Works by Zinaida Serebryakova. Zinaida Serebryakova: biography and photos

Girl with a candle. Self-portrait (fragment)

Zinaida Evgenievna Serebryakova had a difficult fate, which included great love, the happiness of motherhood, the joy of creating, many years of separation from her children, and longing for her abandoned homeland.

Artist Zinaida Serebryakova. Life and art

The future artist Zinaida Evgenievna Serebryakova (nee Lanseray) was born on December 10, 1884 in the Neskuchny estate near Kharkov, in the family of the famous sculptor Evgeniy Lanseray and Ekaterina Lanseray (nee Benois).

In 1886, the artist’s father died suddenly and the large family settled in the apartment of Nikolai Benois’s grandfather, a famous architect.

Zinaida's mother was a graphic artist in her youth. And there were two famous uncles: the architect Leonty Benois and the artist Alexander Benois.

In the family of Evgeniy and Ekaterina Lansere, in addition to Zinaida, two more children grew up: Nikolai (later a famous architect) and Evgeniy (later a famous artist).

Zina grew up... as a sickly and rather unsociable child, in which she resembled her father and did not at all resemble her mother or her brothers and sisters, who were all distinguished by their cheerful and sociable disposition.

From the memoirs of Alexandre Benois

The future artist spent her childhood and youth in St. Petersburg, and in her beloved estate “Neskuchny”. The girl began to draw early and her uncle Alexander Benois worked with her talented niece a lot.

One of the first paintings by Zinaida Serebryakova is “Apple Tree”. This picture was painted in 1900 in Neskuchny. A young, strong, perky tree bends its branches under the weight of ruddy fruits. Many years later, art critics will say that young Zinaida, subconsciously, depicted a symbol of fertility, free life in unity with nature. And this symbol determined the artist’s entire creative path for the rest of his life.

...On our Neskuchny estate, where everything, both nature and the peasant life around me, excited and delighted me with their picturesqueness, and I generally lived in a kind of “child of enthusiasm”...

Zinaida Evgenievna graduated from a women's gymnasium in 1900 and without much effort entered the St. Petersburg Academy of Painting. However, the girl did not like studying at the Academy, and very soon the future artist left the walls of the Academy and entered the art school of Princess M.K. Tenisheva, and some time later began taking painting lessons from the famous portrait painter Osip Braz.

In 1902, the girl was sent to Italy for treatment and to study Italian painting.

Now it’s difficult to say how sick Zinaida Evgenievna was... The thing is that the future famous artist had a cousin, Boris Serebryakov. The young people were friends for a long time, became friends and fell in love with each other. The relatives knew about this connection, in the end they resigned themselves to the inevitable and stopped interfering with the lovers.

In the end, all the relatives agreed to this marriage, but the church was against the wedding of close relatives. The issue was resolved with the help of a “gift” of 300 rubles - the priest married the young people and the Serebryakov family (Zinaida Evgenievna took her husband’s surname) left for Paris in 1905.

In the capital of France, Zinaida enters the Académie de la Grande Chaumiere and studies with great enthusiasm, draws a lot from life, and writes sketches.

In 1906, the young family returned to St. Petersburg. The young spouse needs to graduate from university (he will become a railway engineer), and the time has come for the young wife to give birth to their first child.

In 1906, a son, Evgeniy, was born, and in 1907, a son, Alexander.

The family lives in Neskuchny, Zinaida takes care of small children and writes a lot: sketches, landscapes and portraits. And he decides to exhibit his works at the 7th exhibition of artists in Moscow in 1910.

The self-portrait “Behind the Toilet” and the gouache “Greenery in Autumn” are acquired by the Tretyakov Gallery. It was an undoubted and very resounding success.

Behind the toilet

I decided to stay with the children in Neskuchny... My husband Boris Anatolyevich was on a business trip, winter came early this year, everything was covered in snow - our garden, the fields around, there were snowdrifts everywhere, it was impossible to go out. But the house on the farm is warm and cozy, and I began to draw myself in the mirror...

From the memoirs of Zinaida Serebryakova

Then there was a short, but very happy, break in creative activity: in 1912, daughter Tatyana was born, and a year later - Ekaterina.

From 1914 to 1917, he created a whole series of paintings about Russian nature and the Russian village (“Peasants”, “Sleeping Peasant Woman”, the famous “Whitening the Canvas”), helped his brother Alexander paint the Kazan Station, painted compositions based on ancient myths and a whole series of self-portraits.

It always seemed to me that being loved and being in love was happiness, I was always in a daze, not noticing the life around me, and I was happy, although even then I knew sadness and tears... You are so young, loved, appreciate this time , dear friend.

Letter from Zinaida Serebryakova to Galina Teslenko. Petrograd, February 28, 1922 =

And then the revolution broke out, and after the revolution came the civil war. Zinaida Evgenievna and her children moved to Kharkov, where a job was found for her in the archaeological museum. The family estate near Kharkov “Neskuchnoe” burned down along with all the artist’s paintings. The husband went to Siberia to work, fell ill with typhus and died.

With a sick mother and four small children in her arms, without a livelihood, without permanent housing. It was at this time that one of the artist’s most tragic paintings, “House of Cards,” appeared. There are simply no oil paints and she writes with pencil and charcoal.

The house of cards is her happiness, which suddenly collapsed, her four orphaned children. And their unfortunate, exhausted mother.

