Soviet artist Irina Vasilievna Shevandronova

Soviet artist Irina Vasilievna Shevandronova
Born in Moscow, Irina Vasilievna Shevandronova (1928 – 1993) studied at the Moscow State Art Institute of Surikov, workshop of V.G. Tsyplakov (1947-1953). Her diploma work “Children in the village library” became one of the best genre paintings of 1950s Soviet Art. And in 1953 she could hardly suggest that the Tretyakov gallery would purchase it. Besides, this painting for many decades decorated pages of school textbooks in the USSR. Also, in 1963 Irina Shevandronova received the honored title of the People’s Artist of the RSFSR.
Noteworthy, the children’s theme for a long time became a distinctive feature of Shevandronova’s creativity, which allowed her to take a special place in Soviet art. Among the artist’s iconic works are also “Roads of Youth” (1970), “Young” (1974), and a series of children’s portraits.

Irina Vasilyevna’s husband was a famous painter Andrei Andreyevich Tutunov. This pair was distinguished by the unity of views and spiritual intimacy, preserved until Irina Vasilyevna’s death in 1993.
The works of Irina Shevandronova are in the State Tretyakov Gallery, the State Russian Museum and in more than 20 Russian museums.

Soviet artist Irina Vasilievna Shevandronova

According to Irina Shevandronova, she enjoyed drawing since early age, and successfully studied in the Moscow Secondary Art School.

“Once during the summer holidays,” recalls Irina Vasilievna, “together with the school we went to Zagorsk. We stayed in the village house, where we were hospitably received by the owners. And I fell in love with village life. I remember with pleasure the smell of the hut, the taste of fresh milk, and the silence outside the window…

In the evening we went to the club, – says Irina Vasilievna, – it was an ordinary large village house with a simple, wooden stage, long benches and an unchanged stove. Here people watched the films. Young people danced under the accordion, played by a twelve-year-old boy. The girls were in felt boots and sheepskin coats, it was cold to undress. And next to it was a small room – a rural library. Roughly built shelves, a barrier of boards, modest in design books and newspapers on the table – these are the impressions that formed the basis of the picture. It was a poor post-war time. There are no curtains on the window, no reproductions of paintings or portraits of writers on the walls…”

These observations preserved in the memory of the artist for a long time. Already studying at the Surikov Institute, Shevandronova firmly knew the theme of her future diploma work. As mentioned above, her diploma work “Children in the village library” is in the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow.

Soviet artist Irina Vasilievna Shevandronova

Based on the albums of Soviet art, Magazines “Rabotnitsa”, 1962, 1963