat would not have withstood the onslaught of such powerful waves and would inevitably have sunk. The artist was not happy with this remark, but he always sought to maximize the realism and truthfulness of his works. As a result, the next day the boat disappeared from the canvas — the artist decided to depict only the raging stormy sea as a symbol of the invincible power of the elements.

As for me, I love the work of Aivazovsky and especially this picture. He was really a genius at depicting water. Looking at this picture, you might think that you are in the sea and this wave is about to cover you.

A wide range of soft and iridescent light colors, as well as rich, deep tones were used to create the canvas. The background of the picture is drowned in a thick blue gloom, and in the foreground-the water shimmers and boils with lush caps of mother-of-pearl air foam. Because of the incredibly masterfully selected shades of colors, the water seems transparent and very lively, mobile. This is one of the most accurate and realistic artistic images of the sea during a storm.

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"Path Through a Field with Willows" Vincent van Gogh

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"Path Through a Field with Willows" Vincent van Gogh

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Vincent Willem van Gogh was a Dutch post-impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, including around 860 oil paintings, most of which date from the last two years of his life. They include landscapes, still lifes, portraits and self-portraits, and are characterised by bold colours and dramatic, impulsive and expressive brushwork that contributed to the foundations of modern art. He was not commercially successful, and his suicide at 37 came after years of mental illness, depression and poverty.

The painting "Path in a field with willows" was painted in Arles. In the spring of 1888, van Gogh worked intensively in the open air, creating many new canvases.

In this picture, the artist captured a simple and at first glance unremarkable motif. A wide field stretches into the distance. The path that crosses it goes deep into the canvas, drawing the viewer's gaze behind it, past low willows with a still transparent crown covered with spring buds, to several bright houses in the distance and the blue strip of the horizon behind them.

The painting is done in an impressionistic manner. Van Gogh focused all his attention on the transmission of light and air. Due to the high horizon line, most of the picture is taken up by a field and a path, but the amazing variety of shades makes the simple motif extremely interesting.

The blue transparent spring sky is painted with light brushstrokes, which gives the impression of airiness. The landscape seems to radiate a spring atmosphere, which is felt when you look at the bright colors of the soil, the blue shadows of trees, wide, flooded with light expanses. The blue colors of the sky turn to the field and grass. The artist paints the earth with multicolored contrasting brushstrokes, showing all the variety of shades of nature that awakens under the bright spring sun.

This canvas seems to me very cheerful, it deeply reflects the wonderful spring renewal, similar to what I see in the agricultural fields of my town. Though we don't have such charming willows and cypress. The picture is very inspiring for creativity. Note how the strokes resemble small leaves, blades of grass, petals. I want to do something similar with the herbarium.

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Frida Kahlo was a Mexican painter known for her many portraits, self-portraits, and works inspired by the nature and artifacts of Mexico. Inspired by the country's popular culture, she employed a naïve folk art style to explore questions of identity, postcolonialism, gender, class, and race in Mexican society.Her paintings often had strong autobiographical elements and mixed realism with fantasy.

Kahlo has been described as a surrealist or magical realist.
In this painting Frida expressed her anguish and suffering. The nails are stuck into her face and whole body. A split in her torso looks like an earthquake fissure. In the background is the earth with dark ravines. In the beginning she paints herself nude but later covered her lower part up with something that looks like a hospital sheet. A broken column is put in place of her spine. The column appears to be on the verge of collapsing into rubble.

In this painting Frida looks pretty and strong. Although her whole body is supported by the corset, she is conveying a message of spiritual triumph. She has tears on her face but she is looking straight ahead and is challenging both herself and her audience to face her situation.

The tones are very basic but convey all her pain. The style of this painting is very unique. She laid down each stoke firmly to build a simple and clear image. There are no virtuoso flourishes of the brush and the colors are as neatly contained within contours.