In 1920, the Serebryakov family returned to St. Petersburg, to the apartment of grandfather Nikolai Benois. Here, for the first time in recent years, luck smiled on the destitute family - Moscow Art Theater artists, and not Soviet workers, were moved into a large apartment “to consolidate.”

Zinaida begins to write again. She paints several portraits of her late husband (they are now kept in the Tretyakov Gallery and the Novosibirsk Art Gallery), writes a whole series of works about the theater. It so happened that Zinaida Evgenievna’s daughter began to study ballet and the artist and her daughters often visit the Mariinsky Theater.

Hard times of hunger are giving way to some revival - exhibition activities are being revived. Serebryakova again worked a lot and in 1924 became a participant in a large exhibition of Russian artists in America. All her paintings were sold, but the $500 received for the paintings was catastrophically insufficient for the life of a large family in Soviet Russia, and the inspired Serebryakova decided to go to Paris, arrange a personal exhibition there and earn more money.

This is the official version. Or maybe she believed in her success and wanted simple prosperity and international recognition? This is already my version.

However, in Paris, even without Serebryakova, there are a huge number of Russian artists, and Paris is fickle and spoiled by a simply incredible offer of paintings at very affordable prices. In addition, Zinaida Evgenievna completely lacked a commercial streak.

Subsequently, Konstantin Somov said:

She is so pathetic, unhappy, inept, everyone offends her.

Serebryakova's first exhibition in Paris took place only in 1927.

Zinaida Evgenievna sends all the money she earned in Paris to St. Petersburg to support her family. She herself lives in France on a bird's license (with a refugee passport. She received French citizenship only in 1947).

Life now seems to me like meaningless vanity and lies - everyone’s brains are now very clogged, and now there is nothing sacred in the world, everything is ruined, debunked, trampled into the dirt.

Why didn't she return to Russia? Why didn't you move your family to France? Difficult questions that I definitely cannot answer.

A few years later, daughter Katya comes to France, and then son Alexander. And immigration from the Soviet Union stops. Zinaida Evgenievna will see her daughter Tatyana only 36 years later with the onset of the Khrushchev Thaw.

In 1961, two Soviet artists arrived in Paris - D. Shmarinov and S. Gerasimov. It was they who helped organize exhibitions of Serebryakova’s paintings in Moscow, Leningrad and Kyiv in 1966. Albums with her works sell millions of copies around the world.

The much-desired fame finally comes to her, and this fame comes from abandoned Russia - after the exhibition in the USSR, a real hunt begins all over the world for the artist’s paintings. Serebryakova is compared to Renoir and Botticelli.

She never managed to gain the independence and financial well-being that she had been striving for all her life.
But international fame remained.

Today her paintings are sold not just “for high prices”. In 2015, the painting “Sleeping Girl” was sold at auction for $5.9 million.
Life is terribly unfair. Or is it fair? I have no answer.

Paintings by artist Zinaida Serebryakova

Sleeping peasant woman

Whitening canvas

In the ballet dressing room ("Big Ballerinas")

Sleeping model

At breakfast

Portrait of B.A. Serebryakova

Resting black woman

Reclining Moroccan woman

Portrait of Vera Fokina

Sleeping girl

Nude

House of cards

Greenery in autumn

Behind the toilet. Self-portrait

Sunlit

Self-portrait dressed as Pierrot

Portrait of Olga Konstantinovna Lanceray

Bather

Girl with a candle. Self-portrait

Nurse with child

Ballet restroom. Snowflakes

Self-portrait with daughters

Katya with dolls

Serebryakova Katya in a blue dress near the Christmas tree

Katya with still life

Portrait of A.D. Danilova

Portrait of V.K. Ivanova in a Spanish costume

Son Alexander in a carnival costume

Serebryakova Z. E.

Zinaida Lansere, by Serebryakov’s husband, was born near Kharkov. She was destined to give birth to four children, become a widow, change from Kharkov to Petrograd, and then to Paris and there settle down in the cemetery of Saint-Genevieve-des-Bois.

She was born and raised in a family where more than one generation worshiped art. Great-great-grandfather Caterino Cavos - originally from Italy, musician, author of operas and symphonies; great-grandfather, Albert Kavos - architect; my own grandfather - Nikolai Benois - architect, academician. Zinaida's father is the famous sculptor Nikolai Lanceray.

After the death of her father, Zina lived with her grandfather, Nikolai Benois, where a creative atmosphere reigned, and the very atmosphere of the house was permeated with the spirit of art. The dining room was decorated with paintings painted by her mother, a student at the Academy of Arts. The rooms contained antique furniture made by ancient masters. Famous people gathered in the house: Bakst, Somov, Diaghilev and others.

Zina herself loved to draw since childhood. She never thoroughly studied drawing anywhere: only two months at a private drawing school under the direction of I. Repin, and studied for two years in the workshop of O. E. Braz. But she knew how to learn, to absorb everything useful, and already at the age of 17 she easily learned to work with watercolors in two or three colors, to achieve purity and beauty of tone.

For health reasons, in 1901 she was taken to Italy, where she enthusiastically and extensively painted mountain landscapes with rich vegetation, the sea with coastal stones, narrow, sun-drenched streets, houses, and room interiors.

In 1905, Zina married railway engineer Serebryakov and went with him on a honeymoon to Paris. There she entered a workshop school, where she studied hard and imitated the Impressionists. But besides the streets and houses of Paris, she was interested in the life of the peasants, she sketched cattle, carts, and barns.

