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Italy Through the Russian Eyes: Anna Ostroumova-Lebedeva – Venice

Anna Ostroumova-Lebedeva lived all her life in St Petersburg where she was born in 1871. She was born into a family of a high official who eventually became a senator, and later married a renowned Russian chemist, hence her double surname. She studied Fine Arts at the Academy of Arts under Ilya Repin and then in Paris, in the studio of the American painter James Whistler. She found success as a part of The World of Art (Mir Iskusstva) group headed by Leon Bakst, under whose tutorship she also perfected her skills in watercolour painting.

Ostroumova-Lebedeva is credited with a revival of the techniques of engraving and woodcut in Russia. Her many works are images of St Petersburg and its environs, as well as those of foreign cities. On the engraving here, dated 1911, we see a rather atypical image of Venice: a canal flows along the dull, unadorned walls of the houses, and just about the only decorative detail is that of the rails of the bridge. A barely noticeable, lone spectator is caught in a moment of contemplation, while a bulky gondola passes under the bridge.

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