Shocking Painting

We walk again and again through the halls of museums, admiring beautiful works of art, gazing for a long time at each canvas. Magnificent portraits, still lifes, and landscapes seem so enchanting to us, and therefore the personalities of famous artists appear to be flawless; they are for us – exemplars of purity and beauty. We are used to perceiving renowned artists through brief explanations of their paintings and short biographical information, which are not difficult to find in libraries and across the internet. This makes their images almost insubstantial. As if nothing but creativity existed in their lives, and as if their paintings immediately became sacred classics. But artists were full-blooded individuals. Their creativity sometimes provoked bewilderment, and their actions – condemnation. In fact, a significant number of famous painters possessed, at the very least, complex personalities or entered into socially disapproved relationships by mutual consent. The stories behind the creation of certain masterpieces can sometimes be shocking. What can we do – the rich imagination of geniuses drives progress on one hand, and on the other hand, pushes its bearers towards completely mad actions. So, can it be said that genius and villainy are compatible? In this book, we will show you artists from a different, unexpected side, and you will answer this question yourself. 35 intriguing, sometimes shocking stories among which are: The love affairs of the monk-artist and his model from the monastery The woman-hater artist The multifaceted love of Burne-Jones and Morris How a bunch of asparagus appeared among the wonderful flowers in Édouard Manet's still life The only love of Michelangelo "White marriage" of Ruskin The Italian who captivated Bryullov, Ivanov, Gogol, Turgenev The amorous Picasso and his seven unfortunate muses The secret marriage of Raphael "The devoted" and the crucified love of Camille Claudel How to become a model for Gabriel Rossetti and survive Peter Paul Rubens – portraitist, spy, and diplomat