I have a special attitude to art, I like painting and realist painters, landscape painters, but I do not understand the different trends of fine art in which they try to pass off the “daub” that a five-year-old child is capable of, as high art.

Ironically, fate makes it impossible to create some wonderful artists, making them blind, not reacting in any way to the work of others.

1 Francois Bonvin

French painter and graphic artist, one of the best genre painters in France in the 19th century. He lived all his life in poverty. He worked in a printing house, served in the police. In his free time he visited museums, studied Flemish and Dutch masters at the Louvre. By the end of his life, he was completely blind, he existed only thanks to the support of friends, who organized his retrospective exhibition (1886) and the sale of paintings in his favor (1887).

2

French graphic artist, painter and sculptor, the greatest master of political caricature of the 19th century. Daumier was born in Marseille in 1808 in the family of a glazier. From childhood he was fond of drawing, mastered the skill of a lithographer. In the 1840s, he became famous for his cartoons of political circumstances, public and private life of prominent people of the then France. He continued to paint until his death, even when he became completely blind.

3

Italian artist and miniaturist of the Venetian School, one of the main representatives of the Rococo style in the art of Italy and France. The daughter of a lacemaker. According to some researchers, she studied with her mother and started out as a decorator of ivory snuff boxes. By the 1750s, the artist lost her eyesight: two cataract operations did not help, and the artist remained blind until the end of her days.

4

Danish realist painter. Peder Severin Kruyer was born in Norway. His father was the Danish zoologist Henrik Kruyer. Mother - Ellen Cecile Gyesdal - was declared incapable of raising a child, and Peder lived with his mother's sister's family as a child. In 1877-1881, Kruyer traveled across Europe, lived in Paris, where he met the Impressionists (Monet, Sisley, Degas, Renoir, Manet) and fell under their influence. For the last ten years of his life, Kruyer's eyesight gradually deteriorated until he became completely blind.

5

Dutch artist, engraver. Born into a family of artists. He studied with his father in Liege, developed under the influence of the Flemish school. He suffered from hereditary syphilis, was disfigured, by 1690 he was blind.

6

Italian artist and art theorist, representative of Milanese mannerism. Born into a family of immigrants from the Lombard city of Lomazzo. He worked in Milan, Lodi and Piacenza. Influenced by Raphael and Michelangelo. In 1571 he became blind, switched to the theory of art, wrote the fundamental for Mannerism "Treatise on the art of painting, sculpture and architecture."

7

French engraver. Engraved from paintings by Italian masters, especially from the works of Lebrun. In his prints, he approaches the manner of Bloomart, but his chisel movement is wider and more varied. In 1663 he was elected a member of the Paris Academy of Arts and in 1665 was made its adviser. At the end of his life he became blind.

8

Italian artist. The artist got his nickname from the carnation on his coat of arms. From 1491, Garafalo was in Ferrara, studying with Domenico Panetti, and in 1498 he set out on a journey that took him to Cremona to the workshop of Boccaccio Boccaccini. In 1531 Tizi went blind in one eye. Fearing completely blind, he vowed to work gratuitously, including weekends, on frescoes and paintings for the Bernardine Monastery in Ferrara. Then he worked for about twenty years, until he finally lost his sight in 1550. The frescoes have not survived.

9

Russian painter of Ukrainian origin, academician, master of ceremonial and chamber portraits. Born about 1735 in the family of the priest G.K. Levitsky, also known as an engraver. Studied fine arts with his father and with the painter A.P. Antropov. Together with his father, he participated in the painting of St. Andrew's Cathedral in Kiev. In the last years of his life he was almost completely blind and did not actually work.

10 Vladimir Ivanovich Pogonkin

Lithographic artist. Born on July 12, 1793, in St. Petersburg, lived in St. Petersburg in the Liteinaya part, in the house of the titular adviser Lederman. He participated in eight battles, for which he was awarded the Silver Medal "1812" and received the rank of non-commissioned officer. From intensive drawing lessons, the artist Pogonkin V.I. suffered from an incurable eye disease. The blinded artist was awarded a pension of 200 rubles for his services and participation in the war.

At first glance, the pictures presented in this article do not seem worth paying special attention to. The thing that can make you take a closer look at them is the story of their author, the blind Kharkov artist Dmitry Didorenko.

Dmitry was not blind from birth: he lost his sight after being blown up by an old German mine while searching for the remains of soldiers missing in World War II. Before that, Didorenko was already known as an artist, but the tragedy that happened dashed all his hopes for a future future. To get Dmitry out of depression, one of his friends suggested organizing an exhibition of the artist's old works. It was this event that pushed our hero to take up the brush again - he wanted to prove that he is still an artist, even if he has lost his sight. At first, his works were not much like paintings, but many hours of practice yielded results: Dmitry began to paint again.

“When I first saw the work of Dmitry Didorenko, I felt ashamed of how often we complain about life and its injustice towards us,” says Valentina Myzgina, director of the Kharkov Art Museum. "After all, all this time we continue to see the world around us, and Dmitry cannot see it, but he does not complain, but works."

