Vera Ermolaeva facts for kids
Vera Ermolaeva (Russian: Ве́ра Миха́йловна Ермола́ева) (November 2, 1893 – September 26, 1937) was a talented Russian painter, graphic artist, and illustrator. She was an important part of the Russian avant-garde movement, which was a time when artists experimented with new and exciting styles.
Contents
Vera Ermolaeva's Early Life
Childhood and School Days
Vera Mikhailovna Ermolaeva was born on November 2, 1893, in a village called Kliuchi in Russia. Her father, Mikhail Sergeevich Ermolaev, owned land and was involved in local government. Her mother, Anna Vladimirovna, came from a noble family.
When Vera was a child, she had an accident where she fell from a horse. This accident hurt her legs, and she needed crutches to walk. Her parents took her to doctors in Europe to help her recover.
Vera also went to school in Europe. She studied in Paris and then in Lausanne, Switzerland. Her parents hoped that studying abroad would also help her health.
In 1904, her family moved back to Russia, settling in St. Petersburg in 1905. Vera's father started a cooperative group and published a liberal newspaper called Zhizn’ (Life).
Vera finished high school in 1910. Her father passed away in 1911. In 1912, her older brother was arrested by the government because he was involved in political ideas.
Becoming an Artist
Art Education and New Styles
From 1911 to 1914, Vera studied art with Mikhail D. Bernshtein and Leonid Shervud. Here, she became very interested in new art styles like cubism (where objects are broken into geometric shapes) and futurism (which focused on movement and technology). She was inspired by artists like Mikhail Le-Dantyu and Mikhail Larionov. During this time, she even designed the stage set for a play called “Yanko 1” in 1916.
In 1914, she traveled to Paris to see the works of modern artists. Besides art, Vera was also interested in history. She graduated from the Archaeological Institute in St. Petersburg in 1917.
She loved religious and folk art, such as icons (religious paintings) and lubki (colorful folk prints).
Vera joined artist groups like “Freedom for Art” and “Art and Revolution.” She also worked at the Petrograd City Museum from 1918 to 1919. She gave the museum her collection of painted shop signs and wrote an article about them.
Her apartment in St. Petersburg was a popular meeting place for artists and poets, including famous writers like Maksim Gorky and Vladimir Mayakovsky.
Vera became friends with the famous artist Kazimir Malevich, which greatly influenced her own art.
Art for the Stage
After the Russian Revolution, Vera worked on art for the theater. In 1920, she designed the sets for a futuristic opera called “Victory over the Sun.” These designs were even shown in Berlin in 1922. The Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) has one of her designs for this opera.
She also designed sets for Vladimir Mayakovsky’s play War and Peace.
Illustrating Books
Starting a Publishing Studio
In 1918, Vera Ermolaeva helped start a book-publishing studio in Petrograd called “Today” (Segodnya). This studio made small numbers of lubki and picture-books, often by hand. Other artists like N. Lapshin and Yu. Annenkov were also part of this group.
Vera illustrated several books for “Today,” including three works by Natan Vengrov: Myshata, Petukh, and Segodnia, all published in 1918. She also illustrated Pionery (1918), a Russian version of a poem by Walt Whitman. The studio produced 13 books in total.
Children's Books
From 1925 onwards, Vera worked for DETGIZ, the Children's Division of the State Publishing House. She illustrated many children's books, such as “Top-top-top” by Nikolai Aseev (1925), “Mnogo zverei” and “Rybaki” by Alexander Vvedensky, and “Poezd” by Evgeny Schwartz (1929). She also illustrated “Ivan Ivanych Samovar” by Daniil Kharms (1930) and many others.
Between 1929 and 1931, she illustrated a series of 12 books based on Ivan Krylov’s fables, like "Dve sobaki (Two Dogs)" and "Lzhets (The Liar)."
Vera also wrote and illustrated her own children's books, including “Vnizu po Nilu” and “Sobachki.” With another artist named Iudin, she created new kinds of picture books for children, such as “Kto kogo?” and “Bumaga i nozhnitsy.”
You can find examples of Vera Ermolaeva's book illustrations in libraries and museums, including the Museum of Modern Art.
