The exhibition of the Engels Museum of Local Lore displays one of the early works of Yakov Yakovlevich Weber “Summer Motif with a Steamboat”.

The exact date when the painting was created is unknown. A lot of works produced by the artist in the period from 1909 to 1917 have disappeared without a trace, and almost none of them that have survived are dated. However, judging by the motif, color palette, composition and techniques used, they can be attributed with certainty to the period between the 1910s–1920s. Among such works is “Summer Motif with a Steamboat”. The painting was restored in 1995 by Vladimir Solyanov, numerous losses of the paint layer were recreated.

The subject “Summer Motif with a Steamboat” shows the viewer a typical everyday Volga landscape. The canvas depicts a peaceful picture: green foliage and lush grass shoreline. In the distance, a steamboat slowly moves along the river. There is a sense of serenity and silence. The mirror-like surface of the water and the light cloudless sky convey the calmness of a summer day. Looking at the painting, the viewers are carried away in their mind to the Volga shore, where they can sit on a precipitous slope and dream in silence, hiding from the daily bustle. The texture of the river water, sky, banks and trees are conveyed by Weber’s characteristic smooth and impasto brushstrokes, revealing his individual painting style.

The artist’s individual style of work is especially noticeable in his sketches, which he himself often valued above his paintings. The search for his own voice is one of the principal beliefs of the painter. From the very beginning of his career Yakov Weber tried not to copy his teachers’ work, although there is no doubt about the influence of some of them on Weber’s early art. Despite all the hardships in life, the artist remained faithful to the principles of Russian landscape art of the second half of the 19th century. According to Emiliy Arbitman, a well-known fellow countryman of Weber and historian of Russian art, the distinctive style of Yakov Weber’s works includes calm narratives, modest motifs and traditional pictorial means.