Returning to Moscow, Zinaida writes a lot, especially loves to paint portraits. Magazines began to say about her that she had a “big, colorful temperament.” She began to exhibit among already famous painters, and she was noticed. Later, A. Benois wrote about the exhibition of Serebryakova’s works: “...she gave the Russian public such a wonderful gift, such a “smile from ear to ear” that one cannot help but thank her...”

Serebryakova’s paintings were marked by complete spontaneity and simplicity, true artistic temperament, something ringing, young, laughing, sunny and clear. All her works amaze with their vitality and innate skill. And village boys, and students, and rooms, and fields - everything from Serebryakova comes out bright, living its own life and sweet.

Before the First World War, the artist visited Italy and Switzerland, where she painted many landscapes. She returned home in the summer of 1914, where she was greeted by gloomy and confused men's faces, wailing soldiers and roaring girls.

In 1916, Alexander Benois was offered the painting of the Kazan railway station in Moscow, then he invited recognized masters to work - Mstislav Dobuzhinsky, Boris Kustodiev, and among these chosen ones was Zinaida Evgenievna Serebryakova.

In 1918, the Neskuchnoye estate, where the Serebryakovs lived, burned down. The family moved to Kharkov. Boris Anatolyevich, Zinaida's husband, contracted typhus in 1919 and died.

The Serebryakovs lived meagerly, sometimes on the verge of poverty. The artist was forced to earn extra money by drawing visual aids. A joyless life dragged on. Then the Serebryakovs moved to St. Petersburg and settled in the empty apartment of their grandfather N.L. Benois. In order to somehow survive, the artist enters the service of a visual aids workshop for a meager salary.

Meanwhile, in 1924, there was an exhibition of Serebryakova in America, at which about 150 paintings were sold. At that time it was a lot of money, especially in the destroyed Land of the Soviets. Alexandre Benois, who settled in Paris with his family, called them to them. Moreover, she received an order for a panel from Paris. What will a mother of four children living in the “restricted” Soviet Union do? Will he leave them and rush to France? Or will he still stay with them? In addition to the children, Serebryakova also has a sick mother in her arms. Means of livelihood - zero.

Serebryakova decided to go. Biographers claim: “Subsequently she repented and wanted to return to Russia, even to the USSR. But she failed.” But why didn't it work? Or did you still not want to? For example, Marina Tsvetaeva succeeded. Zinaida Serebryakova - no. Although her older brother, Evgeny Lanceray, a Soviet professor, came to see her in France. He worked in Tbilisi and was sent to Paris by decision of the People's Commissariat of Education of Georgia. They managed to send two children to her in France, two more remained in Russia - Serebryakova would see one of her daughters only 36 years later, during the Khrushchev Thaw.

France did not bring Serebryakova happiness. There was little money, she lived an almost poverty-stricken life. I sent pennies to the children. And she very much regretted her decision to leave Russia. And the creativity of the period of emigration was not so bright, splashing with colors, temperament. All the best is left at home.

Winter in Tsarskoe Selo (1911)

Whitening canvas (1916-17)

Behind the toilet. Self-portrait (1908-1909)

Self-portrait in a white blouse (1922)

Self-portrait dressed as Pierrot (1911)

Bath

Brittany, Pont-l Abbe (1934)

Countess St. Hippolyte, née Princess Trubetskoy (1942)

Katya with dolls (1923)

Basket of flowers

Bather (1911)

The Nun of Cassis (1928)

Switzerland

On the terrace in Kharkov (1919)

Still Life with Vegetables (1936)

Not boring. Fields (1912)

Nanny (1908-1909)

Peasant Woman Putting on Shoes (1915)

Sunlit (1928)

Beach

Portrait of A. A. Cherkesova-Benoit (1938)

Portrait of Serebryakov. (1922)

Portrait of ballerina L.A. Ivanova. (1922)

Portrait of E. N. Heidenreich in blue

Portrait of Natasha Lansere with a cat (1924)

Portrait of O. I. Rybakova as a child (1923)

Portrait of Olga Konstantinovna Lanceray (1910)

Portrait on blue

Poultry Yard (1910)

Market at Pont-l Abbe (1934)

Snowflakes (1923)

Sleeping girl on blue (Katyusha on a blanket) 1923

Sleeping peasant woman

Tata and Katya

Terrace in Collioure

At Lunch (1914)

Z. Serebryakova, 1900s.

Zinaida Evgenievna Serebryakova (1884-1967) – artist.

Zinaida Serebryakova was born on December 12, 1884 in the Neskuchnoye estate, Kursk province. She was the youngest of six children in the family of the sculptor Evgeniy Aleksandrovich Lanceray (1848-1886) and his wife Ekaterina Nikolaevna (1850-1933), née Benois.

Her father died when Zinaida was two years old, and her mother and children left Neskuchny for the St. Petersburg apartment of her father, Nikolai Leontievich Benois (1813-1898). In my grandfather’s house everything was alive with art: exhibitions, the theater, the Hermitage. Zinaida's mother was a graphic artist in her youth; her uncle Alexander Nikolaevich Benois (1870-1960) and older brother Evgeniy Lanceray were fond of drawing.

The family was not surprised when the gifted girl decided to become an artist. For several years she changed schools, countries and teachers in search of what she needed. In 1900 - the art school of Princess Tenisheva. A year later, several months at Ilya Repin's school. Then a year in Italy. In 1903-1905 apprenticeship with portrait painter O.E. Braza (1873-1936). In 1905-1906 – Grand Chaumiere Academy in Paris.