Teaching and Artistic Groups
Vitebsk Art School Director
In April 1919, Vera Ermolaeva was sent to Vitebsk to teach at the People's Art School. In November 1919, she invited Kazimir Malevich to teach there too. After Mark Chagall left in 1921, Vera became the school's director.
With Malevich and his students, Vera helped create UNOVIS (Creators of the new art). This group was like a research lab for studying art and new artistic forms. Vera's work was shown at UNOVIS exhibits in Moscow in 1920 and 1921, and in Berlin in 1922. She also wrote an essay called “On the Study of Cubism” for an UNOVIS journal. She was a member and secretary of UNOVIS from 1920 to 1922.
While in Vitebsk, she also created large wall paintings inspired by Suprematism, an art style using basic geometric shapes.
State Institute of Artistic Culture
After returning to Petrograd, Vera led the “color laboratory” at the State Institute of Artistic Culture (GINKHUK) from 1923 to 1926. Famous artists like Malevich and Tatlin also led departments there. Her close artistic connection with Malevich changed after GINKHUK closed in 1926.
Later Artistic Works
Vera became involved with a group called the “Association of Real Art” (Oberiu), which included writers like Vvedensky and Kharms.
In 1928, she traveled to the Barents Sea with artist P. V. Velikanova. She created a series of gouaches (paintings using opaque watercolors) from this trip. These paintings impressed Kharms and Vvedensky and inspired them to write stories.
Her gouaches from 1928 include “Seated woman,” “Three Figures,” “Accordionist,” and “Ballerina.” These works showed the influence of cubism.
In the early 1930s, Vera started illustrating books for adults, especially those with deep, philosophical themes. She illustrated Goethe’s Reynard the Fox and Cervantes’s Don Quixote. Her last book illustrations were a series of gouaches inspired by Lucretius’ On the Nature of Things.
She also taught art, giving lessons to artist M. B. Kazanskaia from 1931.
In 1929, Vera joined a group of artists focused on “painterly-sculptural realism.” They met weekly at her apartment to discuss art and hold exhibitions. These activities later led to trouble for the group.
In the early 1930s, Vera created a large series of paintings called The Village (Derevnia). These paintings also showed the influence of suprematism. Some works in this series included figures, like Baba so snopom (Woman with a Sheaf) and Baba s rebenkom (Woman with a Child).
In 1934, she painted still-life works showing objects like a pitcher, a glass, and apples.
Some of her paintings, like Three Figures (Golgotha) (1928) and Man with a Basket (1933), are in the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg.
A Tragic End and Recognition
On December 25, 1934, Vera Ermolaeva was arrested by the government, along with several other artists. She was accused of "anti-Soviet activity" and associating with people who had "anti-Soviet ideas." She was sentenced to three years in prison. Sadly, on September 20, 1937, she was found guilty again and her life ended tragically on September 26, 1937.
However, on September 20, 1989, Vera Ermolaeva was officially cleared of all charges. This process is called rehabilitation, meaning her name and reputation were restored.
Art Exhibitions
Vera Ermolaeva's art was shown in many exhibitions during her lifetime:
- "Revolution and Art" (1920, Vitebsk)
- Exhibitions of UNOVIS (1920, 1921, Moscow)
- "The First Russian Art Exhibition" (1922, Berlin)
- "The Exhibition of Paintings by Petrograd Artists [representing] All Movements from 1918-1923" (1923, Petrograd)
- Exhibition of GINKHUK (1924, Petrograd)
- Exhibition of the research departments of GINKHUK (1926, Leningrad)
- "Graphic and Book Art of the USSR" (1929, Amsterdam)
- "Artists of the RSFSR of the last 15 years" (1932, 1933; Leningrad, Moscow)
- "The Woman in Socialist Realist Construction" (1934, Leningrad)
- "Leningrad in the Works of Contemporary Artists" (1934, Leningrad)
Exhibitions After Her Death
- Artworks of Vera Ermolaeva at the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia (August 7, 2008 – September 30, 2008)
Vera Ermolaeva Foundation
In Moscow, in 2013, the Vera Ermolaeva Foundation was created in her honor. This foundation supports new initiatives in contemporary art.
See also
In Spanish: Vera Yermoláyeva para niños
