Elizaveta
Sergeevna Kruglikova

Born in St. Petersburg in the family, who loved and understood art. The father of the future artist was an officer.

In 1890-1895 as a volunteer Kruglikova studied at the Moscow school of painting, sculpture and architecture. In 1895-1914 lived in Paris. From 1902 began to work in etching technique. Since 1904 - member of the "Society original engravings in colors". From 1909 to 1914 E. S. Kruglikova taught etching at the Academy "La from pallette" in Paris. There, in Paris, it was organized by the Russian Studio, which along with her Studio became a kind of Russian cultural center. In 1914, with the outbreak of the First World war, he moved to Russia. The publication of "Paris on the eve of war in monotype E. S. Kruglikova" (1918) is the result of the first great period of her work.

The specificity of the artistic manners Kruglikova, using a rare technology (soft ground, aquatint, etc.), her experimentation enabled her to make significant achievements in two areas. The first, early in time (1909) was monotype that connected the painting with a seal. The second area (from 1914) became the silhouette.

In 1920-30-ies of the E. S. Kruglikova created a series of silhouette portraits of Russian poets of the 18th-20th centuries, a large series of portraits by Russian artists and a series of portraits of Russian actors. In 1925 he worked on a series of silhouettes of "the Leaders of the revolution". In 1930-e years on "Baku series" ("Surakhani" 1931, "Azneft" 1934, etc.). In 1920-30-ies of the E. S. Kruglikova worked on the posters - many of them made in the technique of linocut.

In 1919 he became one of initiators of creation of the State marionette theater, where he worked until 1921. Her sketches were decorated performances of "By magic" and "Viy" based on the novel by N. V. Gogol.

In 1922-29 years was a Professor of printing Department of the Academy of Arts in Petrograd-Leningrad, where he led the training of the etching technique.

The daughter of an officer, E. S. Kruglikova very soon realized his calling, largely due to the atmosphere of reverence for art that prevailed in her family. Professional education, she received training with a volunteer at the 1890 Moscow school of painting. In 1895 he went to Paris and settled there for a long time, periodically coming to Russia and publishing in the Russian press correspondence on French life and about his trips to France. In Paris she worked in the studios of A. Vitti and F. colarossi. Taken it masterca on the street Boissonade soon became a kind of Russian cultural center: here she just worked and lived, but took a myriad of familiar and unfamiliar visitors, not only artists. Only the beginning of the First world war, catching Krooglikov in 1914 in St. Petersburg, forever severed her from Paris. The last tribute to her beloved city became her book "Paris on the eve of war..." (PG., 1916), decorated with numerous monotypes the artist herself.

Creativity Kruglikova was quite specific. In her youth she was fascinated by a variety of print graphic techniques and eventually mastered them. Special sympathy enjoyed her technique is very rare, half-forgotten or even completely forgotten, such as soft ground, aquatint, mezzotint. Endlessly experimenting artist restored or rediscovered their subtlety and gave them a modern sound. The development of Russian engraving in the twentieth century was much obliged to her enthusiasm and efforts. Still in Paris at Kruglikova appeared first disciples (among them M. A. Voloshin, K. E. Kostenko, etc.), and in the 1920s in Petrograd, she became a Professor of etching graphic faculty of AH, and later was head of the office of the etching in the printing Department Vhuteina (in Leningrad).

The most significant results Kruglikova managed to achieve in two areas. The first of them in time (1909) was monotype - old, but virtually disappeared techniques that allow interesting to connect art with print. In his elegant and concise, beautiful color still lifes, landscapes and genre scenes Kruglikova was able to use the possibilities of this technique as fully as could not, perhaps, anyone after her. The second area (from 1914) was the silhouette, also very rarely attracted great artists and such a favorite with artisans and Amateurs. Elementary technique of cutting out black paper Kruglikova used to create beautiful and diverse works. The most famous being its huge (approx. 1,000) a series of portraits of his contemporaries, mostly artists, which she created for nearly twenty years (M. I. Tsvetaeva, M. Voloshin, A. Block, A. And Akhmatova, A. N. Tolstoy, V. V. Mayakovsky, etc.). Undoubted similarities and sharp, sometimes a bit overact, psychological expressiveness give them the character of a kind of artistic document eloquently characterizes the people of this eventful time.