In 1905, Zinaida Lansere married Boris Serebryakov, who was her cousin. They knew each other since childhood. And in 1910, the artist Zinaida Serebryakova received recognition for her painting “Behind the Toilet.” Family happiness and the joy of creativity!

The October Revolution found Zinaida Serebryakova in Neskuchny. In 1919, her husband died of typhus. She was left with four children and a sick mother. The estate was plundered, and in 1920 she left for Petrograd to live in her grandfather’s apartment. There was a place there after compaction.

Serebryakova went to Paris in 1924 and did not return. After some time, they managed to transport the children Sasha and Katya to her. She helped her mother and Tata and Zhenya, who remained with her, as best she could.

The brilliant artist Zinaida Serebryakova lived half her life in impoverished Parisian emigration. Fame abroad came to her after her death. And in your homeland? In the USSR in 1960, after 36 years of separation, her daughter Tatyana Borisovna Serebryakova, Tata, came to Paris. But the artist did not dare to follow her to Russia. There was no strength to move. Only in the spring of 1965 did the 80-year-old artist realize her dream - she came to Moscow for the opening of her first exhibition in the USSR.

Serebryakova - joy of life

In a scarf, 1911

Pierrot. Portrait 1911

Biography of Serebryakova

1884. November 28 (December 12) - birth of a daughter, Zinaida, in the Neskuchnoye estate, Belgorod district, Kursk province, into the family of the sculptor Evgeniy Aleksandrovich Lanceray and his wife Ekaterina Nikolaevna (nee Benois).
1886. March 23 – father’s death from tuberculosis. Autumn - moving to St. Petersburg to visit his mother’s parents - academician of architecture Nikolai Leontievich Benois and grandmother Kamilla Albertovna.
1893. Study at the Kolomna women's gymnasium.
1898. December 11 – death of grandfather N.L. Benoit.
1899. Summer - the first summer after the death of my grandfather, entirely spent on the Neskuchnoye estate.
1900. Graduation from high school and admission to the M.K. Art School. Tenisheva.
1902. Ekaterina Nikolaevna’s trip with her daughters Ekaterina, Maria and Zinaida to Italy to Capri - “Capri” sketches.
1903. March - move to Rome, acquaintance under the leadership of A.N. Benois with the art of Antiquity and the Renaissance. Summer – work in Neskuchny on landscapes and sketches of peasants. Autumn – admission to O.E.’s workshop. Braza (studied there until 1905).
1905. Spring - visit organized by S.P. Diaghilev historical exhibition of portraits in the Tauride Palace. September 9 – marriage to Boris Anatolyevich Serebryakov. November – departure with his mother to Paris to study at the Académie de la Grande Chaumiere. December - the arrival of my husband in Paris, who entered the Paris Higher School of Roads and Bridges.
1906. Study at the Académie de la Grande Chaumiere. April – return to St. Petersburg. May 26 – birth of a son in Neskuchny, named after the artist’s father Evgeniy.
1907. September 7 – birth of son Alexander.
1908-1909. Serebryakova painted landscapes and portraits in Neskuchny.
1910. February - participation in the VII exhibition of the Union of Russian Artists in St. Petersburg with thirteen works. Acquisition of three works by the Tretyakov Gallery.
1911. December - participation in the World of Art exhibition in Moscow. Serebryakova was elected a member of the association.
1912. January 22 – birth of daughter Tatyana.
1913. June 28 – birth of daughter Catherine.
1914. May-June - trip to Northern Italy (Milan, Florence, Padua, Venice). Along the way - Berlin, Leipzig, Munich.
1915. November - Serebryakova’s participation in the exhibition of sketches, sketches and drawings “World of Art” in Petrograd.
1916. December - participation in the exhibition "World of Art" in Petrograd. Working on sketches of panels for the Kazansky railway station. Images of oriental beauties did not appear in the station's paintings.
1917. January - Serebryakova was nominated for the title of academician of the Academy of Arts. S.R. Ernst completed a monograph on Serebryakova’s work, published in 1922.
1918. Serebryakova with her mother and children lived in Kharkov in temporary apartments. Sometimes I came to Neskuchnoye.
1919. January - Zinaida Serebryakova came to her husband in Moscow. March 22 – death of B.A. Serebryakov from typhus in Kharkov. Autumn - the Neskuchnoye estate is looted and destroyed. November – relocation with mother and children to Kharkov. End of the year - participation in the "First Exhibition of Arts of the Kharkov Council of Workers' Deputies."
1920. January-October - work at the Archaeological Museum at Kharkov University. December – return to Petrograd.
1921. April - the Serebryakova family moved to the “Benoit house”. The acquisition by the Society for the Encouragement of Arts of a number of works by the artist with their subsequent transfer to the Russian Museum and the Tretyakov Gallery.
1922. May-June - participation in the World of Art exhibition in Petrograd. Start of work at the Choreographic School and the Mariinsky Theater on sketches of artistic dressing rooms and portraits of ballerinas.
1924. January - participation in the exhibition of artists "World of Art". March 8 – opening in New York of an exhibition of one hundred Russian artists in the USA. Of Serebryakova’s 14 paintings, two were sold. August 24 – Serebryakova’s departure from the USSR. September 4 – arrival in Paris.
1925. Spring - Serebryakova in England with cousin N.L. Ustinova. May-June – work on custom portraits. Summer – son Alexander’s arrival in France. Moving with my son to Versailles, working on sketches in Versailles Park.
1927. March 26 - April 12 – Serebryakova’s exhibition at the J. Charpentier gallery. June-August – arrival on a business trip of E.E. Lansere.
1928. March - daughter Katya arrives in Paris. Summer - work in Bruges on portraits of members of the family of Baron J.A. de Brouwer. December – the start of a six-week trip to Morocco.
