On Friday, an exhibition dedicated to the work of Ivan Aivazovsky opened at the Regional Children’s Art Gallery in Volgograd. It presents works by young artists — winners of the international competition “Sea, Sea…”
The jury reviewed more than seven hundred works from Russia and the Czech Republic. All the works were assessed in four age groups, from 6 to 18 years old. In the canvases of the young artists, the most valued qualities were the presence of techniques, images, and themes associated with the great marine painter. About one hundred of the best works by admirers of Aivazovsky are now presented in our Children’s Art Gallery. First of all, the works of Angelina Krivova (Volgograd), Yana Reisova (Czech Republic), Zhenya Letushev and Nastya Gukova (Omsk) draw attention — it was they who became the winners of the competition.
The director of the gallery, member of the Union of Artists of the Russian Federation Elena Orlova, who served on the jury, shared her impressions:
— Each work has its own particular qualities: the very young children’s works show a richness of imagination and brightness of color, while the older participants demonstrate meaningfulness of subject and clarity of line.
Incidentally, the young artists transferred their sensations of the sea to canvas not only with the help of gouache, watercolor, oil paint, and colored pencils. The competition also included one work made with computer graphics. “Moonlit Path” was the result of the collective work of three Volgograd schoolgirls — Olga Saiko, Ksenia Popova, and Elena Dzinevskaya. Being admirers of artists from different schools and movements, they created their joint canvas in just three days. Yet, by the authors’ own admission, in the future they would gladly exchange speed and computer technology for work with paints — for “living” art.
Alina YABLONSKAYA, INTER-Press, No. 19 (741), 10.05.2007
