The Russian artist Alexander Osmerkin was a long-time lecturer at the Leningrad Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture named after Repin (former Imperial Academy of Arts). He was born in a Ukrainian town, Yelisavetgrad (now Kropyvnytskyi), and later lived in Moscow, Kiev and Leningrad. The artist was fascinated by the Northern Capital, and from the late 20s of the XX century he constantly painted architectural views, rivers and canals, White Nights, and famous residents of the city. He completed his painting In the backyard of the Hermitage in 1945, when he first visited the city after the end of the Siege.

The canvas shows a backyard between the Winter Palace and the Small Hermitage; the Palace Quay and the Neva can be seen through the arch. Osmerkin could not imagine Leningrad without its architectural heritage - in different years he painted the Academy of Arts building, Spit of Vasilyevsky Island view, New Holland Arch. However, the artist always avoided naturalistic literality: the Hermitage in this picture is recognized primarily due to its clear shape outlined by columns and cornices, while its rich decorations are painted casually and almost schematically.

Working on the painting In the backyard of the Hermitage, Osmerkin used very bright, vibrant colors, sometimes even without splitting them in different shades. This manner, which contradicted the post-war Soviet art canons, referred to the artist’s membership in the avant-garde association Jack of Diamonds – its members rejected academicism and the realistic style in painting. Osmerkin joined the group’s exhibitions in 1914. At that time, he was experimenting with modernist trends in painting: for his pictures Lady with a Lorgnette, Houses and Cities, Still Life with a Clock he used plain colors and an unusual perspective.