The reaction to the picture caused  mixed feelings. Someone finds it unpleasant and repulsive, and someone sympathizes with the artist and finds himself on this canvas. (It would be better to express this idea using "Some people and others", it would help you avoid using "himself")

As for me, it`s one of my favorite pictures of Frida Kahlo. It shows all her feelings and pain at that moment. She`s a very strong woman and even after all these years, we can still see this thanks to her art.

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Karl Brullov is one of the most famous graduates of the Academy of arts of the Russian Empire. A bright representative of late romanticism, Brullov created many beautiful paintings, including a number of portraits of prominent people of his time . At the age of twenty-three, after graduating with honors from the Academy of fine arts, he went to Europe to continue his studies. After a short trip, he settles in Italy, where he spends fourteen of the most productive creative years of his life.
The painting is made in the style of romanticism. The style of romanticism is characterized by brighter colors and contrasts, dynamic expression, and at times - a departure from the strict norms of perspective and composition. Drama, allegorical and mysticism are characteristic of the subjects of romantic artists.
The painting depicts the pupils of the Russian Countess Julia Pavlovna Samoilova Giovanina and Amalicia. Giovanina is represented as an imperturbable rider, sitting on a lathered, beleaguered steed. Little Amalicia watches her older friend admiringly from the porch, leaning against the railing.
Bryullov uses an unusual combination of colors in this painting. He skillfully combines red shades with brown and almost black-with soft blue and white.
Many admired the work, its dynamics and liveliness. Some critics spoke of the rider's lack of emotion. The unnatural posture and calmness of the girl with such excitement of the horse look improbable-so the critics thought. Despite this, the painting was recognized as a masterpiece of genius.
This picture reminds me of the high society of that time . About the time of the nobles. The girl's ability to stay in the saddle speaks about the upbringing of the time, which is now irrelevant.

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«Girl with peaches» by Valentin Serov (1887)

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«Girl with peaches» by Valentin Serov (1887)

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Valentin Serov is a famous Russian portraitist, the author of the painting "Girl with peaches", as well as portraits of many famous people of his era, a continuation of the traditions of artists of the 19th century. V. A. Serov, a student of Chistyakov and Repin, was a prominent representative of the Russian art school. His most famous creation is "The girl with peaches". Valentin Serov's painting is very harmonious both in composition and in its color. There is an influence of impressionism in it, thanks to the techniques, the artist perfectly managed to convey the play of sunlight, catch and capture a moment, and  finally to draw a masterpiece that still delights the audience.  In the foreground a young girl, daughter of the patron Mamontov is sitting at the dining table. Her appearance contrasts sharply with the calmness and monotony of the room. The girl has black and slightly tumbled hair, ruddy cheeks, tanned skin. The girl is holding a peach in her hands, and three more with maple leaves are lying on the white tablecloth. However, the most expressive is the girl's look, open and curious. The painting is made in a light color scheme. The room is lit by the light pouring from the window. Bright walls, a clean white tablecloth covering the dining table, a polished silver knife – all the furniture is concise, without frills. For a long time, the author did not dare to present the picture to the world, as Russian society was not ready for impressionism. However, when he did it, he
immediately moved to the rank of an accomplished master. Serov's friend and biographer, Russian art historian Igor Grabar, acclaimed it as "the masterpiece of Russian painting". I really like this picture, as it looks quite realistic. It is very joyful and warm, reminds of summer. The author used mostly bright colors, so it turned out to be kind and light.

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Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer

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Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer

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The Swing or The Happy Accidents of the Swing by Jean-Honore Fragonard

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The Swing or The Happy Accidents of the Swing by Jean-Honore Fragonard

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Fragonard was a French artist, one of the most active of Rococco era. He created over 550 paintings. His work are soaked in atmosphere of intimacy, hedonism and erotism.
A few of his works were dated, so  many historians beleive that this piece was done cirka 1767. It was made with oils in size of 84x64.

