My husband and I were sitting at a table in a little Berlin restaurant. While cooking dishes for us, the owner of the restaurant spoke to us politely. “Where are you staying?” he asked. My husband named the hotel. I…
Many visitors to the Fifth Impressionist exhibition stopped in front of a strange empty showcase. Of course, it wasn’t an art object; сonceptual art did not yet exist in 1880. The glass case was intended for the sculpture The Little…
There are several stages in understanding Degas’ oeuvre. At first, you think he was a connoisseur of delicate beauty (otherwise why did he constantly paint ballerinas?) Then you find different reproductions of his pictures, scrutinize them, and wonder: his ballerinas…
When somebody asks me, “What should I start with if I want to try listening to opera?” I usually answer, “Listen to Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas.” It is incredibly beautiful, relatively short, and surprisingly understandable. We can easily understand Dido…
There is an interesting exhibit in the Musée Marmottan Monet – a little oil painting hanging alone on a wall. The bench put in front of this wall appears to invite the viewer to have a seat and think carefully…
Greatness and calmness – here are two words that accurately describe the Paris Panthéon. Located in the very heart of the lively Latin Quarter, this edifice is alien to hustle and bustle. It is in another dimension.
Many great Romantic composers were great humanists. Let’s recall, at least, Schubert and his ability to sympathize with people: his Der Leiermann is a desperate lamentation for the loneliness to which each of us is doomed one way or another.…
Edvard Munch was walking along a road with his friends. He felt tired and sick. Munch stopped. The sun was setting. Suddenly, he noticed that the sky turned blood red. “I sensed an infinite scream passing through nature,” the artist…
A man came to fill his water pitcher and saw a venomous serpent drinking from the trough. In his place, many people just would kill the snake or quickly take a few steps back and not risk it – the…
Dear friends, I have a surprise for you—at least, for those of you, who aren’t long-time connoisseurs of classical art. Today, we’ll admire the piece that may radically change your idea of Greek sculpture.