The ancient Greek myth "The Abduction of Europe" is very popular with writers and artists around the world. Serov's painting is one of many paintings on this subject. This story was plotted by Guido Reni, Rembrandt, Peter Paul Rubens, Luca Giordano, Bue Simon, our contemporary Mikhail Brusilovsky and many, many others.
Who is this girl in the picture?
The adventures of the loving prankster Zeus is one of the most popular topics in world painting of all time. In what form did the thunderbolt of young beauties not steal in the territories accessible to him for millennia. The daughter of the king of the rich Phoenician city of Sidon did not escape this fate.
Agenor had three sons, among whom was the long-suffering Cadmus, famous for having founded the legendary Thebes, and ending his life in the form of a snake. The only daughter of the Phoenician king with her radiant beauty was equal to the goddesses. And no matter how her relatives hid, the aegislaw still saw her and, of course, fell in love. What happened was what happened, namely the abduction of Europe. The painting by Serov, as well as other masters, tells how it happened.
Lovelace, famous for centuries
A beautiful woman surrounded by her friends frolic on the seashore, away from human eyes. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a snow-white bull with gilded horns appeared of amazing beauty. Girls began to play with an affectionate animal, weave wreaths of flowers and put them on his head. And as soon as the beautiful Europe crouched on his back, the bull rushed to the sea with terrible speed and jumped into the water. So the native coast disappeared behind the horizon, only dolphins frolic around the mighty handsome bull, carefully carrying a precious burden. The topic is more than grateful: the sea, waves, a beautiful animal, a frightened beauty and schools of dolphins. Zeus brought her beloved to the island of Crete, where she, becoming his wife, bore him three sons, who later became the heroes of Greece.
Inspired by Greece
"The Abduction of Europe" - a picture of Serov, painted by him in 1910. The artist died in 1911, the canvas with the ancient Greek plot is one of the last, as it were, final works of the master. The idea of ​​the painting came to the famous artist in 1907 during a visit to Greece together with Leon Bakst, specifically Crete, where they saw many mythical plots on the frescoes of the ruins of the Knossos Palace. The trip was connected with Serov’s work on the paintings, which were intended for the Moscow Museum of Fine Arts, commissioned by the artist Polenov. Therefore, Serov’s painting “The Abduction of Europe” resembles not an easel painting, but a decorative monumental panel. According to some reports, the artist created at least six versions of the picture.
Canvases of different sizes. There is a sketch on cardboard made by tempera and gouache, the size is 40 x 52 cm. There is a canvas measuring 71 x 98. It is stored in the main building of the State Tretyakov Gallery, located at 10 Lavrushinsky Lane. The most complete version, 138 x 178 in size, was located until 1996 years from the heirs of the artist. Since 1999, this painting has been kept in the private collection of the international entrepreneur and philanthropist Moshe Kantor.
Own interpretation
"The Abduction of Europe" - a picture of Serov, which became, like "Girl with Peaches", the artist's most recognizable canvas. It was made in the modern style, which had other names: art nouveau (or young style), art nouveau (or new art). This trend in the last decade of the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century captured the thoughts and feelings of most artists from all over Europe. All the author's versions of the picture, having differences mainly in color, are very far from academic settings. The painting by Valentin Serov “The Abduction of Europe” is both the previously unused artistic style of the painter and the founder of the new established style.
The canvas is very original and according to the plot decision: Serov has a red bull, while in the myth and in the paintings of other authors he is snow-white. All movement in the picture is directed diagonally, the bull carries a beauty, cutting the waves, in the upper right corner, to a distant, high elevated horizon. Dolphins, repeating the line of movement of the bull, enhance the dynamics of the picture. The main space is occupied by a turbulent sea. A frightened girl, very little like the queen at this moment, is completely dependent on the kidnapper. Her pose is unstable, high waves threaten to absorb the beauty that has slipped from the back. But the bull is calm and self-confident, and his eyes fixed on the beauty apologize for the fright.
Canvas glorifying love
So the Russian artist Serov saw the abduction of Europe. The description of the picture can be continued with several comparisons, which were given by O. Mandelstam, shocked by it. Its sea coils are “rough”, the sea itself is “fat”, boiling “in the key”, the “oily” glitter of waves frightens Europe, which is frozen in horror. Awesome comparisons, you can’t say more precisely. Despite the tension of the moment captured in the picture, the overall color scheme of the canvas is calm, according to some statements, even cheerful. Perhaps this is so, because the picture does not inspire horror, and even a person unfamiliar with the mythological plot will never come to mind that a mighty bull will not deliver a precious burden to the earth.