Yakov Yakovlevich Weber was an Honored Art Worker of the Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of the Volga Germans, an academic landscape painter and teacher. The Engels Museum of Local Lore houses the largest collection of the artist’s paintings.

“Dusk with Figures of People” is one of the earliest works by Yakov Weber in the museum’s collection. Unfortunately, very few of his early works are known. This was the time when Weber moved from the village of Rovnoe and worked at the Saratov Museum as a copyist. Opened in Saratov in 1885, the Radishchev Museum was the first provincial public art museum in Russia. It became the center of artistic and cultural life in the city and attracted artists, researchers and art lovers. In this museum, Weber became familiar with the works of the famous Russian and foreign artists, including, for example, the famous Dutch painter Peter Paul Rubens. While working on commissions for private individuals, Yakov Weber made copies of the best paintings from the museum, among which were the paintings of the Academician and Professor of the Imperial Academy of Arts Julius Klever, which appeal to the viewers with their bright sunsets. Perhaps it was under the impression of Klever’s work that Yakov Weber created his small vertical canvas filled with the silence of a winter evening. The unassuming landscape which includes a pastoral scene offers an exquisite lyrical experience. The harmony of soft color relationships, mysteriously romantic illumination of the night view, smooth painting, attention to detail and deliberate violation of proportions imbue the painting with a chamber-like sound and special charm.

The artistic career of Yakov Weber began with his studying under the Saratov artists Hector Baracchi, Vasily Konovalov and Fyodor Korneev. Joining the artistic circles of Saratov was of great importance for the young Weber. At that time, he developed his basic creative principles, which he drew on for the rest of his life. The artist defined himself as a dedicated realist and considered the landscape the main genre in his work.