1929. January - end of trip to Morocco. February 23 - March 8 – exhibition of Moroccan works by Serebryakova at the Bernheim Jr. Gallery. April 30 - May 14 – Serebryakova’s exhibition in the gallery of V.O. Girshman.
1930. January-February - participation in an exhibition of Russian art in Berlin. Summer - a trip to the south of France, creating numerous landscapes in Collioure and Menton. Participation in an exhibition of Russian art in Belgrade.
1931. March-April - participation in exhibitions of portraits of the French Association of Artists. July-August – trip to Nice and Menton. November-December – exhibition (together with D. Buschen) in Antwerp and Brussels.
1932. February-March - trip to Morocco: work on portraits, landscapes, everyday scenes. Summer – work in Italy: landscapes of Florence and Assisi. December 3-18 – Serebryakova’s exhibition at the J. Charpentier gallery, articles by A.N. Benoit and K. Moclair. December – participation in the exhibition “Russian Art” at the Renaissance Gallery in Paris. Participation in the exhibition "Russian Painting of Two Centuries" in Riga.
1933. March 3 – mother’s death in Leningrad. April – participation in the exhibition of portraits of the French Association of Artists. Summer – trip to Switzerland and the south of France. Moving to Rue Blanche in Montmartre.
1934. April - participation in an exhibition of portraits at the House of Artists in Paris. July-August - Serebryakova in Brittany: work on landscapes, portraits of lacemakers and fishermen.
1935. Spring - participation in an exhibition of Russian art in London. Summer – trip to Esteny (Auvergne), creating still lifes with grapes. End of the year - preparation for painting the hall of the villa of Baron J.A. de Brouwer "Manoir du Relay". Participation in the exhibition "Russian Art of the 18th-20th Centuries" in Prague.
1936. Work on panels for Manoir du Relay. December – Serebryakova in Belgium to “try on” four panels in the hall of the Manoir.
1937. April - Serebryakova in Belgium to deliver the panels and finalize the maps written by her son Alexander. June – visit to the Soviet pavilion at the World Exhibition in Paris. June-August – trips to Brittany, the south of France, the Pyrenees.
1938. January 18 - February 1 - Serebryakova exhibition at the J. Charpentier gallery in Paris. June-August – trips to England and Corsica. Serebryakova has a sharp deterioration in her health - cardiac neurosis. On the recommendation of doctors, she went to Italy, to San Gimignano. December – eye surgery.
1939. May 6 – death of K.A. Somova. July-August - Serebryakova in Switzerland: work on portraits and landscapes. September 3 – France enters World War II. Moving to Campagne Premier Street.
1940. Beginning of the year - cessation of postal communication with relatives in the USSR. June 14 – German troops enter Paris.
1941. June 22 – German attack on the USSR. Autumn – participation in three works in the Autumn Salon. Work on landscapes of the Tuileries and Luxembourg Gardens.
1942. Operation for Graves' disease. Death in prison in Saratov of brother N.E. Lansere, arrested in 1938
1944. August 25 – liberation of Paris.
1946. September 13 - death in Moscow of brother E.E. Lansere. December – correspondence with relatives resumes.
1947-1948. Serebryakov in England: working on commissioned portraits and still lifes.
1949. August - trip to the French provinces of Auvergne and Burgundy to work on commissioned portraits.
1951. Beginning of permanent exhibition of Serebryakova’s works in the USSR at exhibitions from private collections and museum funds.
1953. Summer - Serebryakova in England: work on landscapes.
1954. May-June - nine-day exhibition of works, together with A.B. and E.B. Serebryakov, in a workshop on Campagne Premier Street.
1955. November - decision to bequeath several of his works to museums in the Soviet Union.
1956. August – meeting at A.N. Benoit and in his workshop with F.S., who came from Moscow. Bogorodsky.
1957. May-September - visits to Serebryakova by Vice President of the USSR Academy of Arts V.S. Kemenov.
1958. March – meeting between Serebryakova and V.S. Kemenov and the USSR Ambassador to France S.A. Vinogradov, who offered to return to their homeland. June - visit to the Moscow Art Theater's touring performance "The Cherry Orchard", meeting with the theater management and actress K. Ivanova.
1960. February 9 – death of A.N. Benoit in Paris. April marks the first visit to Paris of Tatyana’s daughter after thirty-six years of separation. December 15 – opening of the exhibition “The Benois Family” in London, in which Serebryakova participated in three landscapes.
1961. Appeal by T.B. Serebryakova to the board of the Union of Artists to organize an exhibition of her mother in the USSR. March - visit to Serebryakova by employees of the Soviet embassy, visit of S.V. Gerasimova, D.A. Shmarinova, A.K. Sokolov to view the works.
1962. February 17 - participation with four works in the evening in favor of Russian disabled people of the First World War.
1964. May – daughter Tatyana arrives from Moscow. Spring-summer - Serebryakova selected and put in order works for an exhibition in Moscow. Sending works with the help of the Soviet embassy. Autumn – correspondence regarding the design of the poster and exhibition catalogue.
1965. May-June - exhibitions of Zinaida Serebryakova in Moscow at the Exhibition Hall of the Union of Artists and Kyiv at the Kiev State Museum of Russian Art.
1966. February – visit to Serebryakova by art critic I.S. Zilberstein. March-April – an exhibition of Serebryakova’s paintings in Leningrad at the Russian Museum, which was a huge success. Spring – visit of the director of the Russian Museum V.A. Pushkareva. The Russian Museum acquired 21 works by Serebryakova from the exhibition. December – son Eugene’s first visit to Paris.
1967. Spring - Evgeny and Tatiana arrive in Paris to meet with their mother. Creation of portraits of Tatiana and Evgeniy, V.A. Pushkareva. September 19 – Zinaida Evgenievna Serebryakova died after a short illness. She was buried in the Sainte-Geneviève des Bois cemetery near Paris.