In centre we can see a young woman on a swing, on the right corner we see an elderly man, maybe a servant, who swings her. Neither of them have spotted her admirer.  Thanks to the highest point of a swing's flight, admirer can take a peek under her skirt. Her shoe is flying down towards statue of a Greek God of secrets and mysteries - Harpocrates.

Colours are fresh, are associate with spring and youth. The painting has complementary colour harmony: most of it is in rich green tones, so girl in infantile pink dress stands out espessialy (especially). She takes so much of our attention that we (like the  heroes of the painting) cannot spot the young man immediately.

The critics considered the painting frivolous, the Enlightenment movement demanded serious art the would show nobility of human.
However, in my opinion, art owes nothing to anybody.

For me, this painting is about fleeting nature of youth, about small joys in our routine and about dumb men that love to shove their noses where they shouldn't

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The Austrian painter Gustave Klimt was born in 1862 in Baumgarten, not far from Vienna, and died in there in 1918.

The patterns in the painting suggests the style of Art Nouveau and the organic forms of the Arts and Crafts movement. At the same time, the background evokes the conflict between two- and three-dimensionality intrinsic to the work of Degas and other modernists.

The Kiss, Klimt’s most famous painting, was released between 1907-08, the highpoint of Klimt “Golden Period,” when he painted a number of works in a similar gilded style.

The inspiration for his “Golden Phase” was presumably provided by a visit to Ravenna during his travels through Italy in 1903, which introduced him to the world of Byzantine mosaics. For Klimt the flatness of the mosaics and their lack of perspective and depth only enhanced their golden brilliance, and he started to make unprecedented use of gold and silver leaf in his own work.

The painting depicts a couple embracing in a field of flowers. The man is bent over the woman, and she, clinging tightly to him, awaits his kiss. In terms of ornamentation, the male figure is characterized by square and rectangular forms, while for the female, soft lines and floral patterns are dominant.

A golden halo surrounds the couple, who seem to have shaken off an earthly weight and have been transported into an infinite, almost sacred sphere.

Klimt depicts the couple locked in intimacy, while the rest of the painting dissolves into shimmering, extravagant flat patterning.

"The Kiss" is the final painting of Klimt's Gold Period, during which he incorporated gold leaf into his works. This practice reflects the strong influence of the gold-detailed religious art of the Middle Ages as well as the sacred works created by artists of the Byzantine Empire. As a result, some considered such paintings as "The Kiss" to be sacrilegious.

The Kiss was bought before it was finished.

In 1908, the Austrian Gallery displayed The Kiss for the first time, even though Klimt hadn't yet put the finishing touches on the work. Its unfinished state didn't stop the Belvedere Museum (a.k.a. The Österreichische Galerie Belvedere) from adding it to their collection on the spot.

The post-Victorian society of the early 1900s perceived "The Kiss" as pornographic, even though both figures are fully robed.

I am not at all an expert in painting, I am a terry dilettante, and I think and feel primitively, so to speak at the everyday level, but I cannot but express myself. The picture is not just beautiful with its colors, it affects me by the image itself, it contains static and dynamic at the same time, I feel it physically.

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Leonardo da Vinci is known to the world as a polymath, architect, mathematician, musician, sculptor, engineer, inventor, anatomist, and writer. Da Vinci is considered a true Renaissance man who had a great deal of proficiency in many subjects. He is revered today because of his artistic contributions that defined and molded the world of art. He is also revered because of his many (numerous?) achievements in other notable fields.
It was one of a number of works to herald the arrival of a new period in art, which was to become known as the High Renaissance. The beautiful woman feeding her child seems to be the epitome of motherhood and motherly love, perceived as perhaps the greatest human value. The composition is simple and balanced, the figures of the Madonna and the Christ child modelled with the finest use of light and shade. Beyond the symmetrical windows lies an endless mountain landscape, recalling the harmony and vastness of all Creation.

