Boris Nikolayevich Yermolayev was born in St. Petersburg in 1903.

Between 1921 and 1925, he studied at the Leningrad Art and Industrial College. His teachers were the painters and graphic artists Vladimir Nikolayevich Fyodorovich and Mikhail Ivanovich Avilov. After that, Boris Yermolayev studied at the Higher Art and Technical Institute for three years. He worked with Leningrad newspapers and illustrated children’s books.

The creative legacy of Boris Yermolayev, known primarily as a graphic artist, is diverse and extensive, and does not fit the usual standards of the so-called “Leningrad school”. Particularly interesting are his paintings created in the 1930s.

Small works by the artist from that time are minimalistic in nature. In the first half of the 1930s, Boris Yermolayev created a series of images of Red Navy sailors and naval commanders.

The naval theme was relevant to the artist since his youth when he combined his studies with work as a sailor in a commercial port.

In 1930, the Russian Museum hosted an exhibition by the Georgian painter Nikolay Aslanovich Pirosmanashvili (Niko Pirosmani) which had a significant impact on the development of the artist’s style.

The painting “Training Exercises of Red Navy Sailors” was created during the early period of the artist’s career, even before he began focusing on printed graphics. This painting was acquired by the Pskov Museum Reserve in 1981 from the artist himself along with ten other artworks.

In the 1930s, Boris Yermolaev painting sought to emulate the style of naive art in his painting. He consciously used his artistic skills to pursue this goal. The conventionality of forms, similar to that found in primitive art, distinguishes “Training Exercises of Red Navy Sailors” from the collection of the Pskov Museum Reserve.

In the background on the right, the white columns of the Admiralty tower can be seen. A group of 11 sailors stand against this backdrop. In the foreground, there is another group of 9 sailors with more detailed faces. The sailors are wearing black uniforms and are preparing for a parade on Palace Square.