Serebryakova's paintings

The successful life of the talented artist Z.E. Serebryakova, after 1917 turned into years of wandering, suffering and memories of the past. She was torn between the need to create and the need to earn money to support her family. But Serebryakova’s paintings are always about beauty and harmony, an open and friendly look.

Serebryakov in Moscow

Komsomolskaya, 2. Kazansky railway station. In 1916, Z. Serebryakov, at the invitation of uncle A.N. Benoit took part in the painting of the station.
Lavrushinsky, 10. Tretyakov Gallery. After an exhibition organized in 1910 by the World of Art association, the Tretyakov Gallery acquired several paintings by Serebryakova.

Zinaida Evgenievna Serebryakova (maiden name Lancere; December 12, 1884, Neskuchnoe village, Kharkov province, now Kharkov region, Ukraine - September 19, 1967, Paris, France) - Russian artist, member of the World of Art association, one of the first Russians women who made history of painting.

Biography of Zinaida Serebryakova

Zinaida Serebryakova was born on November 28, 1884 in the family estate “Neskuchnoe”, near Kharkov. Her father was a famous sculptor. Her mother came from the Benois family and was a graphic artist in her youth. Her brothers were no less talented, the younger was an architect, and the eldest was a master of monumental painting and graphics.

Zinaida owes her artistic development primarily to her uncle Alexander Benois, her mother’s brother and older brother.

The artist spent her childhood and youth in St. Petersburg in the house of her grandfather, architect N. L. Benois, and on the Neskuchny estate. Zinaida's attention was always attracted by the work of young peasant girls in the fields. Subsequently, this will be reflected more than once in her work.

In 1886, after the death of his father, the family moved from the estate to St. Petersburg. All family members were busy with creative activities, and Zina also painted with enthusiasm.

In 1900, Zinaida graduated from a women's gymnasium and entered an art school founded by Princess M.K. Tenisheva.

In 1902-1903, during a trip to Italy, she created many sketches and sketches.

In 1905 she married Boris Anatolyevich Serebryakov. After the wedding, the young couple went to Paris. Here Zinaida visits the Academy de la Grande Chaumiere, works a lot, draws from life.

A year later, the young return home. In Neskuchny, Zinaida works hard - creating sketches, portraits and landscapes. In the very first works of the artist, one can already discern her own style and determine the range of her interests. In 1910, Zinaida Serebryakova experienced real success.

During the Civil War, Zinaida's husband was on research in Siberia, and she and her children were in Neskuchny. It seemed impossible to move to Petrograd and Zinaida went to Kharkov, where she found a job at the Archaeological Museum. Her family estate in Neskuchny burned down, and all her works were lost. Boris later died. Circumstances force the artist to leave Russia. She goes to France. All these years the artist lived in constant thoughts about her husband. She painted four portraits of her husband, which are kept in the Tretyakov Gallery and the Novosibirsk Art Gallery.

In the 20s, Zinaida Serebryakova returned with her children to Petrograd, to Benoit’s former apartment. Zinaida's daughter Tatyana began studying ballet. Zinaida and her daughter visit the Mariinsky Theater and go behind the scenes. At the theater, Zinaida constantly drew.

The family is going through difficult times. Serebryakova tried to paint paintings to order, but nothing worked out for her. She loved working with nature.

In the first years after the revolution, lively exhibition activity began in the country. In 1924, Serebryakova became an exhibitor at a large exhibition of Russian fine art in America. All the paintings presented to her were sold. With the money raised, she decides to go to Paris to organize an exhibition and receive orders. In 1924 she leaves.

The years spent in Paris did not bring her joy or creative satisfaction. She yearned for her homeland and tried to reflect her love for her in her paintings. Her first exhibition took place only in 1927. She sent the money she earned to her mother and children.

In 1961, two Soviet artists visited her in Paris - S. Gerasimov and D. Shmarinov. Later in 1965, they organize an exhibition for her in Moscow.

In 1966, the last, large exhibition of Serebryakova’s works took place in Leningrad and Kyiv.

In 1967, in Paris at the age of 82, Zinaida Evgenievna Serebryakova died.

Creativity of Serebryakova

Even in her youth, the artist always expressed her love for Russia in her sketches. Her painting “Garden in Bloom” and some others clearly speak of the charm of Russian endless expanses, meadow flowers, and fields.

The paintings that appeared in the exhibitions of 1909–1910 express a distinctive and unique style.

