A series of works with views of the Arkhangelskoye estate was created by the artist Alexei Kravchenko in the 1920s. The painting ‘Arkhangelskoye. The Manor’, which is part of collection of the Bryansk Regional Museum of Art, depicts an early autumn… We can see a yellowish lawn and trees that have started changing colour, gloomy autumn skies with thick, low clouds creating an impression that it is going to rain. The artist used bright, juicy colours to convey the beauty of an autumn day and the architectural ensemble inscribed in the natural landscape. 

Kravchenko’s style can be described as a neo-romantic grotesque. However, as a painter, the artist was not known to the general public for a long time, because he did not exhibit his works, fearing political consequences and ideological pressure from the authorities.

In 1924, Kravchenko’s ex librises were shown at the last exhibition of the famous association “World of Art”. His works were highly appreciated by one of the founders of the association, the famous artist and strict critic Alexander Benoit.

In his work on the ex-libris Kravchenko fully mastered the art of woodblocking, and this helped fully reveal his outstanding talent in easel engraving and book illustration. He created engravings for artworks of twenty-three Russian, Soviet and foreign authors. In particular, he illustrated books by Alexander Pushkin, Nikolai Gogol, Honoré de Balzac, Stefan Zweig. 

In the 20's and 30's he also worked a lot in xylography, etching and linocut technique. He created a series of engravings dedicated to the construction of the Dnieper hydropower plant. After a business trip to New York, where he was sent to organize the art department of the exhibition of Soviet art, he created engravings with views of skyscrapers in Manhattan. Romantic-emotional and expressive, his graphic works became classics of Soviet art.