Elena
Ludwigovna Cow

Born in Voronezh. From 1914 to 1918 he studied at the school of the society..To. Roerich and P. S. Naumov, from 1920 to 1923 – at the higher art school. From 1917 she lived in Barnaul. He taught in the district art Studio, was a member of the Altai Art society. From 1927 lived in Central Asia, 1946 in Moscow.

The Korowai In Barnaul

An interesting page in the Siberian art is the work of the Barnaul artist L. E. Korovay. Since 1918 she has been teaching in the Studio of the Altai provincial Soviet art school, and later in the Altai art workshops. Her Studio began the study N. Mammoths (under the pseudonym Tom Mammoths), M. Tveritinov, P. Varlamov, V. Markov.

To this period belongs her familiarity with the artists A. O. Nikulin, M. I. by Korzinin, V. N. Gulyaev, had a significant impact on art in the late 1910's-early 1920-ies in the Altai. In the 1920's she travelled the country making sketches and compositions.

What Barnaul inspired E. L.

From the early works of the caravan of the famous "Bridge in the forest" (1916), made in a free painterly manner. Even then, the artist was distinguished by good knowledge of Russian and foreign art, fine aesthetic sense.

Its graphic cycles in the technique of the pencil is "Barnaul. Omsk" (1918-1921), "The Crimea. The Caucasus" (1922-1923), "Ashgabat" (1925), "Tashkent. Bukhara. Samarkand" (1925-1932). The strict internal logic and clarity of composition a lot of dynamism and tension, form a generalized and sometimes ornamental, linear dynamic rhythms.

In Barnaul, the company she creates and paintings. In still life "Pink doll on a red background" and "Two dolls and tea" (both 1920), the artist creates his own imaginary world. Daily in their transformirovalsya in a fabulous and romantic images. Her paintings captivate the conviviality and refinement of color combinations.

The korowai in Central Asia

From mid-1920-ies the artist lives in Central Asia (Tashkent, Samarkand). Activities here are varied. She works as an artist in theaters (State theater, the Uzbek drama. Hamza, State regional Uzbek theatre. Alimdjanova, as well as Russian drama theatre and youth theatre in Samarkand), writes and draws children's books that are published in Samarkand ecofabric. The korowai involved in establishing the Samarkand Department of the Union of artists and became one of its active members.

The artist continues to work a lot in graphics (pencil, ink, sanguine) and painting. This whole series on the theme "In the former ghetto" (1932), "Dyers-craftsmen" (1932), "Tailors of Bukhara" (1932); a series of portraits-"Portrait of V. A. Josan" (1934), "self-Portrait" (1935), "self-Portrait with daughter" (1938), and a series of beautiful portraits of craftsmen of Uzbekistan.

In the late 1960s - early 1970-ies in Moscow hosted several exhibitions, which were presented to and operation of the korowai. In one of his articles he wrote:

"The work of E. Korovay [...] this is a special world of the forgotten neighborhoods of old Samarkand and its inhabitants - tailors, painters, street hairdressers. Their way of life, customs and courtyards of the old city received a second, hidden life in subtle, often exquisite combinations of painting, absorbed Russian and European artistic culture. Blue, blue, pink shimmer with silver-gray textures".

And finally, Moscow

In 1946, the caravan, at the invitation of V. Favorsky moved to Moscow, where he first works in the field of toys, and since 1950 takes part in the work of Vladimir Favorsky on the mosaic panels for the building of the Soviet Embassy in Warsaw (1955) and on the panel "the year 1905" (1957). During this period she made a mosaic portrait of Vladimir Favorsky (1960) stored in the artist's family.

Since 1950-ies the artist returned to painting and creates a series of still lifes-"Quince and pomegranates" (1960), "Portrait of Ghali Gairah with orange" (1961), "the Mugs in the ancient vase" (1967), "little Yellow flower", "Cactus with chrysanthemums", "the Stranger", "Family portrait", "Twilight", "the Fruit on the bench" (all 1968) and others. In these works the brushwork changes. Disappear the glow and shimmer textures, more dramatically highlights the contours of objects. The painting is based on relations of major local color patches. Colors are still elegant, but the color becomes denser.

(the author - L. I. Snitko)