The self-portrait “Behind the Toilet” caused the greatest delight among the audience. A woman living in a small village, looking in the mirror one short winter evening, smiles at her reflection, as if playing with a comb. In this work by the young artist, like herself, everything breathes freshness. There is no modernism; a corner of the room, as if illuminated by youth, appears before the viewer in all its charm and joy.

The greatest peak of the artist’s creativity occurred in the pre-revolutionary years. These are paintings about peasants and beautiful Russian landscapes, as well as everyday genres, for example, the painting “At Breakfast”, “Ballerinas in the Dressing Room”.

Behind the toilet At breakfast Whitening canvas

One of the significant works of these years is the painting “Whitening the Canvas”, painted in 1916, where Serebryakova acts as a muralist.

The figures of village women in a meadow near a river look majestic due to the image of a low horizon. Early in the morning they spread the freshly woven canvases and leave them for the day under the bright rays of the sun. The composition is built in red, green and brown tones, which gives the small canvas the properties of a monumental and decorative canvas. This is a kind of hymn to the hard work of the peasants. The figures are made in different color and rhythmic keys, which creates a single plastic melody, closed within the composition. All this is one majestic chord that glorifies the beauty and strength of the Russian woman. Peasant women are depicted on the banks of a small river, from which the pre-dawn fog rises up. The reddish rays of the sun give a special charm to women's faces. “Whitening the canvas” is reminiscent of ancient frescoes.

The artist interprets this work as a ritual performance, showing the beauty of people and the world, using the pictorial and linear rhythm of the painting. Unfortunately, this is the last great work of Zinaida Serebryakova.

In the same year, Benoit was ordered to decorate the Kazan Station with paintings and he invited his niece to work. The artist decides to create an oriental theme in her own way. Present India, Japan, Turkey and Siam as beautiful women of the East.

At the very peak of her creativity, the artist suffers great grief. Having fallen ill with typhus, in a short time the husband burns out from this terrible disease, and Serebryakova’s mother and four children are left in her arms. The family is in dire need of literally everything. The supplies that were on the estate were completely plundered. There are no paints, and the artist writes her “House of Cards” with charcoal and pencil, in which she depicts her children.

Serebryakova responds with a categorical refusal to master the style of futurism and finds work at the Kharkov archaeological museum, making pencil sketches of exhibits.

Art lovers buy her paintings for almost nothing, for food or old things.

Serebryakova travels to African countries. Exotic landscapes surprise her, she paints the Atlas Mountains, portraits of African women, and creates a series of sketches about fishermen in Brittany.

In 1966, exhibitions of Serebryakova’s works were opened in the capital of the USSR, Moscow and some large cities; many of the paintings were acquired by Russian museums.

In her youth, Zinaida fell in love and married her own cousin. The family did not approve of their marriage, and the young people were forced to leave their native lands.

In the paintings of the Russian artist Zinaida Serebryakova there are many paintings that describe the life and work of the peasant population. She painted people working on the land from life directly onto the field where the peasants worked. In order to have time to capture all the details, the artist got up before the workers and came to the field with paints and brushes before all the work began.

Due to constant poverty, Serebryakova was forced to make her own paints, since there was simply nothing to buy them for. Today, fabulous sums are offered for Serebryakova’s works, although during her lifetime Zinaida was not always able to sell her paintings, and the artist had to live in poverty for almost all of her time on earth.

Having left for France and leaving her daughter and son in Russia, Serebryakova could not even imagine that the next time she would see her own child would only be 36 years later.

Zinaida Serebryakova (1884-1967), nee Zinaida Evgenievna Lansere, is one of the biggest female names in Russia. She was a bright representative of symbolism and art deco, a member of the World of Art association, and also simply a woman with a strong character who endured all the hardships of two wars and revolutions.

There was nothing unexpected in the talent of the future great artist, which was discovered at a young age - she inherited it as a representative of the Benois-Lanceret creative dynasty: the famous architect Nikolai Benois was her grandfather, her father, Eugene Lanseret, was a sculptor, and her mother was a graphic artist.

At the age of 16, Zinaida graduated from a women's gymnasium and entered the art school of Princess Tenisheva. Later, her education was carried out by the talented portrait painter Osip Braz. And in 1905-1906, Serebryakova studied painting at the Académie de la Grande Chaumiere in Paris.

The artist spent many years in exile, but her style was formed in her youth, in St. Petersburg. Zinaida was in love with Russia with all her soul, and the difficult trials that befell the country tormented her much more than separation from her homeland.

The early period of her work includes the paintings “Peasant Girl” (1906) and “Orchard in Bloom. Neskuchnoye” (1908), which are filled with love for the simplicity and natural beauty of the surrounding world and the Russian land. These works were made with the firm hand of a master, which indicates the very early formation of the girl’s professional artistic skills - at that time she was a little over 20 years old.

However, the artist’s skill did not push her to create complex masterpieces, filled with sophisticated techniques and replete with details. On the contrary, Zinaida’s paintings are distinguished by their simplicity and pleasant lightness in depicting reality. She almost never turned to a cold range of colors; her works were dominated by light pastel shades of a warm palette.

Serebryakova’s fame was first brought to her by her own self-portrait, painted in 1909 – it is called “Behind the Toilet”. It was this work that became the most recognizable in the artist’s work. The painting shows a young girl looking in the mirror while combing her long brown hair.

