JEGAROV, ANDREI (1878-1954)

"Troika In Winter Landscape" (c.1900) 
gouache
cm
signed lower left
*purchased from artist, thence by descent
*private collection, Maitland
 
Andrei Afans'evich Jegorov was a prominent Russian Impressionist. An accident early in life left Jegorov deaf & it may have changed the course of his life. Lost to the sounds of the world, he observed the beauty of nature in his native village Arukula in Estonia. With the help of a local pastor, Andrei was accepted to the St. Petersburg school of deaf children. Fighting financial difficulties, he managed to study at the Art Advancement Society of St. Petersburg and later at the Academy of Art where he studied in the studios of I. Repin & D. Kardovskii. Jegorov graduated from the Art Academy in 1909. His graduation painting Evening in the village reproduced in the popular magazine Niva reflected the young artist's preference for peaceful lyrical landscapes, showing his brilliant technical virtuosity. By 1911 he became a member of the Kuindzhi society and established a reputation as a very accomplished landscape and portrait painter. In 1913 Jegorov's works were exhibited in London at an exhibition of Russian art. After the 1917 revolution the artist & his family relocated to Ukraine where, in 1919, he began working as an enlisted artist in the army until his demobilization due to illness. In 1921 the artist returned with his family to Estonia. There his talent as a landscape painter was fully realized; he painted a number of his best works showing light-infused meadows, village scenes, city squares & genre scenes. During the Second World War Jegorov evacuated to the Chelyabinsk province & lived in the village of Uvelka. Several works offered in this catalogue show charming views of that village. After the war he returned to Tallinn where he lived for the rest of his life. Jegorov had said that he drew strength from painting the beautiful nature around him. His poetic observations of the world around him are a testament to his talent & resilience as an artist and a person. Most of the works by Andrei Jegorov are in the public museum in Estonia, including the Art Museum of Estonia, KUMU.