"Bird of Happiness" Larisa Fedoteva

The Russian Academy of Arts presents an exhibition in memory of the Soviet and Russian artist Larisa Viktorovna Fedotyeva (1935-2021) "The Bird of Happiness". The basis of the exposition is more than 130 paintings and graphic works of different years, including landscapes, portraits and still lifes, in which the master demonstrates a wide range of possibilities, a variety of materials, intonation and manner of presentation. The works are made in the technique of engraving, pastel, lithography and watercolor.

The beginning of the formation of the creative path and the formation of Larisa Fedotiev, as a talented and original artist, fell on a fertile time - the sixties of the twentieth century. During this historical period, the humanistic component and its huge influence on public opinion come to the fore, thanks to which the development of domestic art receives a qualitatively new impetus. Artists are persistently looking for modern forms, but they do not refuse traditional ones either, which allows them to create works that are amazing in their impact on the audience, “working” for a special expressiveness of the image. This time brought forth remarkable masters, among whom the name of Larisa Fedotiev occupies a special place.

Critics draw attention to the characteristic feature of the artist’s work, for which the creation of a picture is "tantamount to a good deed." They note the special humanity of her works, whether it is "a still life, a genre scene or a formal portrait of a famous person." The art of the master is characterized by aesthetic sensitivity and fidelity to classical values.

In the works of Fedotiev it is impossible to single out periods of one direction or another. Refusing a stylistic approach to themes, the artist creates the same plot, both in drawing and in color autolithography, and in linocut. At the same time, she works simultaneously in different materials and techniques.

Larisa Fedotyeva became the creator of a gallery of portraits of composers of Buryatia, the founders of Buryat classical, academic and professional music. Her canvases were commissioned by the Union of Composers of the USSR in the late 70s of the last century. The artist admires their virtuosity, she achieves the greatest expressiveness, focusing her gaze on the transmission of each unique gesture, habit, even eccentricity of individual musicians.

Another distinctive feature of Larisa Fedotyeva’s work is the integrity of each composition, achieved by the spiritual content of graphic images. The desire for a harmonious comprehension and embodiment of the world, the artistry of performance, the magnificent freedom and variety of techniques, do not leave her compositions indifferent.

The works of Larisa Fedotiev give an opportunity to see the inexhaustible possibilities of graphics.

Larisa Viktorovna Fedotyeva (Kulagina-Fedotyeva) is a graphic artist and teacher. She was born on July 23, 1935 in Moscow.

In 1956 she graduated from the Moscow secondary art school. From 1956 to 1962 she studied at the Moscow State Art Institute. V. I. Surikov (workshop of easel graphics of academician E. A. Kibrik). Participated in art exhibitions since 1958. Member of the Moscow branch of the Union of Artists since 1963.

Works are stored in the collections of the State Tretyakov Gallery, the State Russian Museum, the State Museum of Fine Arts. A. S. Pushkin, in the National Art Museum of Belarus, as well as in private galleries and collections in Moscow, Russia, Serbia, Germany, France, USA, Italy.