Why understand painting or 3 stories about failed rich people

Read about the fresco in the article “Artists of the Renaissance. 6 great Italian masters”.

site “Diary of Painting. In each picture there is a mystery, destiny, a message.”

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Pictures can bring us aesthetic pleasure. They can make us think about life. They can just harmoniously fit into the interior. Close the hole in the wall. We can admire the realism of the image. We can think for a long time what the artist wanted to portray.

Still pictures can make us rich. After all, if you understand painting, you can develop a flair for a future masterpiece. Then you will not pass by the picture, which one day will bring you serious dividends.

However, not everyone has such a flair. Here are just three real stories when people did not see the “bag of gold” under their noses.

1. Van Gogh painting covering a hole in a chicken coop

Last year of life van Gogh met Dr. Ray. He helped the artist cope with nervous attacks. Even tried to reattach his severed ear. True, he never succeeded. It took too long to deliver. After all, Van Gogh was brought to the hospital without an ear. He gave it to a prostitute with the words "This may be useful to you." Still, he was not himself.

In gratitude for the help, Van Gogh painted a portrait of his savior. They say the doctor in the portrait came out looking like the original. Despite this, he did not appreciate the gift. After all, the picture was too unusual for that time. In addition, the doctor was too far from art.

As a result, he threw the portrait into the attic. Too bad he didn't stay there. Some of the doctor's household adapted him to the household. He covered the hole in the chicken coop.

It was there that one of the art dealers found him. He followed Van Gogh's footsteps and found the portrait in the doctor's yard. The painting was sold for 100 francs.

A few years later, it was acquired by Russian collector Sergei Shchukin. Presumably for 30 thousand francs.

I wonder if Dr. Ray found out about this?

2. Painting by Claude Monet in the attic

Claude Monet lived a long and creative life. He lived to see his triumph and recognition. However, until the age of 40, his paintings in impressionist style caused confusion and even laughter. In addition, he married a girl not from his circle. For which his father deprived him of maintenance.

And for about 10 years, Monet rushed between two fires. Then he will give in to his father and leave wife Camilla with son. Then he will return to his wife and child to live from hand to mouth. Because no one bought his paintings.

Once Monet was forced to leave with his family from another hotel in Argenteuil. It happened in 1878. There was no money to pay the housing debt. Then Monet left the painting “Breakfast on the Grass” to the owner of the hotel.

Read about this work by Monet in the article "Breakfast on the grass: how impressionism was born."

He wrote it in 1866. He wrote it specifically for the Paris Salon (the main art exhibition in continental Europe). To amaze the public and the jury of the exhibition, Monet conceived a truly huge canvas. 4 by 6 meters. However, he did not calculate his strength. A few days before the exhibition, he considered that he would not have time to bring it to the quality he needed. So the picture did not get into the exhibition.

And so the owner of the hotel got this huge canvas. He did not consider it valuable. Rolled it up and threw it in the attic.

After 6 years, when Monet's position improved, he returned to that hotel. The painting was already in a deplorable state. Part of it was covered in mold. Monet cut off the damaged pieces. Now the surviving parts of the painting are stored in Paris, in Musée d'Orsay.

Only a preliminary sketch of a smaller size (now kept in the Pushkin Museum in Moscow) allows us to imagine what one of Monet's most interesting paintings would look like.

The hotel owner could keep the painting and sell it. For several thousand francs. It was enough to make inquiries and understand that the artist's work began to sell well. Alas, the owner of the hotel missed his chance.

But the hero of the following story cannot be compared with him. This is an egregious case! To use 30 Toulouse-Lautrec paintings for firewood and floor cloths!

3. Pictures Toulouse-Lautrec as floor mats

The artist Toulouse-Lautrec was born with a genetic anomaly. His bones were very fragile. Several unfortunate fractures in his teenage years finally stopped his leg from growing.

Only painting allowed him to realize himself. But the explosive temperament and natural ambition were in no way combined with physical weakness. As a result, he engaged in self-destruction. He drank a lot and had a promiscuous sex life. Even his friends could not always understand the meaning of his actions.

In 1897, once again disillusioned with life, Toulouse-Lautrec felt indifferent to painting. When he moved out of another studio apartment, he left all his works that were stored there to the concierge. 87 works!

The concierge could become very rich. But he gave 30 works to the next lodger, Dr. Billyar. The rest of the work also lost. He exchanged them for glasses of wine in local taverns.

It would seem that the doctor should have understood what treasure he got. Even during his lifetime, Toulouse-Lautrec was quite famous. Especially with their famous cabaret posters. They hung all over the city. Crowds of onlookers gathered around them. So the name of Toulouse-Lautrec was well known.

But no, the doctor carelessly allowed his maid to dispose of the pictures. She kindled the fireplace with stretchers. The canvases went to rags. With the rest of the paintings, she plugged the cracks in her house!

As a result, only one painting survived. For some reason, the doctor left her. But he lost her in the most stupid way. He himself later admitted this to reporters: “One of my Toulouse-Lautrec, the only survivor of thirty, I exchanged for a daub worth forty sous, was subsequently sold for eight thousand francs.”

I wrote about another poor girl who missed a painting by a famous artist in an article "A painting by Camille Pissarro for the price of one cake."

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Main illustration: Michelangelo. Fresco "Creation of Adam". 1511. Sistine Chapel, Vatican.