Google Doodle honors female artist Zinaida Serebriakova

Impressionist female painter Zinaida Serebriakova was recently honored by Google Doodle for her dedication to the world's fine arts as well as her spirit of rising up from accumulated difficulties.

Who is Zinaida Serebriakova?

Zinaida Serebriakova was born on December 12, 1884 in the Russian Empire (former Soviet Union) into a family with the most artistic tradition at that time, the Benois family.

Zinaida Serebriakova's most famous self-portrait

Therefore, her teenage life was very "smooth sailing". In 1900, she graduated from an all-girls school (equivalent to high school) and attended a famous art school.

Since then, Zinaida Serebriakova has been instructed by famous painters such as Repin, Osip Braz and also spent time studying abroad in France and Italy.

After a period of study, she returned to Russia, got married and began to practice her passion for painting. One of Zinaida Serebriakova's 'hobbies' is copying famous paintings by master Renaissance artists.

Zinaida Serebriakova has a great love for the beauty of the world, of the movements of life around her.

Early works of art by Zinaida Serebriakova

Her first two paintings, Country Girl (1906) and Orchard in Bloom, clearly showed Zinaida Serebriakova's perception of the beauty of Russia and people in everyday life.

Besides, Zinaida Serebriakova is also famous for her self-portraits. Her most famous picture is 'At the dressing table' painted in 1909.

In this painting, she depicted herself combing her hair and the mirror became the frame of the picture.

Zinaida Serebriakova attended the Mir Iskusstva exhibition on portraits of contemporary Russian women. Here, her portrait was deeply moved by art critics.

Not stopping there, the largest gallery in Russia at that time, Tretyakov, bought this painting as well as two other works, Green Autumn (1908) and Peasant Girl (1906).

The turning point in Zinaida Serebriakova's life changing art style

Life is not always rosy, the October revolution in Russia has robbed Zinaida Serebriakova too much: The family's economy has collapsed, her husband was arrested and died in prison because of typhus, 4 children are still "young children" '.

At this time, Zinaida Serebriakova's artistic path has changed not only in terms of materials but also in her perspective.

Due to economic difficulties, she could not buy oil paints to paint in the traditional style, but could only draw with pencil and charcoal.

Since then, the painting House of Cards was born with a new style depicting the four children of Zinaida Serebriakova playing with cards.

If we compare it with At Breakfast (1914), we can see a clear and very real contrast about the two periods of her life, although the subject only revolves around 4 children.

In 1924, Zinaida Serebriakova went to Paris to receive a commission for her work. However, a major incident happened, she was unable to return to the Soviet Union due to the strict ban.

Since then, she has continuously worked and sent almost all of her money back to the Soviet Union to support her children. After much effort, the Soviet Union also allowed her two youngest children, Alexandre and Catherine, to come to France in 1926 and 1928.

However, the two eldest children, Evgenyi and Tatiana, were not so lucky and were separated from their mother until 36 years later.

Zinaida Serebriakova's Later Years

Google honors female artist Zinaida Serebriakova.

She continued her artistic activities in Paris, France and made significant contributions to the contemporary art scene.

Zinaida Serebriakova's works were finally shown at an exhibition in Moscow in 1966. Her works sold millions of copies. Although 200 paintings have been sent to Russia, most of the rest are still present in France to this day.

Zinaida Serebriakova died in Paris on September 19, 1967, at the age of 82. She was buried in Paris, in the Russian cemetery at Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois.

When entering the Google website at this time, readers will see the image of Zinaida Serebriakova as a way of paying tribute to a woman who has made a great contribution to the world's fine arts and the story of rising from difficulties but still keeping own passion.