Taisia Kirillovna Afonina (; 13 May 1913 – 19 April 1994) was a Soviet

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

and

watercolorist Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (Commonwealth English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin 'water'), is a painting metho ...

. She lived and worked in

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, was a member of the

Saint Petersburg Union of Artists Union of Artists of Saint Petersburg () was established on August 2, 1932, as a creative union of the Leningrad artists and arts critics. Prior to 1959, it was called " Leningrad Union of Soviet Artists". From 1959 (when it joined the Union of Art ...

(before 1992 - the Leningrad branch of Union of Artists of Russian Federation), and is regarded as one of the representatives of the

Leningrad school of painting The Leningrad School of Painting () is a phenomenon that refers to a large group of painters who developed in Saint Petersburg, Leningrad around the reformed Imperial Academy of Arts, Academy of Arts in 1930–1950 and was united by the Saint Pet ...

Biography

Afonina was born on 13 May 1913 in the city Nikolaev,

Kherson Governorate Kherson Governorate, known until 1803 as Nikolayev Governorate, was an administrative-territorial unit ('' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire, with its capital in Kherson. It encompassed in area and had a population of 2,733,612 inhabitants. At t ...

, of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

(present-day

Mykolaiv Mykolaiv ( ), also known as Nikolaev ( ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city and a hromada (municipality) in southern Ukraine. Mykolaiv is the Administrative centre, administrative center of Mykolaiv Raion (Raions of Ukraine, district) and Myk ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

), in the family of master Shipyard "Navel" (after

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

Shipyard named Marty). In 1931 Taisia Afonina graduated from nine-year school in city

Taganrog Taganrog (, ) is a port city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, on the north shore of Taganrog Bay in the Sea of Azov, several kilometers west of the mouth of the Don (river), Don River. It is in the Black Sea region. Population: Located at the site of a ...

and came to

to obtain an art education. In 1932-1936 she engaged first in the evening classes for working youth, then in the preparatory classes at the

Russian Academy of Arts Russian Academy of Arts (RAA / rus. РАХ, Росси́йская акаде́мия худо́жеств) is the State scientific Institution of Russian Federation, eligible heir to the USSR Academy of Arts. A founder of RAA is the Governmen ...

. In 1936, after preparatory classes, Afonina was adopted at the first course of Painting Department of the Leningrad Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, where she studied of Mikhail Bernshtein, Victor Oreshnikov, Pavel Naumov. In 1941, after the beginning of

Great Patriotic war The Eastern Front, also known as the Great Patriotic War (term), Great Patriotic War in the Soviet Union and its successor states, and the German–Soviet War in modern Germany and Ukraine, was a Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II ...

, Taisia Afonina, with her young son and mother, evacuated first to

Ostashkov Ostashkov () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town and the administrative center of Ostashkovsky District in Tver Oblast, Russia, on a peninsula at the southern shore of Lake Seliger, west of Tver, the administrative center of the ...

, then

Vyshny Volochyok Vyshny Volochyok ( rus, Вы́шний Волочёк, p=ˈvɨʂnʲɪj vəlɐˈtɕɵk) is a town in Tver Oblast, Russia. Population: Geography and etymology The town is located northwest of Tver, in the Valdai Hills, between the Tvertsa and ...

, then

Luhansk Luhansk (, ; , ), also known as Lugansk (, ; , ), is a city in the Donbas in eastern Ukraine. As of 2022, the population was estimated to be making Luhansk the Cities in Ukraine, 12th-largest city in Ukraine. Luhansk served as the administra ...

, Ukraine. In 1943, after the liberation of the German fascists

Lugansk Luhansk (, ; , ), also known as Lugansk (, ; , ), is a city in the Donbas in eastern Ukraine. As of 2022, the population was estimated to be making Luhansk the 12th-largest city in Ukraine. Luhansk served as the administrative center of Luh ...

, Taisia Afonina was involved in rebuilding the city, teaching drawing and painting in Lugansk Art school. In autumn 1943, with a group of artists she went to the city of

Krasnodon Krasnodon () or Sorokyne (; ) is a city in Dovzhansk Raion (district) of Luhansk Oblast in Ukraine. Residence of Sorokyne urban hromada. Its population is approximately Krasnodon came under control of pro-Russian separatists in early 2014, ...

to draw local club before awarding medals to parents of deceased members of the underground anti-fascist

Komsomol The All-Union Leninist Young Communist League, usually known as Komsomol, was a political youth organization in the Soviet Union. It is sometimes described as the youth division of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), although it w ...

organization Young Guard. They fought against the Nazis in the occupied city

(in the

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...

