We are getting ready for the most awaited holiday of the year! We’ve already done our art shopping. Now the masters of the 20th century will tell us how to decorate a Christmas tree. Their refined taste, heightened sense of beauty and children’s fantasy will be of a great help to us! Let’s admire the bright Christmas costumes for a spruce.
Here is a charming picture "Katya in blue by the tree" by Zinaida Serebriakova. In a costume, under a Christmas tree, the artist has painted her little daughter Katya. The pretty-pretty face of a 9-year-old girl, fragile in her beauty, was depicted in many paintings. The tree we see on this canvas was decorated by a famous Russian artist Alexander Benoit, Serebryakova’s uncle. In 1920, she, with her children, moved to her brother in Saint Petersburg, and her uncle arranged a wonderful New Year’s party for children with songs, poems, fun performances and masquerades.
The artist’s biography is full of life tragedies and bright pictures. Her youngest daughter, Katerina, has lived a long and productive life (101 years) and left this world in 2014.
The artist’s biography is full of life tragedies and bright pictures. Her youngest daughter, Katerina, has lived a long and productive life (101 years) and left this world in 2014.
Katya in blue by the tree
1922, 63.6×47.5 cm
In contrast to Russian traditions that include carnivals, balls and dances around a Christmas tree, in America people use a spruce to decorate their interiors and to place their gifts under it. You can say, it’s boring. Well, just look at the picture of Austin Briggs "Christmas gifts" where a typical American family of the 1950s enjoys their holiday gifts at home. In postwar United States, artists have been actively making the image of the ideal family, an American dream, and happy life in the USA in general. Briggs, being a popular illustrator, created many Dolce vita’s images. How do you like this American sweet life?
Christmas gifts
1948
Sharing gifts, he gives his beloved lady a Cadillac! It’s a Christmas scene depicted by another US illustrator Al Buell. Christmas in United States is the most important holiday, and it is not accepted to scrimp and save on gifts!
Now she has a Cadillac 56
XX century
Al Buell is one of the most famous pin-up artists. His posters with girls in seductive outfits and risque poses enjoyed considerable success. Though he does not bypass males with his attention. At Christmas, they are shown as elegant gentlemen making generous gifts. However, they are not so good in doing their house work. As we see, they obviously have problems with decorating a Christmas tree!
On Christmas Eve
1953
Christmas holidays are meant to be idillic. Christmas trees made by Sandra Cooke in the spirit of Victorian era are marvelous! Two little girls, her daughters, were the favorite models of the artist. Here is the girl that writes a letter to Santa asking for the cherished gifts.
Sandra’s paintings are the epitome of the perfect American family, where a husband strongly supports his wife, an artist. We don’t know if he presented Sandra such luxury gifts as a Cadillac, but he was obviously proud of his wife, who was named the best artist of the year 8 times in the USA!
In the USSR artists also paited Christmas trees, although in atheistic society Christmas was replaced by the New Year’s Day holiday. In times of socialist realism
, artists used their favorite New Year’s story about children, decorating a Christmas tree. There were plenty of similar paintings like these.
There is a well-known Christmas fairy tale "Nutcracker" by Hoffman. Nika Goltz (1925−2012) made the most famous illustrations for it. Several Soviet and Russian generations were brought up reading books with pictures made by Nika. She illustrated all tales of Andersen, Hoffmann, Brothers Grimm, as well as novels by N. Gogol and A. Pogorelsky. Nika Goltz received an international diploma of The Hans Christian Andersen Award for illustrating his "Big Book best tales". In Denmark they even opened a private Museum of drawings made by this Russian artist illustrator.
Here are some wonderful illustrations made by Nika for "Snow Queen" written by Hans Christian Andersen.
And since we’re plunged into the world of fabulous fantasies, let’s continue! Sarah Stilwell Weber (1878−1939), was an American artist who worked for the leading magazines. She is especially remembered for her magical imagery in illustrations of children’s books. As it turns out, the soul of the Christmas trees is a fairy-enchantress!
Jack Sorenson’s beautiful spruce is a Christmas Queen of the forest. Cowboy artist loves to dream on the Wild West theme! He sees Santa as a dashing rider that carries gifts in a coach on a Christmas carnival held in the forest. Perhaps that was the way cowboys celebrated Christmas!
Christmas tree
XXI century
Christmas time is coming! Today it still demands elegant beautiful spruce trees and merry dances around it!
Dance around the Christmas tree
XX century
No matter where a Christmas tree stands or what decorations it wears, let it bring peace and prosperity to you, its "wards", in a fairy tale of life!
