Vihrova Evgeniya

Biography

Vikhrova Evgeniya Vladimirovna, professional artist and teacher, member of the Russian (USSR) Artists’ Union since 1977, Honoured University Worker of the Russian Federation.
Born in Leningrad (currently St-Petersburg) in 1945.
Attended art classes under the tutelage of S.D. Levin at Zhdanov Palace of Young Pioneers (currently The State Educational Institution Saint-Petersburg City Palace of Youth Creativity) from 1955 to 1961.
Graduated from Art School # 190 in 1964.
Graduated from the Department of artistic ceramics and glass (Faculty of applied and decorative arts) of the Vera Mukhina Higher School of Industrial Arts (currently the Saint Petersburg State Art and Industry Academy, named after Alexander von Stieglitz) in 1969. Studied under K.M. Mitrophanov, A.I. Mayeva, N.S. Kochneva, F.S. Entelys, A.A. Tatevosova. Her graduation project (supervised by K.M. Mitrophanov) included the following sets of glassware:
1. Kitchenware set (tinted glass);
2. A set of dessert dishes (painted colourless glass).
Worked as a teacher at the Leningrad Art School # 4 from 1969 to 1975.
Since 1970, has been participating in exhibitions on the regional, republican, USSR and international level. As of today, the total number of exhibitions exceeds 200.
From 1975 to 1994, worked as an artist at Vosstanie, a Badge of Honour glass factory in the city of Chudovo, Novgorod region.
Member of the Russian Artists’ Union since 1977.
In 1982, took part in the Interglass international glass symposium at the Crystalex factory, Novy Bor, the Czech Republic.
In 1985, awarded with the Exhibition of National Economy Achievements Gold Medal.
From January 7th to February 20th, 1987, worked at Palanga, the USSR Art Foundation Art Centre, as part of a group of artists from the enterprises of the USSR Ministry of Consumer Goods Industry and Ministry of Construction Materials Industry. The group was tasked with designing an assortment of fabrics, textile goods, chinaware, and glassware for home use. The group’s work was characterized by applying integrated artistic principles to create ensembles for contemporary residential indoor environment.
In 1985, received third prize at the USSR-wide contest of individual, batch-produced, and souvenir and gift items, dedicated to the 40th anniversary of the Victory in World War II (held in Moscow, USSR Ministry of Construction Materials Industry, May 1985).
In 1988, received first prize for the design and creation of items of high artistic value, intended for limited production (the Evening vase set), in the follow-up of the republic-wide industrial contest of crystal gift items and glass items of high demand (the RSFSR Ministry of Construction Materials Industry Act # 313, July 28th, 1988).
In 1990, participated in the First International Glass Symposium in Gus-Khrustalny.
Teaches at the Department of artistic ceramics and glass of the Saint Petersburg State Art and Industry Academy since 1992.


‘Evgeniya’s talent is intimate, extraordinarily tactful, driven by an absorbing search for new shapes and décor… It is hardly surprising that in 1985, she received a gold medal at the Exhibition of National Economy Achievements, for her innovative approach to painting glass on an industrial level. While working at the Vosstanie factory in the city of Chudovo, she brought together a group of workers that produced limited series of unique hand-painted glass household items. As a pioneer in this area of creativity, she was invited to attend the First Interglass international glass symposium in the Czech Republic; especially for this occasion, she created a designer set of painted opalescent glass items, Golden Poppy, which is, without a doubt, one of her most successful works…
Her miniature creations, simply-shaped, fitting easily in the palm of the hand, are decorated either with intricate ornamental patterns or with free-flowing brush painting…
As an artist, E. Vikhrova pays great attention to detail, to all the little things; her medium is the miniature. But as she is able to capture the small details in drawing and painting and unveil their inherent worth, she builds up the glass shapes with clarity and purity…
One of her vases is characterized by the elegance of its archaic, Cretan shape, and the lush beauty of the single flower next to the very slope of its shoulder…
The secret behind the charm of the artist’s miniature poems in glass is taking advantage of the nuances of small and large shapes, as well bold shifts of graphic elements; painting translucent glass with white patterns, with a moderate use of gold and silver; and combining fine lines and spots of colour within a single artwork. The artist’s meticulous, delicate work has long since made art connoisseurs and collectors from all over the world pay attention to her unique creations – and this attention is well-deserved, taking into account the entire story of her creative development…’ (Elena Vlasova, the Elagin Island Palace-Museum fine arts expert).


