Vera
Mikhailovna ERMOLAYEVA
Born 1893, Petrovsk (now Saratov district) – died 1938, near
Karaganda.
Painter,
graphic artist, book illustrator and theatre designer.
Lamp. 1920.
Pencil on paper. 25.9x24.5 cm. Ludwig Museum,
Cologne.
Composition. 1928.
Watercolor and gouache on paper, 24x17 cm. The
Russian Museum, St.Petersburg.
The Barents Sea. Ships in the Bay. 1928.
Gouache, tempera on paper, 31x51.5 cm. The Russian
Museum, St.Petersburg.
Three Figures. (Calvary). 1928.
Gouache and watercolor on paper, 33x34 cm. The
Russian Museum, St.Petersburg.
Self Portrait. 1932.
Gouache on paper, 20x17 cm. The Russian Museum,
St.Petersburg.
Woman and Child. 1933.
Gouache on paper, 29.4x22 cm. Private collection.
A Barrel. 1933.
Gouache on paper, 29.3x22 cm. Private collection.
A Man in a Wadded Coat. 1933.
Gouache on paper, 24x17 cm. The Russian Museum,
St.Petersburg.
A Man with a Basket. 1933.
Gouache on paper, 26x22.2 cm. Private collection.
Fisherman with a Basket. 1933.
Gouache and whitening on paper, 29.3x22.1 cm. The
Russian Museum, St.Petersburg.
Paintings
Illustrations
Theatre
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A Glass and an Apple. 1934.
Gouache on paper, 112x16 cm. Private collection.
A Pot, a Jug and a Wineglass. 1934.
Gouache on paper, 11x18 cm. The Russian Museum,
St.Petersburg.
A Wineglass and a Jug. 1934.
Gouache on paper, 12.7x17.9 cm. Private collection.
Paintings
Illustrations
Theatre
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Cover for the Book of Fables "Pionery" (Pioneers)
by Walt Whitman. 1918. Publishing house Segodnia (Today),
Petrograd.
Linocut colored with watercolor. 19x14,7 cm. The
Russian Museum, St.Petersburg.
Cock. 1918. Illustration for the poetry book
by N.Vengherov Publishing house of artel "Segodnia"
(Today), Petrograd.
Linocut colored with watercolor.
Cover for "Mystery Buff"
by V.Mayakovsky.1918. Sketch. (No edited).
Watercolor on paper.
Zaichik (Bunny). 1923. Illustration for the
fairy-tale book. Publishing house of S.Ya.Streich, Petrograd.
Colored linocut.
Cover for the Book "Top-top-top" (a
marching sound) by Nikolai Aseyev. 1925. Publishing
house GIZ ( The State Publisher), Leningrad.
Watercolor on paper.
Paintings
Illustrations
Theatre
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Illustration for the Book "Top-top-top"
)a marching sound) by Nikolai Aseyev. 1925. Publishing
house GIZ ( The State Publisher), Leningrad.
Watercolor on paper.
Illustration for the book "Top-top-top" (a
marching sound) by Nikolai Aseyev. 1925. Publishing house GIZ (
The State Publisher), Leningrad.
Watercolor on paper.
Cover for the Book "10 Fokusov
Chudodeyeva" (The 10 tricks of Chudodeyev) by M. Ilyin.
1927. Publishing house GIZ ( The State Publisher), Moscow - Leningrad.
Watercolor on paper.
Illustration for the book "Krasnosheika"
by Nikolai Aseyev. 1927. Publishing house GIZ ( The State
Publisher), Moscow - Leningrad.
"Kot Pamfil" (Pamphil the Cat). 1928.
Sketch for cover of the book (no published).
Watercolor on paper.
Paintings
Illustrations
Theatre
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Cover for the Book "Rybaki" (Fishermen) by
Alexandr Vvedensky. 1929. Publishing house GIZ ( The State
Publisher), Leningrad.
Gouache on paper.
Fish. 1929. Sketch of the Cover for the Book "Rybaki"
(Fishermen) by Alexandr Vvedensky.