The artist admits that the plots of the paintings come to him on their own, sometimes he even dreams, and he only has to choose the best of them. And the most important thing for him is to see the results of his work, no matter how paradoxical it may sound: “I see what I draw, just as clearly and legibly as others. The only difference is that I do not use my eyes, but use my heart. "

Mixing paints, artist John Bramblitt compares himself to a cook who adds the right amount of ingredients to a dish exactly according to the recipe. And all because Joan cannot see what the result of his efforts is. It blind, but he paints pictures, feeling by touch what colors he uses and how he puts strokes.

John Bramblitt is a talented artist who doesn't know what his paintings look like. He lost his eyesight due to epilepsy, the symptoms of the disease first appeared at the age of 11, and by the age of 30 he had stopped seeing. It seemed that life had lost its meaning, because all dreams were untenable, and plans for the future were destroyed. The artist recalls that he had severe depression, and he saw no way out of this state.

It took John Bramblitt a year to overcome his despair. He decided for himself that he would find a way to paint, whatever it cost him, and really learned how to work with paints, applying strokes so that they were felt to the touch. According to John himself, his first drawing was completely awkward, but the very fact that he was able to connect disparate lines together and create a complete image instilled faith in him. It was a spark of hope in the dark world of his despair.

Since then, the artist has been improving his skills, and today there are many bright, dynamic paintings in his collection that arouse admiration among viewers. Joan Bramblitt lives in Denton (Texas, USA), he is well known not only in America, but also abroad.

Getting to work, the artist first thinks through the composition in detail in his mind. John Bramblitt also selects materials especially: he claims that different colors of oil paints have different consistencies. For example, white paint is thick and resembles toothpaste, while black paint is thinner. In addition, the tubes in the workshop are signed in Braille so that John can see what color he is holding.

The talented master has been painting for more than 10 years, over the years he has been repeatedly told about in the press, he has received awards at various competitions and exhibitions. And John Bramblitt himself admits that to some extent he is even grateful to fate for being blind. Starting to fight the disease, he discovered a real talent in himself, managed to realize himself and find a goal in life.

A similar story happened with the Kharkiv resident Dmitry Didorenko. The only difference is that he went blind after being blown up by a German mine during the Second World War. The world coming to life on his canvases is another revelation. See for yourself by looking.

Blind artist. How do you feel when you hear this phrase? Surely, the question arises "How ?!" How can people, deprived of the ability to see, depict something on paper and canvas? How can they, who do not know what red and blue are, can create real works of art? However, there are not so few blind artists.

Sergey Popolzin

For as long as he can remember, he always dreamed of becoming a professional artist and tried several times to enter the art school of Irkutsk. After studying for a short time, he was forced to give up classes due to some circumstances, but he continued to draw as an obsessive. Sergey spent almost all his free time in museums, experimenting with materials and textures, studying the art of icon painting, copying the works of great masters. But his talent was not recognized by the general public. This circumstance led to a suicide attempt: Sergei tried to shoot himself, but the bullet went right through. He survived but lost his sight completely. He burned all his works, but after a while he again took up brushes and paints. He "draws" a sketch of the future painting in his imagination, thinking over every detail to the smallest detail and using two techniques: glazing and pasty painting. In the first case, the master mixes paints on canvas, applying them with a thin, almost transparent layer. In the second, a kind of relief image is obtained by applying paint in dense strokes. For orientation in space, Sergei sticks needles into the canvas, and in some cases uses cardboard stencils.

John Bramblitt

After another epileptic seizure, American artist John Bramblitt lost his eyesight and could only distinguish between light and darkness. He found his salvation from despair, melancholy and despondency in drawing, having developed his own unique style: he uses special textured paints, due to which he focuses on the canvas. The touch became his "eyes". All the paint tubes are in Braille, and to mix them John measures the required amount of each color, like measuring the ingredients for baking a cake.

Terry is not only an artist, but also an excellent teacher helping blind people learn to draw. He developed his own technique: first you need to make a "sketch" using plasticine, with which you can divide sections of the canvas. Further, these "zones" are filled with acrylic paints. According to the master, mixing paints in order to achieve the desired shade is quite difficult: for this you may need an assistant whom you can completely trust, or simply phenomenal memory and imagination.

Esref was born blind in a poor family and never learned to read and write, let alone painting. Nevertheless, he is the real pride of Turkey. At the age of 25, he first tried to paint with oil paints, and instead of a brush he used his fingers. The artist prefers to work in absolute silence. As he himself says, he must "penetrate inside his picture and become one with it." Esref's technique is as follows: first, using a stylus for braille writing, he draws a sketch, then he applies the first color with his finger and waits for it to dry completely. This process takes about 3 days, it is necessary so that the paints do not smear.

Most of all, Keith loves to walk in the mountains, and they are the main plot of his works. Keith studied fine arts in college, worked as a sculptor for a while, exhibited and was successful. But gradually his eyesight began to deteriorate very quickly, but he did not want to give up his favorite business at all. His work has two directions: pastel drawings and painting with strokes of oil or acrylic paints. Recently, the master has been trying to combine these two techniques in order to "convey the wonderful world as clearly as possible."

The disease took away Liza's eyesight. All she could see was gray, but even it was causing unbearable headaches. The only thing that saved her was dark glasses, which she had to wear constantly. One day her husband brought her watercolors. This is what made the woman start up and stop feeling sorry for herself. She painted everything: various objects, animals, people, landscapes, and every time she got better and better. The artist's talent did not go unnoticed: she has many orders, her works are exhibited and sold. In each of her works, you can "read" a unique story.