The expressive features of her face force the viewer to linger on the canvas for a long time. Her image simultaneously combines the aristocracy of a representative of a famous family and the simplicity of an ordinary Russian girl, in whose soul passions sometimes boil, and in whose eyes slyness and laughter are hidden. The strap of a light blouse is carelessly lowered from one shoulder, toiletries, knitting and jewelry lie in disarray on the table - the author of the picture does not seek to embellish himself and is not afraid to appear funny in the eyes of the viewer. Both the appearance of the beauty depicted in the self-portrait and the environment around her speak of the energy and cheerfulness of the heroine.

It should be noted that Serebryakova often “dabbled” in portraying herself. One cannot blame her for this tendency - what modern girl would miss the chance to take her own photograph? Zinaida always had at hand all the necessary tools to perpetuate her image at different times, in different moods, in different clothes, with family and friends. In total, there are at least 15 self-portraits of Serebryakova. Among them, for example, “Self-Portrait in Red” (1921) and “Self-Portrait”, painted in 1946.

It should be noted that the artist did not hesitate to let the viewer not only into her room, but also into her family. It was typical for her to depict her life. Family members very often ended up on the canvas.

Another equally famous work of Zinaida, related to domestic genre portraits, is “At Breakfast” (1914). On it, the artist skillfully depicted the warm atmosphere of home comfort and peace. The viewer unwittingly ends up visiting the Serebryakova family during lunch.

Her children - Zhenya, Sasha and Tanya - are sitting at a table covered with a white tablecloth, on which plates of food are placed. Genuinely sincere emotions are written on their gentle faces - boredom, curiosity, surprise. The boys are dressed in similar blue shirts, and Tanya is wearing a house dress with nice lace at the collar and on the shoulders. In the corner of the picture you can also notice the presence of an adult - a grandmother, whose hands are carefully pouring soup for one of the children. Judging by the table set, the family lives in abundance, but does not strive for excess.

The period from 1914 to 1917 is considered to be the heyday of Serebryakova’s creativity. At this time, she was especially interested in Russian motifs, themes of folk life, peasant life and culture. Love for the motherland is rethought by the artist - probably due to the darkening colors of the First World War, which affected the destinies of many Russian people. Serebryakova emphasizes the unity of the people, their identity and the beauty of the working person. The artist’s tender feelings for her homeland are perfectly conveyed by the paintings “Harvest” (1915), “Peasants. Lunch" (1914) and "Whitening the Canvas" (1917).

The revolution and the events that followed it turned into a series of dramatic events for Serebryakova. Her husband died of typhus, and Zinaida was left alone with four children and a sick mother in her arms. She had to fight hunger and a lack of the basic necessities of life. The issue of selling works became acute.

During that period, Zinaida wrote her most tragic picture - “House of Cards” (1919). And again the main characters were the artist’s children. The house of cards that Katya is building under the strict guidance of her brothers and sister is, of course, a metaphor. It reflects the instability and fragility of life in Russia at that time. Even children forget happy games and begin to build a house out of cards with all seriousness, fearing that it will collapse at any moment.

Speaking about the artist’s work, it is necessary to note her love for the portrait genre. Perhaps no other direction of painting in the work of this artist can compare with her passion for depicting the faces of others.

She painted not only members of her family, but also acquaintances, including quite famous and wealthy people - among them, for example, the poetess Anna Akhmatova, ballerina Alexandra Danilova, art critic Sergei Ernst and Princess Yusupova.

Portraits by Serebryakova are characterized by a partial or complete absence of background - the artist very rarely painted it in detail. She focused all her attention on the characters in her works. She managed to convey the individuality of everyone and “introduce” the viewer to their individual characteristics.

Nude occupies an important place in Serebryakova’s work. It’s amazing how a woman is able to depict the beautiful curves of girls’ bodies with such ardent passion. But the fact is undeniable: Zinaida was just as successful in working in the nude style as portraits and genre sketches on the theme of peasant life. Beautiful young girls were depicted by her in a variety of poses - standing, sitting, imposingly stretched out on the bed. Serebryakova skillfully emphasized the advantages of her models, and she drew out their feminine curves with special admiration.

In 1924, Serebryakova went to Paris, from where she received an order to create a large decorative panel. Separation from her family, albeit temporary, greatly worried Zinaida. But the trip was necessary, as it made it possible to feed the children. And the heavy forebodings did not deceive: the artist was unable to return to her homeland. For many years she was separated from her two children and mother. True, Sasha and Katya managed to be transported to France almost immediately.

During this time, the artist visited a huge number of countries - not only European, but also African. The Moroccan series of Serebryakova’s work deserves special attention. Some of them are made with pastels, the rest with oil paint.

An indelible impression on Zinaida was made by the life of the local people and their customs. In her letter to her brother Eugene, she talks about how much she was amazed that local residents spent a huge amount of time every day sitting in a circle and watching dances, magic tricks and taming snakes.

However, not even the brightest performance allowed Zinaida to forget her longing for her homeland. Only with the onset of the thaw did the country again become “favorable” to Serebryakova. In the last years of her life, she again gained popularity in her homeland and in the union republics. Her works were especially valued, more and more proposals for exhibitions were received, even a series of stamps with her paintings were published, but the artist was never able to return completely. Until her last days, she lived in Paris, which once accepted her in difficult times.

From April 5, 2017 to July 30, 2017, a large-scale monographic exhibition will be held in the Engineering Building of the Tretyakov Gallery.