Gouache on paper. 24.5x13.5 cm. The Russian
Museum, St.Petersburg.
Cover for the Fable "Martyshka i Ochki" (The
Monkey and the Spectacles) by I.A.Krylov. 1929. Publishing house
GIZ ( The State Publisher), Leningrad.
Watercolor and gouache on paper.
Illustration for the Book "Poyezd" ( The
Train) by Evgeny Shwartz. 1929.
Watercolor on paper.
Cover for the Book "Ivan Ivanych Samovar"
by Daniil Kharms. 1930. Publishing house GIZ ( The State
Publisher), Leningrad.
Watercolor on paper.
Paintings
Illustrations
Theatre
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Illustration for the book "Ivan Ivanych Samovar"
by Daniil Kharms. 1930. Publishing house GIZ ( The State
Publisher), Leningrad.
Watercolor on paper. Double page.
Illustration for the book "Reineke-Fox"
by I.Goethe. 1930. (Not published).
Paper, color lithography, 29.6x22.2 cm. The Russian
Museum, St.Petersburg.
Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. 1933-1934. Illustration
(not published).
Tempera on paper, 43.3x31.8 cm. The Russian Museum,
St.Petersburg.
Don Quixote and Sancho Panza in the Boat.
1933-1934. Illustration (not published).
Gouache on paper, 44.2x29.3 cm. The Russian Museum,
St.Petersburg.
Lucretius Pointing at the Sun. 1934.
Composition based on Lucretius's "Dererum
Natura".
Tempera and pencil on paper, 31.9x21.5. The Russian Museum,
St.Petersburg.
Paintings
Illustrations
Theatre
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Decor sketch for the Festival in Vitebsk.
1920.
Watercolor, Indian ink on paper, 13.5x20.7 cm. The
Russian Museum, St.Petersburg.
Decor sketch for the Festival in Vitebsk. 1920.
Gouache, pencil on paper, 20.8x11.1 cm. Private
collection.
Decor sketch for the Festival in Vitebsk. 1920.
Watercolor, Indian ink on paper, 17.4x11.4 cm. The
Russian Museum, St.Petersburg.
Decor sketch for the Festival in Vitebsk. 1920.
Gouache, pencil on paper, 17.4x11.4 cm. Private
collection.
Decor Sketch for Opera "Victory over the
Sun" by M.Matiushin, 2nd act. 1920. Staged by UNOVIS group,
Vitebsk.
Woodcut, 27.5x35 cm. Private collection.
Paintings
Illustrations
Theatre
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Vera Ermolayeva has studied at the private studio of M.Bernstein (1911-1914) in St. Petersburg.
During the years of studying she has visited France, Switzerland and England.
She has graduated from the Petrograd Archeological Institute (1917).
Ermolayeva
was a member of the Union
of Youth, from 1918, a member of Petrograd Collegiate of the IZO
Narcompros Section (Fine Arts Section of the People’s
Commissariat for Education of the RUSSIAN Republic), and from 1920, a
member of UNOVIS (the affirmers of the New Art).
The artist has taken part in exhibitions of UNOVIS in Moscow (1920-1921).
In 1918 she has organized the artel of painters “Segodnia” (Today).
Ermolayeva has worked in the Petrograd Museum of the City, now the Museum of History of St.Petersburg (1918-1919).
She was sent on a mission by the Section IZO Narcompros (1919) to Vitebsk. Was rector of Vitebsk Institute of Practical Arts (1919-1923).
The artist has headed the Laboratory of Color (1923-1926) in Institute of Art Culture (INKhUK).
From 1925 Ermolayeva has worked as children book illustrator.
At the end of 1930s, the Art of Avant-guard was frequently severely and unjustly criticized and maliciously attacked by the official press. After the satirical illustration for “Reineke-Fox” was published (1934), Ermolayeva was arrested along with a group of artists, and condemned to 5 years of penal servitude in Kazakhstan. Vera Ermolayeva has walked with the aid of crutches, her legs have been paralyzed since childhood. She never returned from the camp, where even the majority of healthy people perished or were crippled for life.