Friday Art & History Feature - Old Russian New Year's Greeting Cards

In the spirit of the holidays and because I'm a bit nostalgic about my childhood right now, here's a collection of old Russian and USSR New Year's Greeting cards. New Year was THE holiday that everyone celebrated for many years (since the government pretty much outlawed the celebration of religious holidays, like Christmas, during the Soviet years. Now people are back to celebrating those again, thankfully!)The Rusisan equivalent of Santa Clause is Old Man, orGrandfather, Frost (Ded Moroz), and he's often seeing with his granddaughter Snow Maiden (Snegurochka).

Note: All the cards say "Happy New Year" in Russian.

Enjoy!

 

 

Friday Art & History Feature - Nadya Rusheva

Apollo and Daphne by Nadya Rusheva

 
When I was a young girl in Kiev, Ukraine, I remember my older cousin, an artist, leaving me a book of drawings by Nadya Rusheva when she immigrated. I remember being very moved by the drawings, especially because some of them were of scenes from my favorite book, Master and Margarita by M. Bulgakov, but moved even more, and saddened, by Nadya's biography. I was about twelve or thirteen when I encountered this amazing artist - and she made an especially strong impact on me because she was only 17 when she passed away.

Nadya Rusheva

Nadya was born in 1952 in Ulan Bator, where her parents were staying at the time of her birth, although they soon moved back to Russia. She began drawing when she was five, and by the age of seven, her family realized that she had an amazing talent. She once painted 36 illustrations to "The Tale of Tsar Saltan", written by Alexander Pushkin, in one night, as her father was reading the story to her.

Nadya always drew without preparation, and almost never erased. She often worked with a pen to make the drawings. The simplicity of her drawings, the purity of the lines, make a strong impression and endear to the viewer. When Bulgakov's widow, Yelena Bulgakova, saw the drawings of Master and Margarita by Nadya (when the young artist passed away), she said "I wish I knew this amazing and subtle creature."

Nadya died of a brain hemorrhage because of congenital defect. She died in March of 1969 in Moscow. She created 10,000 artworks in the span of her short, but stunning, life.

Asteroid 3516 Rusheva is named after Nadya.

Here's a collection of some of my favorite drawings by this remarkable young woman.

Master and Margarita meeting for the first time, by Nadya Rusheva

Margarita, by Nadya Rusheva

Centaurs by Nadya Rusheva

Women, by Nadya Rusheva

Pushkin (a classical Russian writer and poet) and his wife, by Nadya Rushina

Goncharova, Pushkin's wife, by Nadya Rusheva

Ballerina, by Nadya Rusheva

Little Prince (by Antoine de Saint-Exupery) by Nadya Rusheva

Friday Art & History Feature - Karl Bryullov

Today, I'd like to introduce you to one of my favorite Russian artists - Karl Bryullov.

Briullov's Self Portrait

 Karl Bryullov was born in 1799 in St. Petersburg. His father was an engraver and woodcarver Pavel Briullo. Karl studied at the Imperial Academy of Arts, but he had difficulty embracing the classical style of painting that was taught at the Academy and was influential on his artist brother Alexander. Despite that, Karl was able to distinguish himself among his peers.

From the early years of his life, Bryullov was attracted to Italy, a magnetic pull he felt throughout his life, and upon finishing his education at the Academy, he left for Rome, where he worked as mainly as a portraitist. Later on, he began painting massive and epic historical paintings that brought him fame during his lifetime. His most famous historical masterpiece is The Last Day of Pompeii, painted between 1830 and 1833. Once he gained fame as a great painter in Europe, he returned to Russia, eventually attaining a high position at the Imperial Academy of Arts from which he graduated. When his health started deteriorating, he came back to Italy and died there three years later, in June of 1852.

The Last Day of Pompeii

 While in Italy, Bryullov started a relationship with the beautiful Russian aristocrat Countess Yu.Samoilova, who was separated from her husband but not allowed to divorce under the Church laws.  Thus, Bryullov and Samoilova were never able to get married and she remained his mistress for the rest of their life. Samoilova was featured prominently in much of Bryullov's work.

Countess Yulia Samoilova Retiring From Ball

Rider

Bryullov's combination of classical themes, romanticism style and dramatic renditions make his work truly unforgettable.

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Italian Noon

 

 

 

 

Turkish Girl

Svetlana Guessing on Her Future