Moscow-born Eugenia Vronskaya had an interesting early
introduction to the world of art. Here is an excerpt from some reflections she
wrote for the gallery.
‘My
very first work of art was made at the age of five. I was on a visit to my Grandfather
who was a General in the army and a big scary man with a deep voice. He had large
leather armchairs in his study, which was where I was left when the adults did
important things. I found a pair of scissors and cut out a silhouette of a wolf
from the back of an armchair. Wolves were my favourite at a time and I believed
that I was one in a previous life. When grandpa saw me and the holes in the
armchairs, he was angry. I thought he was going to murder me. But once he saw
the wolf, he was suddenly impressed, asked if he could have it… and spared my
life.
 |
| In the expectations of a Miracle - oil on canvas - 6' x 4' |
Four
years after this, I was sent to a barely legal experimental icon-painting
school. I hated it, but that’s where I learned my skills in fresco and icon
painting. They taught us how to make our own brushes, paints and grounds in the
traditional school of egg tempera, techniques going back to the Middle Ages and
earlier. I left this place at the age of 13 and announced to my parents that I
was to become an artist. Shortly after this the school was closed and most of
the teachers given twenty-four hours to leave the country.
The
icon painting I learned there was a disciplined and predetermined type of
painting. One to follow a set of very strict rules, so when I finally started
to paint my ‘own way,’ it was like opening a flood gate. I was crazed. Painting
as all I did and wanted to do, day-in and day-out. My mind was set.
 |
| Into the River - oil on canvas - 6' x 4' |
There
was this fantastic Art School in Moscow. It was founded in the 1920s by
wonderful people like Malevich, Larionov, Khlebnikov and Gancharova, and I was
not interested in going anywhere else, even though I was far too young to get
in. I applied anyway and had to sit eight rigorous exams in drawing, painting,
composition, illustration, history of Art and the history of the Communist
Party. Miraculously (and I’m sure by mistake) I was accepted. On the first day
of the University, the director asked me to stand up in front of hundreds of students
to announce that I was the youngest ever to be accepted in the Moscow School of
Art.’
Eugenia Vronskaya, 2012
Vronskaya
studied there for six years. After this she took on her own studio in Moscow,
had sell out shows, studied in at the Royal College of art in London, and
eventually moved to the Scottish Highlands. An extraordinary life for an
extraordinary artist.
Comments
Post a Comment