Show of Paintings, Graphic and Monumental Works by Eleonora Zharenova, Vladimir Vasiltsov and Anastasia Vasiltsova in the Russian Academy of Arts

The exhibition includes artworks by the People’s Artist of the Russian Federation, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Arts Eleonora Zharenova, People’s Artist of the Russian Federation Vladimir Vasiltsov and Honored Artist of the Russian Federation Anastasia Vasiltsova.

Eleonora Zharenova and Vladimir Vasiltsov (1932-2008) are noted masters of Russian monumental decorative painting. For fifty years of their joint work they have created many distinguished monumental works both in Russia and other countries. These include interior design for the House of Culture in Protvino,  the Soviet Center of Science and Culture in Delhi (India), Florentine mosaic “Old History of Moscow” for Nagatinskaya subway station in Moscow and others.  Their large-scale expressive works have added to the architecture a special originality and new contents.

Eleonora Zharenova and Vladimir Vasiltsov graduated from V. Surikov Moscow State Academy Art Institute in 1960 where they studied under Alexander Deineka (1899-1969), the recognized master of monumental painting who taught them to think broadly appealing to a large audience of people.  They have been also much influenced by the People’s Artist of the USSR Vladimir Favorsky (1886-1964) and artists of his school. For several decades they have maintained creative ties with Andrei Vasnetsov (1924-2009).  

Each of them has found an individual way in easel works. In paintings and drawings by Eleonora Zharenova one can sense clearly a sure hand of an artist-monumentalist.  Basing on a model, she creates a generalized image embodying a new reality that is brought into being by nothing other than the mind of the artist.  Each subject and character is significant and substantial and together they form a world that is laconic, stern and poetic. It is beyond the everyday life and expresses the artist’s perception of the world.  Along with canvases on antique topics, Eleonora Zharenova presents at the show her works devoted to Russian history, oils and still lifes depicting the Russian countryside and hunting scenes, portraits full of spiritual beauty and intense inner life.

Vladimir Vasiltsov also showed himself to be a talented master of easel painting.  He was a perfect colorist and was fond of the nature in spring and autumn. In his watercolor landscapes he tried to generalize his reflections on life and nature of his native land and to monumentalize the breathing of the earth.

The exhibition includes cartoons and mosaic works by Eleonora Zharenova and Vladimir Vasiltsov. For the last years of their joint work they have produced mosaics for St. Tatiana Church at the Moscow State University, mosaic icons for churches in the towns of Zubov and Rzhev in the Tver region.

Their daughter Anastasia Vasiltsova, a graduate of S. Stroganov Moscow State Arts and Industrial Academy, has created a number of monumental works in Moscow and other cities of Russia. A born Muscovite, she has devoted many of her paintings to Moscow and its suburbs.






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