Popova Lyubov Sergeevna: biography of the artist, works and photos

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

In the early 20s of the last century, the paintings of the artist Lyubov Sergeevna Popova were almost impossible to sell - the creative community valued the unique talent of the master so low. Over time, the price of her work began to grow exponentially, accompanied by an increase in research publications, analyzes of her work. Most of the leading critics in the field of art authoritatively declared the genius of Popova's works, that in her works she not only created many unique author's methods of depicting reality, but was also significantly ahead of her time.

Lyubov Popova

Lyubov Sergeevna Popova is one of the most famous representatives of the female Russian and Soviet avant-garde. Throughout her long creative life, the artist actively developed such trends in art as Suprematism, Cubism, Constructivism and Cubo-Futurism. Kazimir Malevich spoke enthusiastically about her work, inviting her to hisauthor's creative association "Supremus".

Also, Lyubov Popova has been developing various areas of Soviet graphics for a long time, managed to become a pioneer of domestic design, devoting a lot of time to the development of theatrical scenery, costumes, and also being in search of free artistic solutions for halls, living rooms and other premises that could become art objects.

At present, the works of Lyubov Sergeevna Popova are recognized by the world art community as unique examples of the early Russian underground, distinguished by their unique author's style and pronounced innovation.

Many well-known collectors of Russian and early Soviet art appreciate the artist's paintings, purchasing them for private collections. The master's works are also kept in the State Museum of the Russian Federation.

Parents

Lyubov Popova was born on April 24, 1889 in the village of Ivanovskoye (Moscow province) in a we althy merchant family. The father of the future artist, Sergei Maksimovich Popov, was a well-known entrepreneur and had his own business in the field of textile production, which had passed to him from his father. Lyubov's mother, Lyubov Vasilievna Zubova, was a we althy heiress of a noble family - so rich that her father owned several unique violins made by famous Italian masters, such as Stradivari, Amati, Guarneri.

A girl from childhood was brought up in a calm and favorable atmosphere. Parents early noticed the creative inclinations of their daughter and in every possible waywe tried to develop them, taking an active part not only in raising our daughter, but also in her development as a person who gave her heart to art.

Love showed great ability to learn, from an early age engaged in self-study with interest. Every day, a specially hired governess studied languages, literature, writing and reading with the girl, and a well-known artist of that time, K. M. Orlov, was invited for drawing lessons.

Early years

In 1902, the family of Lyubov Sergeevna Popova moved to Y alta for permanent residence. It was here that the girl entered the gymnasium, which she graduated ten years later with a gold medal. Admired by the girl's ability to learn and author's creativity, the teachers recommended that their parents send Lyubov to Moscow to continue their studies.

Despite her pronounced creative nature, Lyubov decided to enroll in pedagogical courses taught by A. S. Alferov at the Moscow Gymnasium S. A. Arsentyeva. For the next two years, the girl studied the basics of philology, comparative linguistics and the general theory of language, receiving a teacher's diploma, en titled to teach Russian language courses in small educational institutions.

After graduating, Popova finally decided to start developing her creative talents, enrolling in a drawing studio in 1907, where courses were taught by the famous master S. Yu. Zhukovsky.

Training

The following year, Lyubov Sergeevna Popova officially became a student of theoretical andpractical painting, which were read by S. Zhukovsky and the truly legendary painter Konstantin Yuon. Here, in the workshop of these great masters, Lyubov found new friends and creative like-minded people, who became Nadezhda Ud altsova and Lyudmila Prudkovskaya. In the future, all three of them glorified the Russian artistic underground with their talent, creating many wonderful works that became part of the treasure trove of masterpieces of world art.

Lyubov began her creative career by renting a workshop in Antipevsky Lane and almost all the time she was engaged in hard work, studying the properties of various coloring materials, mastering work techniques unfamiliar to her and checking how paints, tempera or wax would interact with unusual types of finishes such as slate, concrete or hard gloss.

Biography of Lyubov Sergeevna Popova is rich. In 1910, the artist visited Italy, where for a long time she studied the theory of painting and the author's styles of famous classical masters of the past. The next two years of work were spent in France, where the artist managed to get acquainted with such recognized masters of the foreign avant-garde as J. Metzinger and Le Fauconnier.

Suprematism

After returning to her homeland, the artist joined Kazimir Malevich's Supremus club, for which she drew a logo and helped develop the charter. Inspired by the minimalism of her mentor, Popova actively explored the style of geometric minimalism, creating a series of compositions where only onea figure whose contrast with the surface of the canvas was emphasized by unusual color schemes and combinations of shades.

All the famous works of Lyubov Sergeevna Popova were made using the technique of "material selection", which the artist developed from the teachings of Tatlin, offering not only her own vision of the final color selection, but also creating an original version of the light counter-relief.

Despite her own style, Popova often borrowed from Malevich's ideas, forms and ways of realizing ideas. Often her works were original copies of the works of Malevich, in which Popova only replaced one type of figure with another and offered her own color scheme for a creative situation.

The paintings of the teacher and the student differed in their attitude to color - Casimir gravitated towards a gloomy palette, while Lyubov preferred colored planes, consisting of many bright colors, when mixed, giving light shades.

Recognition

By the mid-20s of the last century, the photo of Lyubov Sergeevna Popova began to appear in publications devoted to the new Soviet art. In 1920, the artist was invited to teach the theory of painting at the All-Union Artistic and Technical Workshops. Also, the master actively worked in various metropolitan theaters, constantly decorating performances and making decorations for theater troupes traveling abroad. It was a very responsible occupation controlled by the government.

In 1923, the master was noticed by the legendary Wassily Kandinsky and invitedwork at the Institute of Artistic Culture.

Innovation

The biography of the artist Lyubov Sergeevna Popova also contains information about the unimaginable innovation that this creative person brought to Russian art.

The master was characterized by such methods of work as drawing potholes with iron objects directly over freshly applied paint, removing relief with linen overlays on canvas, as well as actively using collages that Lyubov created by pressing photographs cut from magazines into fresh paint, various inscriptions or other relief and non-standard elements.

The deliberate depiction of surrounding objects in the style of primitive cubism gave Popova complete freedom to decorate these figures with decorative materials, which led to an incredibly original atmosphere in the works. Collected from almost nothing, the paintings amaze with the accuracy of the transfer of images.

Art Style

Practically all the works of Lyubov Sergeevna Popova are made in the artist's individual unique style. Only a few of her test pieces are imitative.

The very concept of the style of the master is the absence of any framework or the presence of certain points of view. Popova believed that creative vision is an endless process that has no boundaries.

Family

Little is known about the personal life of Lyubov Sergeevna Popova. In 1918, the young artist met BorisNikolaevich von Eding, and the following year the couple officially registered their marriage. The master's husband was a historian by education and was engaged in scientific work, preparing a long-term historical and cultural study of the city of Rostov and its environs. A few years later, his book, Rostov the Great, Uglich, was published.

The couple had a son who died on May 23, 1924 from scarlet fever. During treatment, the artist inadvertently caught the disease from a child and died two days after his death. Lyubov Sergeevna Popova was buried at the Vagankovsky cemetery in Moscow.