"Country Life" by Olga Tikhonova

The Russian Academy of Arts presents an anniversary exhibition of paintings by Academician of the Russian Academy of Arts Olga Viktorovna Tikhonova, “Country Life,” introducing viewers to Russian nature, the architecture of parks and estates, and the comfort of rural life. The artist invites us into her bright and beautiful world, where her painting talent, which goes hand in hand with the gift of humanity and spirituality, is revealed to us through still lifes, landscape paintings and genre works.

The theme of country life and estate culture in the work of the Moscow painter is far from accidental, because Olga Tikhonova herself comes from the Oryol region. Such famous Russian poets and writers lived there as N.S. Leskov, A.A. Fet, I.S. Turgenev, I.A. Bunin, F.I. Tyutchev, M.M. Prishvin, L.N. Andreev and other representatives of noble families. The author travels a lot and constantly works in the open air, improving his skills, reading and capturing the chronicle of country farms that still exist on Russian soil. On her canvases are the estates of the Goncharovs and Chernyshevs in Yaropolets, Spasskoye-Lutovinovo in the Oryol region, “Bezhin Meadow” in the Tula region, the estates of the Pavlovs in Pereslavl-Zalessky, the Vyazemskys “Pushchino-on-Nara”, the Arkhangelskoye museum-estate, the estates of Kolomna and Kuskovo, Moskvoretsky Park and Tsaritsyno, the estates of the Lopukhins and Counts Saltykovs, the Kashina estate in the homeland of the great poet S. Yesenin and many others.

These monuments show us the lost world, the beauty of architecture, its way of life, its achievements, the noble thoughts of the noble intelligentsia, many of which were destined to come true and perpetuate the phenomenon of estate culture. According to art historians, two directions stand out most clearly in the art of O.V. Tikhonova: loyalty to the traditions of the Russian realistic painting school of the second half of the twentieth century and a poetic and emotional desire to reflect the beauty of the visible in paint. Her work is filled with a deep sense of awe and a special perception of the world. Her characteristic impressionistic style and textured wide brush stroke allow the artist to create on canvas a world that captivates with its colorfulness and emotionality, which has led to the love of a wide audience. The material was prepared based on an article by N.V. Silaeva.

Olga Viktorovna Tikhonova was born in the city of Orel in 1974. She graduated from the Oryol Art School (1993), the art and graphic department of the Moscow State Pedagogical University (1999) and the St. Petersburg State Academic Institute. I.E. Repin at the Russian Academy of Arts (2013). The artist is engaged not only in creativity, but also in the popularization and promotion of art, conducts numerous master classes, round tables as part of symposia and experience exchange events, and participates in social projects and educational programs. She created and organized a serious traveling exhibition project of the Moscow Union of Artists “The World of Childhood”. The author’s works are in many art museums and private collections in Russia and abroad.