Painting by Vera Lavrova

The exhibition is held as part of the project "We remember your names. The work of the oldest artists of Kaluga."

A small exhibition of works by Vera Mikhailovna Lavrova (1924-1993), most of whose life is connected with Kaluga, is organized in connection with the 100th anniversary of the author’s birth. Her paintings, created at different periods, mainly in the open air, have long since been distributed "to their addresses": they settled with connoisseurs of her work, and only a few entered the museum, after the artist’s death. She had to devote most of her time to fulfilling production assignments, mainly, decorating various premises, which provided the means for a living. Being a modest person, she did not strive to constantly be in the public eye, although she regularly took part in zonal and group exhibitions.

Vera Mikhailovna’s biography is not complicated. She was born into a working class family in the city of Kyshtym in the Chelyabinsk region. After finishing eight grades, she moved to the city of Talitsa in the Sverdlovsk region, where she completed her secondary education in 1944. In 1944-1949, she studied at the Sverdlovsk Art School, where she received the qualification of a teacher of drawing and drafting. Then, in 1949-1951, she worked at the Uryupinsk Pedagogical School in the Stalingrad region, after which in 1962 she moved to Kaluga, with which she connected her entire subsequent life. She worked in the Kaluga art and production workshops of the Art Fund of the RSFSR.

As even a few paintings, mainly of a sketchy nature, testify, their author had good professional training and, judging by her broad painting style, had a fine sense of color. A relatively early self-portrait is distinguished by energetic modeling of volume, conveying the fragility of the figure and a tense state. The complex composition "Old Bazaar in Tarusa" is executed with rich strokes, in warm tones. At different times of the year, Vera Mikhailovna willingly painted the picturesque village of Sivkovo, as can be seen in the small-sized works "Summer. Village of Sivkovo", "Spring in the Village", "Autumn in Sivkovo". The landscape "Mill in Winter" makes a strong impression. Lavrova also turned to everyday themes, as evidenced by two versions of "At the Kiosk" and the lyrical scene "Spring Voices". A special place in her work is occupied by urban landscapes, still lifes, and subjects associated with the personality of K. E. Tsiolkovsky.

The works mentioned here, as well as other surviving works by V. M. Lavrova, convince us that the artist’s true talent is clearly evident not only in large-sized canvases, but also in modest miniatures, warmed by the author’s feeling, sensitively perceiving genuine beauty.