'She gave the public a broad smile,' said Alexander Benois
Everyone in her family painted
Zinaida was born and raised in the artistic Benois-Lanceray family. Her father was an animalier sculptor, and her mother was a graphic artist. Her uncles were architects and art critics.
She married her cousin
Despite her husband's frequent trips—Boris Serebriakov, who worked as a railway engineer—it was a happy marriage. The couple had four children.
She combined realism and Impressionism
Zinaida Serebriakova's work combines a classical and lively manner of painting. Her career fell during the avant-garde era, but she did not succumb to the new movement and remained true to her style.
She painted children's portraits superbly
Serebriakova loved to paint portraits of her own children. She created many touching, lively works full of subtle child psychology. One of the artist's best-known 'children' works is 'Family Portrait at Breakfast' (1914).
Her favorite artist was Edgar Degas
Serebriakova even dedicated a series of works with ballerinas to him. Her 'ballet' paintings are characterized by clarity of line, a 'framed' composition like in modern photographs, and a simplified background.
Did not shy away from nudes
Serebriakova celebrated the healthy, beautiful female body. Often the heroines of her paintings were simple, full-figured girls. One of her well-known nude paintings is 'The Bath,' which centers on a bathing day of peasant women.
She lost her estate and was widowed at 36
In 1919 their family estate in Neskuchnoye was burned down. The family moved to Kharkiv, where Serebriakova's husband died of typhus in her arms. Serebriakova was left with four children and her elderly mother. To make a living, she took a job at the archaeological museum in Kharkiv, making sketches of the exhibits.
She spent 43 years in unhappy exile
In the autumn of 1924 Serebriakova went to Paris to her uncle, Alexander Benois, for temporary work. She left her children and elderly mother in Russia, expecting to be away only briefly. However, fate prevented her return to her homeland, and she remained separated from her family for a long time.
The Khrushchev Thaw made her famous in Russia
In the 1960s Serebriakova gained recognition in the USSR. Large exhibitions were held, stamps and postcards with her work were widely printed, and her work was compared to the masters of the Renaissance. Zinaida Serebriakova died in 1967 at the age of 82.
