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by Nadia F., a Russian woman living in St Petersburg, Russia
Valentin Aleksandrovich Serov Valentin Aleksandrovich Serov was born on January 7, 1865 in Saint-Petersburg, Russia. His father Aleksander Nikolaevich Serov was a famous Russian composer and music critic. Aleksander Serov was also very fond of painting. The Serov's family was often visited by musicians as well as by outstanding Russian painters - Ilya Repin and Mark Matveevich Antokolsky. At the early age Valentin Serov already showed exceptional talent in painting and his works were shown to Ilya Repin who became his teacher later.
After Aleksander Serov death, the family moved to Munich, Germany where Valentin Serov took lessons from the artist K. Kepping. Then he was taught by Ilya Repin in Abramtsovo, the estate of Savva Mamontov. That was the cultural center where the Russian musicians, painters (Vrubel, Korovin) and artists often lived. In this way Valentin Serov always grew in an atmosphere of art and creativity and was noted as a painter rather early. In 1880 year Valentin Serov entered the Academy of Arts in the class of professor Pavel Tchistykov. Valentin Serov works got noticed there and he gained the respect and success. His teacher Pavel Tchistykov was enchanted by the abilities of Serov to create the coloring, the character, the composition, and the treatment of light and shade all together in his paintings. At the age of 23 Valentin Serov creates the paintings that became the classics in the Russian art: "Girl with Peaches" (1887) - the portrait of 12-year old girl Vera Mamontova and "Girl in the Sunlight" (1888) - the portrait of Maria Simonovich. Valentin Serov got the the award from the Moscow society of the fine art lovers for his "Girl with Peaches" painting. His second painting "Girl in the Sunlight" was instantly bought by Pavel Tretyakov (the creator of the well-known Tretyakov Gallery of the Russian art in Moscow, Russia). Valentin Serov got married in 1887 at Olga Fyodorovna Trubnikova. He has painted his own sons Yura and Sasha in his work "Children" (1899). Serov was a keen observer, subtle artist and a good psychologist. He could see and reproduce the character of the person. Thanks to this talent he has become the leading portrait writer in Russia at that time. Serov gets the portrait orders from the people of great consequence and the richest families in Russia, like the millionaire Morozov M, the prince Yusupov, the tycoon Mamontov and many others. His painting technique was very close to Renoir portraits though he was not acquainted of his works at that time. The Russian revolution of 1905 year had a big influence on Serov. He saw the shooting of the workers by himself. He became morose, rough and hot-tempered. He painted the tsar Nikolai II as the killer of the revolution. In these years he makes the portraits of the Russian composers and artists: Shalyapin F., Stanislavsky K., Vrubel M., Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov, and others. Serov tried different painting techniques: crayon, gouache, water-color, oil, tempera. He created very vivid compositions like "Peter II And Princess Elizabeth Petrovna Riding To Hounds" (1900). Being fond of the historical epoch of the Peter the first, Valentin Serov created the well-known picture - "Peter I the Great". In May 1907 Valentin Serov visited Greece where he was impressed by the Greek art and later created several canvas on the antique theme: "Odysseus And Nausicaa" (1910) and "The Rape Of Europe" (1910). Serov most famous portraits are Portrait of the Actress Maria Yermolova. (1905), Portrait of Henrietta Girshman. (1907), Portrait of Ida Rubenstein. (1910), Portrait of Princess Olga Orlova. (1911). Valentin Serov participated in many exhibitions in Russia and abroad. In 1897-1909, Serov taught in Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. His famous pupils were Mashkov M., Kuznetsov P., Petrov-Vodkin K., and others. In 1903, he was elected the academician of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. In the early morning November 22, 1911 Serov was going to his work when he fell and died from the attack of stenocardia. His contemporaries were shocked by his death at the age of 46 when he was at the peak of his powers. Some of Valentin Serov's most famous paintings (available as reproductions on canvas):
Some books about Valentin Serov and his famous paintings:
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