Scholarly opinion is divided on the work's attribution, with some believing it to be the work of a pupil of Leonardo such as Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio or Marco d'Oggiono; the Hermitage Museum, however, considers the painting to be an autograph work by Leonardo. The painting takes its name from the House of Litta, a Milanese noble family in whose collection it was for much of the nineteenth century.

Personally I think it’s one of the best Leonardo da Vinci’s works, besides the awesome portrait of Madonna Litta and Child we can see splendid landscapes of Italy, Milan. I haven’t got words to describe this work, just watch and adore. Fortunately, I live nearby Saint-Petersburg I have the opportunity to hit Hermitage almost every month and admire it.

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Edvard Munch, (born December 12, 1863, Löten, Norway—died January 23, 1944, Ekely, near Oslo), Norwegian painter and printmaker whose intensely evocative treatment of psychological themes built upon some of the main tenets of late 19th-century Symbolism and greatly influenced German Expressionism in the early 20th century. His painting The Scream, or The Cry (1893), can be seen as a symbol of modern spiritual anguish.

An example of expressionism, the painting "The Scream", as well as its numerous variants, is still one of the most mysterious masterpieces of world painting.
Red, fiery hot sky covered the cold fjord, which, in turn, gives rise to a fantastic shadow, similar to a certain sea monster. The tension of distorted space, the line is broken, colors are not consistent, the perspective is destroyed.

Only the bridge on which the characters of the picture stand remains unbroken. It is opposed to the chaos in which the world is plunging. A bridge is a barrier that separates man from nature. Protected by civilization, people have forgotten how to feel, see and hear. Two indifferent figures in the distance, not reacting in any way to what is happening around them, only emphasize the tragedy of the plot.

Placed in the center of the composition, the figure of a desperately screaming person attracts the viewer's attention first of all. The face, depersonalized to the point of primitiveness, shows despair and horror bordering on madness. The author managed to convey the most powerful human emotions by means of stingy means. In the eyes of suffering, wide open mouth makes the cry itself shrill and really tangible. The raised hands covering the ears speak of a person's reflex desire to run away from himself, to stop this attack of fear and hopelessness. The loneliness of the main character, his fragility and vulnerability, fill the whole work with a special tragedy and energy.

The author uses a complex technique, using both oil paints and tempera in one work. At the same time, the color of the work is simple, even stingy. In fact, two colors-red and blue, as well as a mix of these two colors-create all the work. Intricate, unreal curves of lines in the image of the Central figure and nature fill the composition with energy and drama.

For the first time, " Cry "(then called " Despair») it was presented to the public at the Berlin exhibition in December 1893. He completed a small series of paintings called "Love" ("Die Liebe") - the predecessor of the larger, but developing the same theme "Frieze of life". In addition to "Scream", it included such paintings as "The Voice", "The Kiss" and "Jealousy", "documenting " the birth, flowering and death of love and the despair that follows. The exhibition was met with a lack of understanding and received mostly negative reviews from critics, but received admiring comments from artists such as Stanislaw Przybyszewski.
Arthur Lubow has described The Scream as "an icon of modern art, a Mona Lisa for our time." It has been widely interpreted as representing the universal anxiety of modern humanity.

In my opinion at the time when this picture was created the technique that the author used and the colors that he used for the picture were definitely unusual and the composition and plot of the picture itself riveted the eyes and could even frighten which was also unusual. This picture is also attractive because everyone sees in it the meaning that is closer to them.

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In 1636, Rembrandt created his undisputed masterpiece of the mythological plot of the thirties, one of the most beautiful paintings of the entire period.

There was a lot of controversy about the meaning, and various biblical and mythological themes were suggested. These include: "Rachel Waiting for Jacob", "Venus Waiting for Mars" and "Danaus". The latter interpretation means a return to the traditional name with a new and more convincing explanation.

However, it has always been clear to every interpreter that the focus is on a happy young woman waiting for an approaching lover. He is still invisible, but the old maid is already raising the curtain for him.

