Forest still life, 1981
This watercolor work by Valentina Petrova, created in 1981, embodies tranquility and natural harmony. The painting depicts mushrooms resting on a wooden surface, surrounded by green leaves. The use of watercolor techniques creates softness and transparency, allowing the viewer to feel the fragility and ephemerality of the moment. Warm browns and greens establish a cozy atmosphere, emphasizing the scene's organic nature. As a realist piece, it showcases Petrova's skill in capturing textures and details, such as the veins on the mushrooms and the intricacies of the wood's grain. This piece is of interest to collectors who appreciate realistic still lifes that capture the simplicity and beauty of everyday life.
Valentina Petrova
Graphic artist. In 1948 she graduated from the graphic arts faculty of the Repin Institute, defending her thesis with distinction on illustrations for V. Gorbatov's book 'The Unconquered'. Since 1948 — a member of the Union of Artists of the USSR. Since 1968 — Merited Artist of the RSFSR. She worked at Leningrad publishing houses and participated in exhibitions from 1950. She began working as an illustrator at Detgiz while still a student, and from 1950 created books in co-authorship with her husband at various publishing houses. She also had a lithographic studio where she created many autolithographs, including the 'Blockade' cycle of 1985, part of which she donated to the State Museum of the History of St. Petersburg. The large-format sheets of the cycle are a synthesis of impressions from the blockade years in a large compositional form and complex tonality. The composition 'Lecture on Art in an Air-Raid Shelter, Winter 1942' is particularly notable — it glorifies the heights of the human spirit, conveying the emotional authenticity of a time when deprivation and hunger could not prevent people from believing in beauty. Awards: Certificate of Honor from the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR for creative work in book art, 30 April 1966. 1965 — Gold Medal at the Sholokhov competition at the Leipzig Exhibition. 1969 — First Prize of the Union of Artists of the USSR for a series of works about Lenin.