Yevgeny Lansere, a Russian artist, painted in watercolours, created theatre scenery and worked as a muralist in the Soviet period. Lansere was the elder brother of Zinaida Serebryakova, also a painter. He finished the School of Drawing at the Arts Encouragement Society in Petersburg. During his tour of France, he took lessons in the private art studios in Paris. On his return from France, Lansere joined the Mir iskusstva (the World of Art) artists’ association, founded by artist Aleksander Benua. Lansere contributed his works to the eponymous journal published by the members of that group.
The exhibition represents the watercolour of Lansere, named Uman. Sofievka. The Island of Love. This work dates back to the early period of the artist’s creative activity, when he had the strongest bonds with Mir iskusstva.
The watercolour depicts Sofievka Park, a monument of the landscape gardening and park art, located in the town of Uman, Ukraine. The essence of the painting is the beauty of nature, the sunshine, the cool blue of the shadows. The watercolour is saturated with the warm envailing force of light. The tender and subdued tints of green and blue, combined with golden and orange tints, are sparkling like precious stones. The trees are reflected in the water, drawing the viewer into the mystic atmosphere of the park. The composition of the watercolour reminds the stage scenery: the foreground standing out, and the wing flats, formed by the two broad-crowned trees. The retreating perspective draws the look into the depth of the painting.
Yevgeny Lansere also painted watercolour landscapes featuring the old-time Saint Petersburg. His numerous drawings and watercolours were devoted to the architectural monuments of the capital of the North. Since the end of the 1890-s he was engaged in magazine and book artistic graphics. He made illustrations for Leo Tolstoy’s story Hadji Murat and a number of other literary works. The artist’s illustrations are distinctive of the subtle historic stylization.
During the World War I, Lansere worked as a defence correspondent, depicting the war events. In the Soviet period, the artist created historical paintings, portraits and landscapes. The artist also practiced mural painting and participated in the wall painting of the Kazan railway station building in Moscow.