There is no doubt that love inspired Rembrandt's Danae. The plot was based on an ancient myth about the Argos princess: the girl's father, who was predicted to die by the hand of his future grandson, doomed his daughter to loneliness, imprisoning her in a tower. But Zeus, attracted by the beauty of the virgin, penetrated to her in the form of a golden rain.

The heroine is an earthly woman with an emphasized individual appearance. She is beautiful not in body, but in a feeling of anxious anticipation of love. The lush bed forms a precious frame for her figure. Golden light pouring from the depths and talking about the approach of Zeus creates a shining warm atmosphere around the heroine.

The girl welcomed him to her bed and subsequently gave birth to her son Perseus. The artist initially used his first wife, Saskia, as a model for the work, but later replaced her with the face of his mistress Gertier Dierks.

The golden hues of the picture add solemnity and make the episode more fabulous. Golden rain like rays of the sun makes its way to the girl. An unusual large nude canvas was painted for the Dutch school. For a long time, the work was kept in the Rembrandt house. Research has shown that in the early 1640s, the master significantly altered the central section.

Unfortunately, now it is only partially possible to judge the amazing subtlety of the execution of the canvas: in 1985 a man poured acid on it. He also cut the painting twice with a knife. The most severely damaged parts were the face and hair, right arm and legs. The entire middle part was filled with an accumulation of colorful spots. The restoration began on the same day, but ended only twelve years later.

In my opinion, the picture is very unusual, fascinating and bewitching. Among the many gloomy Rembrandts in the Hermitage, youth and sensual delight immediately attract attention, there is human warmth and mystery.

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Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky (born Hovhannes Aivasian) is a Russian marine artist and batalist of Armenian origin, collector, and patron.

He was a painter of the General Naval staff, a full privy councillor, an academician and a honorary member of the Imperial Academy of arts, a honorary member of the Academies of arts in Amsterdam, Rome, Paris, Florence and Stuttgart. Also he was the most outstanding artist of Armenian origin of the XIX century. Being a world-famous artist, Ivan Aivazovsky preferred to live and work in his homeland, in the Crimea. Aivazovsky is best known for his seascapes (more than 6,000 works). The artist is considered one of the greatest marine artists of all time.

Aivazovsky was primarily a marine artist. Marina (from Latin "marinus" — sea) is a genre of visual art that depicts a sea view, as well as a scene of a sea battle or other events taking place at sea. It is a type of landscape.
The artist performed all the works following his three rules and peculiarities.
First, it is the speed of creating a painting. While other artists could work on a single canvas for years or even decades, Aivazovsky created the canvas in a matter of hours or days.
Secondly, it is an image of stories from memory. According to the stories of friends of the artist, it was enough for him to put just a few lines on a sheet of paper to then create another masterpiece.
And thirdly, he used the glaze technique that involves applying a layer of paint on top of another. The finest strokes were applied by the hand of the master so skillfully that he came out with the purest water, rich earth or bright sky. The use of this technique explains the high safety of the master's work, since the multi-layered pattern protects the paint from drying out and cracking.

One of the most famous works of Aivazovsky is the painting "The Ninth Wave".

In 1844, he was destined to survive a severe storm in the Bay of Biscay, after which the ship was considered sunk, and the artist was considered dead. Thanks to this episode, Aivazovsky created the painting "The Ninth Wave", which has become a world painting masterpiece.
In the painting, we can see the early morning, the first rays of the sun and the very low sky, which almost merged with the high waves. It is even afraid to imagine what unbridled elements raged at night, and what the sailors from the wrecked ship had to go through.
Describing Aivazovsky's "The Ninth Wave" is not as easy as it seems, because the artist was able to subtly convey all the power, strength, grandeur and indescribable beauty of the sea element. In the foreground of this rampage are several escaped sailors trying to hold on to the wreckage of the ship. They are desperate, but they are trying together to resist the huge wave that is about to hit them.

