Elizaveta Kruglikova was born in Saint Petersburg in 1865. Her grandfather, Nikolai Kruglikov was a famous draftsman and amateur silhouettist.
From 1890 to 1895, Elizaveta Kruglikova was a non-matriculated student attended externship classes at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture; then she moved to Paris and continued her studies at the Académie Vitti and the Académie Colarossi. Her creative interests varied a great deal, and ranged from impressionism to Paul Gauguin’s late work. Kruglikova worked efficiently in different techniques and genres: she created colored etchings (engravings on metal), silhouette portraits, watercolors, drawings from life, theatrical scenery and sketches of puppets for the puppet theater.
Her favorite technique was monotype — a special type of print graphic design. To deploy this technique, the artist first applied some paint on a smooth surface, and then, made a print of the image on paper. The Rostov Museum collection contains three monotypes by Elizaveta Kruglikova that belong to the Paris period, one monotype of the Soviet period, and “Self-Portrait”, which the artist painted in her Paris workshop in the 1910s.
Kruglikova created this painting at a time when artists, poets and musicians around the world were looking for new languages of art. This search was manifested in “Self-Portrait” –Kruglikova painted it in oil, which she rarely used as the medium, preferring graphics to painting.
In “Self-Portrait” the artist expresses her love for the painting techniques of contemporary French painters, referring mostly to Gauguin, whose work she regarded so highly. Therefore, in “Self-Portrait”, Kruglikova paid the utmost attention to colors. The clear and dramatic silhouette of a black hat against a red background emphasizes the tension and drama of the artistic search process. Whereas the contrasting juxtaposition of black, red and white, the brightness of colors and the light reflect the inner state of the artist.
In “Self-Portrait” Kruglikova not only attempted to explore her inner self, but also sought to convey “the sense of self-esteem of a modern woman-creator”.
Nowadays, the works of Elizaveta Kruglikova are housed in the Rostov Regional Museum of Fine Arts, the Voloshin House-Museum (House of the Poet) in Koktebel, and the Kaluga Museum of Fine Arts.
From 1890 to 1895, Elizaveta Kruglikova was a non-matriculated student attended externship classes at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture; then she moved to Paris and continued her studies at the Académie Vitti and the Académie Colarossi. Her creative interests varied a great deal, and ranged from impressionism to Paul Gauguin’s late work. Kruglikova worked efficiently in different techniques and genres: she created colored etchings (engravings on metal), silhouette portraits, watercolors, drawings from life, theatrical scenery and sketches of puppets for the puppet theater.
Her favorite technique was monotype — a special type of print graphic design. To deploy this technique, the artist first applied some paint on a smooth surface, and then, made a print of the image on paper. The Rostov Museum collection contains three monotypes by Elizaveta Kruglikova that belong to the Paris period, one monotype of the Soviet period, and “Self-Portrait”, which the artist painted in her Paris workshop in the 1910s.
Kruglikova created this painting at a time when artists, poets and musicians around the world were looking for new languages of art. This search was manifested in “Self-Portrait” –Kruglikova painted it in oil, which she rarely used as the medium, preferring graphics to painting.
In “Self-Portrait” the artist expresses her love for the painting techniques of contemporary French painters, referring mostly to Gauguin, whose work she regarded so highly. Therefore, in “Self-Portrait”, Kruglikova paid the utmost attention to colors. The clear and dramatic silhouette of a black hat against a red background emphasizes the tension and drama of the artistic search process. Whereas the contrasting juxtaposition of black, red and white, the brightness of colors and the light reflect the inner state of the artist.
In “Self-Portrait” Kruglikova not only attempted to explore her inner self, but also sought to convey “the sense of self-esteem of a modern woman-creator”.
Nowadays, the works of Elizaveta Kruglikova are housed in the Rostov Regional Museum of Fine Arts, the Voloshin House-Museum (House of the Poet) in Koktebel, and the Kaluga Museum of Fine Arts.