), and became known to the whole country. In 1946, in the May edition of the newspaper of the Academy of Fine Arts ''"''For the Socialist Realism''"'', Taisa Afonina wrote: "I saw the pit where they were dumped, the remnants of their bloody clothes, the prison where they were tortured. I talked to their mothers and girlfriends. I wanted to tell, to write about all this, of all their short heroic life". In 1946, Afonina graduated from the Repin Institute of Arts in

Igor Grabar Igor Emmanuilovich Grabar (, 25 March 1871 – 16 May 1960) was a Russian Post-Impressionist painter, publisher, restorer and historian of art. Grabar, descendant of a wealthy Rusyn family, was trained as a painter by Ilya Repin in Saint Pe ...

personal Art Studio of monumental painting. Her graduate work was a historical painting named ''"''Girls of

Donbas The Donbas (, ; ) or Donbass ( ) is a historical, cultural, and economic region in eastern Ukraine. The majority of the Donbas is occupied by Russia as a result of the Russo-Ukrainian War. The word ''Donbas'' is a portmanteau formed fr ...

''"'', dedicated to the memory and heroism members of the Anti-Fascist underground. After graduation Afonina continued to work in

and returned to

in 1952. The

Kliment Voroshilov Kliment Yefremovich Voroshilov ( ; ), popularly known as Klim Voroshilov (; 4 February 1881 – 2 December 1969), was a prominent Soviet Military of the Soviet Union, military officer and politician during the Stalinism, Stalin era (1924–195 ...

Luhansk Museum acquired as early as 1943 the first three paintings by Taisia Afonina: ''The Germans came'', ''Stealing in Germany'', and ''Meeting''. Her paintings were later purchased by the art museums of

Kostroma Kostroma (, ) is a historic city and the administrative center of Kostroma Oblast, Russia. A part of the Golden Ring of Russian cities, it is located at the confluence of the rivers Volga and Kostroma. In the 2021 census, the population is 267, ...

Staraya Ladoga Staraya Ladoga ( rus, Ста́рая Ла́дога, p=ˈstarəjə ˈladəɡə, r=Stáraya Ládoga, t=Old Ladoga), known as Ladoga until 1704, is a rural locality (a '' selo'') in Volkhovsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the ...

, and the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

in Paris.

Creativity

Her first participation in an art exhibition was in 1940. Since the beginning of 1950s, Antipova constantly involved in art exhibitions of Leningrad artists. She painted landscapes, still-lifes, portraits, and genre compositions. She worked in oil painting and watercolors and was most famous as a master of landscape and still-life painting. In 1946 Taisia Afonina was admitted to the Leningrad Union of Soviet Artists. In the first years after graduation Taisia Afonin attracted military subjects and pathos revival. Later she worked more in the genres of portrait and lyrical landscape. In the 1950s she visited

Carpathians The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe and Southeast Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains ...

, Meshchersky locations, where she painted a lot of studies from the life. For her works typical method of tonal painting, the interest to transfer effect of lights and plain air, and subtle coloristic relations. Among her works are such paintings as ''Foundry Conveyor'' (1947), ''Portrait of Kizilshtein-Mikhailova'', ''Grapes and Apples'' (both 1955), ''Windy Day'' (1956), ''Close to Ryazan'' (1958), ''Spring,'' ''A Light-Blue Night'', ''After the Rain'', ''At the Old Tuchkov Bridge'' (all 1959), ''On the Zhdanovka River in Leningrad'' (1960), ''Chinese student'' (1961), '' Still-life with Pussy-Willows'', ''Portrait of poet

Olga Bergholz Olga Fyodorovna Bergholz ( rus, Ольга Фёдоровна Берггольц, p=ˈolʲɡə ˈfʲɵdərəvnə bʲɪrˈɡolʲts, a=Ol'ga Fyodorovna Byerghol'cz.ru.vorb.oga; – November 13, 1975) was a Soviet Union, Soviet and Russian Soviet F ...

'', ''Marinka'', ''Briar'' (all 1964), ''Portrait of artist Margarita Ruban'' (1971), ''Portrait A. Grebenuk'', ''Portrait of an entomologist S. Keleynikova'' (both 1975), ''Portrait of a Korean woman Tamara'' (1977), and ''Portrait of writer

Nikolai Tikhonov Nikolai Aleksandrovich Tikhonov ( – 1 June 1997) was a Soviet Russian-Ukrainian statesman during the Cold War. He served as Chairman of the Council of Ministers from 1980 to 1985, and as a First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers, ...

'' (1980). Taisia Kirillovna Afonina died on 19 April 1994 in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

at the age of 80. Her paintings reside in art museums and private collections in Russia, Finland, USA, Germany, England, France,''Peinture Russe. Catalogue.'' - Paris: Drouot Richelieu, 24 Septembre 1991. p.43-44. and others.

References

Sources

External links

''Exhibition of Taisia Afonina in ARKA Fine Art Gallery''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Afonina, Taisia 1913 births 1994 deaths People from Mykolaiv People from Khersonsky Uyezd 20th-century Russian painters Russian landscape painters Soviet painters Russian watercolorists Women watercolorists Socialist realist artists Leningrad School artists Members of the Leningrad Union of Artists Repin Institute of Arts alumni 20th-century Russian women painters

Biography

Creativity

See also

References

Sources

External links