‘Glass painting is the highlight of E. Vikhrova’s creativity. In an age of mass production, painting by hand seems to be an unaffordable luxury. On the other hand, it is now, at a time when everything is becoming automated and standardized, that the individuality of such items starts giving them greater aesthetic value and making them especially alluring.
E. Vikhrova’s works are of an intimate nature… The painting lines, so fine, so life-like, freely flow across the fragile vessels, enveloping them in a distinctive veil of light, merging together in astounding harmony…’ (O. Polyashova, the All-Russian Museum of Decorative Applied and Folk Art fine arts expert).

‘Modern artists that work with glass are constantly searching for visual expression, and here the work of E.V. Vikhrova, an artist from the Vosstanie factory, is especially remarkable. She paints with enamel, gold, silver, luster pigments… Painting, as we already know, is the factor that truly determines the individuality of the Vosstanie art movement. This is largely due to Vikhrova’s contribution. After all, she did head the delegation of artists that presented Soviet glass to the participants of the Interglass symposium at the Crystalex factory in the Czech Republic. For a week, using a pre-made sketch, she painted Golden Poppy, an ornamental set of twenty items. The items themselves had been shaped for her by the Czech glass masters… Fine arts experts highlight the harmony and enchanting femininity that distinguish Vikhrova’s work, since for her, the mouldable glass in itself does not merely serve as a background for her painting, but also provides further development for her creative concepts, allowing her to express them to the fullest extent. (L.A. Rozhdestvenskaya, Souvenirs from Novgorod. Lenizdat. 1988).


E.V. Vikhrova went on working in an area where many other artists had abandoned their search for new ideas. Hand painting seemed too labour-consuming, almost impossible in the modern industrial environment… But Vikhrova, with her stunningly beautiful, exquisite creations, would prove, time and again, that hand painting is far from being behind the times, that it adds an incomparable charm to any items, even ones intended for mass production. Throughout the years, Vikhrova’s hand-painted works, as well as the creations of other masters from Vosstanie, were given the highest rating at the meetings of the USSR creative review committee of the Ministry of Construction Materials Industry, and were recommended for mass production…
You can feel the movements of Vikhrova’s hand in her paintings, holding a fine brush, tracing tender flowers or vapour-like patterns of intertwining herbs, mysterious, as though plunged in the evening semi-darkness…
Her painting is so intricate that it seems to start appearing in front of your very eyes on photographic paper. The exquisite patterns, reminiscent of fine transparent fabric, are made up of miniscule dots of colour…
In Vikhrova’s works, ‘precision and clarity are moulded together with femininity… Each one of her light, gently transparent designs gives off a feeling of perfect harmony…’ these are the words that N.V. Voronov, PhD, a renowned fine arts expert, used to give an accurate description of Vikhriva’s work’. (T.B. Zozulenko).


‘Schapova and Vikhrova’s painting, just as, for instance, I. Olevskaya’s intricate narrative designs on chinaware, bears certain signs of Leningrad’s art that are hard to describe but are tangibly present. This is reflected in the tender, fine harmony, in the generally high design quality, and in the distinctively refined patterns and colours, which were typical of artists at the turn of the 20th century, especially of those that belonged to the ‘art world’ movement… Vikhrova’s painting is closer to the artistic experiments of Russian modernists. In her work, precision and clarity are moulded together with femininity, even chastity of her flowery patterns. Her designs are associated with the Petersburg of the great poet Alexander Blok, with his enchanting character, the Stranger. Just like Schapova, Vikhrova takes time with her creations, which means that she is not prolific; but each one of her light, gently transparent designs gives off a feeling of perfect harmony…’ (N.V. Voronov, PhD, fine arts expert. Soviet art glass. Art, a popular science subscription series, issue 6. Znanie publishing house. Moscow, 1984).


Vikhrova’s works are exhibited in:

The State Hermitage Museum, the Russian Museum (youth creativity archive), the State Historical Museum, the All-Russian Museum of Decorative Applied and Folk Art, the Elagin Island Palace-Museum of Decorative Applied and Interior Design of the 18th – 21st Century, the Sergiev Posad Museum-Preserve, the State Novgorod United Museum-Preserve, The State Arts and Culture Museum of Novgorod Land, the State Museum of Ceramics and the 18th Century Kuskovo Estate, the Omsk M.A. Vrubel Museum of Fine Arts, the Chudovo Local History Museum, the State Historical, Architectural, Art and Landscape Museum-Reserve Tsaritsyno, Nikanor Onatsky Regional Art Museum in Sumy, the Baron Stieglitz Museum, as well as in private collections in Russia, the USA, France, Norway, Finland, Japan, Great Britain, and Hungary.