Bright red and yellow shades of the rising sun, underneath highlight great clouds, giving them a crimson shade, a painting paints a hope of a miracle; the first rays of light-green crests of the waves are moving in deep purple tones of the sea, not allowing the audience to forget about the power of the stormy sea.

The public liked the painting. Wherever Aivazovsky put it up, there was a queue. Russian critics wrote rave reviews and compared the canvas to Bryullov's "Last day of Pompeii".
Famous collector Pavel Tretyakov became interested in Aivazovsky's success. He liked "The Ninth Wave" especially, and was going to buy it from the artist. In one of his letters, Tretyakov wrote to Aivazovsky: "...give me only your magic water, which would fully convey your incomparable talent! I really want to have your picture in my collection as soon as possible!".

But Tretyakov was not lucky. The painting was bought by Emperor Nicholay I for the Hermitage. The painting had been taken out of the Russian Museum 8 times. The longest trip was to Japan. In 2003, the year of the 30th anniversary of the Fuji Museum, its administration conducted a survey among visitors:"Which of the works for thirty years is most remembered?" And the Japanese audience responded in unison: ""The Ninth Wave" of the Aivazovsky."

I see a significant contrast: on the one hand, I admire the beauty of the sea and the brightness and realism of the plot, and on the other hand, I understand the horror and the catastrophe of the situation. I'm really concerned about the future of the characters.
Also, despite the dramatic name, the whole atmosphere and color palette of the painting are optimistic.
Thus, the picture, on the one hand, demonstrates the destructive power of nature, and on the other hand, its beauty. It is this duality of this masterpiece of Aivazovsky that causes me great delight and a whole flurry of different emotions.
In my opinion, Aivazovsky is absolutely rightly recognized as a master of seascapes.

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In 1937, Pablo Picasso was commissioned to create a painting that would change his career.

The Spanish Republic, which at that time was fighting a desperate Civil war against the country's future dictator Francisco Franco, asked Picasso and other prominent artists to paint a picture for the Spanish pavilion at the international exhibition in Paris. This is how the large-scale painting "Guernica" was born and later became legendary.

The painting was inspired by the bombing of the Basque town of the same name. On April 26, 1937, the Condor Legion raided Guernica. Several thousand bombs were dropped on the city in three hours; as a result, the six-thousandth city was destroyed, about two thousand residents were under the rubble. After the raid, Guernica was burning for another three days. These events were watched by the whole world, including Pablo Picasso. Spanish poet and prominent public figure Rafael Alberti later recalled: "Picasso had never been to Guernica, but the news of the destruction of the city struck him like a blow from a bull's horn."

The bombing of Guernica was the impetus for the creation of the famous canvas. The picture was painted in just a month. "Guernica" was drawn with oils and coloured  with black and white paints. The canvas has a size of 7.8×3.5 m.

The painting shows scenes of death, violence, suffering and helplessness. The choice of a black-and-white palette, on the one hand, conveys a chronological proximity to the newspaper photo of that time, on the other — reflects the lifeless nature of the war. "Guernica" depicts people, animals and buildings in an environment of complete chaos.

It is interesting that initially Guernica by Pablo Picasso did not make a deep impression on his contemporaries. Many visitors who came to the exhibition were simply not ready for the perception of such a picture. Much criticism was caused by the plot of the picture — many viewers and critics of right-wing views began to accuse Picasso of leftist propaganda, which greatly exaggerates the scale of the tragedy in Guernica. However, over time, public perception of the picture has changed significantly. And to date, the majority of both critics and ordinary viewers considered the movie (???)  a masterpiece on a global scale.

Personally, the picture gives me a sense of doom. However, I find Picasso's style of painting very appealing. Despite the idea and appearance of the canvas, I can't take my eyes off this painting. As for me, it is so mysterious and unusual that I undoubtedly call Guernica a masterpiece!