Soviet artist Orest Vereisky

Soviet artist Orest Vereisky (7 July 1915 Smolensk province – January 2, 1993, Moscow) – Academician of the Academy of Arts of the USSR (1983), Corresponding Member (1958), People’s Artist of the USSR (1983), winner of the USSR State Prize (1978). Orest Georgievich Vereisky was born in the family of artist Georgy Vereisky and Elena Vereiskaya, the daughter of the historian NI Kareev. Until 1922 he lived in the village of Anosovo of Smolensk region. In 1936-1938 he studied at the Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture of the Russian Academy of Arts. Leningrad has brecome the place of creative formation of Vereisky as an artist. There, he was taught by an artist and educator AA Osmerkin, along with his father. In 1940 Vereisky moves to live and work in Moscow.

During World War II he worked in the newspaper “Red Army Pravda”, where he met and became friends with the Soviet writer Alexander Tvardovsky. Vereisky actively illustrated the works of Tvardovsky, including a poem about Vasily Terkin. He is also known for the illustrations of the book by MP Prilezhaeva “Life of Lenin.” He illustrated the works of MA Sholokhov, K. Paustovsky, AA Fadeyev, MM Prishvin, IA Bunin, Hemingway and other writers.

OG Vereisky died on January 2, 1993. He was buried in Moscow at Kuntsevo Cemetery.

The prominent place in the work of the artist takes graphics. He created a series of drawings, watercolors, lithographs, after his trips to Czechoslovakia, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt (all in 1955), Finland (1957), Iceland (1958), USA (1960 and 1963).

Over the years, the Soviet artist Orest Vereisky was awarded the USSR State Prize (1978) – for design and illustration of the 200-volume “Library of World Literature”, Gold Medal of the USSR Academy of Arts (1984) – for his illustrations for the novel by Leo Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina” , Order of the Red Banner of Labor (23/07/1975), the Order of the Red Star and medals.

Soviet artist Orest Vereisky repeatedly gave his works to the Smolensk museum. In 1995, LM Vereiskaya, the widow of the artist donated to the museum a large collection of his works. Among them – original drawing, prints, and illustrations of literary works, including works by Tvardovsky. Dozens of works was given to museums of former Sychevsky County – Novoduginsky and Sychevsky.

Orest Vereisky spent 70 days in the United States, he wrote down all his impressions in a diary “From coast to coast” – about his life in the country. The extracts of the diary, along with drawings were published in the Soviet journal Ogonyok in 1961. Here are the scanned images of his paintings.

Soviet artist Orest Vereisky