Author's posts

Defeating Death. Elena Marttila (1923-2022). Her Art and Peace. Helsinki 8 November 2022- 27 January 2023

Jelena Marttilan (1923-2022)

On Saturday, June 25, 2022, the world lost an outstanding artist and an amazing person. Elena Oskarovna Marttila passed away in a hospital in Kotka, a few months before her 100th birthday. She was born in Petrograd, survived the siege of Leningrad, worked in St. Petersburg and moved to Kotka, her father’s homeland, in the …

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Elena Oskarovna Marttila (1923-2022)

It is with great sadness that we inform you of the passing of Elena Oskarovna Marttila (1923 – 2022) on Saturday 25 June in Kotka, Finland. She was 99 years old and in her later years lived in her flat/studio in Kotka with little reliance on  her neighbours. Until her last days, Elena strove to …

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Elena Marttila: Art and Endurance. ‘I was not a hero, I just lived…’ (O. Berggolz)

From April 28 to October 15, 2022, in the museum of the St. Petersburg branch of the Museum of the World Ocean “Icebreaker” Krasin” (emb. Lieutenant Shmidt, 23 line VO) there is an exhibition of works by Elena Oskarovna Martilla dedicated to the siege of Leningrad. The exhibition presents 14 lithographs and engravings on cardboard, …

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Pavel Ivanovich Afonin (1920 – 2011) The Road of Life and Creativity: Front-line Drawings and Watercolours 1941-1989.

  From 1 May to June 25, 2021, an exhibition of works by artist and veteran of the Great Patriotic War: Pavel Ivanovich Afonin, is being held at the Road of Life Museum (Shosse Doroga Zhizni 58, St Petersburg). The exhibition presents a series of selected front-line sketches by a young soldier and artist who …

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Unofficial Art of the Second World War. Elena Marttila. Pavel Afonin. Sergey Babkov. Personal History and Memory.

Неофициальное искусство Второй мировой войны. Елена Марттила. Павел Афонин. Сергей Бабков. Личная история и память.

***NEW PUBLICATION*** The album features over a hundred works conveying the first-hand military experience of three artists – E.O. Marttila, P.I. Afonin and S.F. Babkov. What distinguishes their pictures is their individual view – young art school graduates who found themselves in the centre of the grandiose events unfolding on the Eastern Front – a …

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“On the Road to Tavricheskaya” – Graphical Works from the Siege of Leningrad by Elena Marttila – 17 Feb – 31 March 2021

The exhibition of drawings and prints by the famous St Petersburg artist Elena Oskarovna Marttila has been set up by the State Memorial Museum of the Defense and Siege of Leningrad. It displays the major part of Marttila’s works held in the museum’s collection, as well as wartime drawings and post-war artworks, donated to our …

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Testimony of the artist Elena Marttila 2019

 

Elena Marttila: Art and Endurance in the siege of Leningrad exhibition 2017

Искусство и выживание в блокадном Ленинграде

  ‘While my hand can still hold a pencil, I will continue to tell the story of my fellow Leningraders, who are dear to my heart. I wish for this exhibition to become a warning against the dangers of war for the existence of our humanity.’ Elena Marttila ELENA MARTTILA: ART AND ENDURANCE IN THE …

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In memory of Pavel Afonin’s birthday centenary 2020

An article about Pavel Afonin in East-West Review Spring/Summer 2020. A Story of life, art and friendship by Ksenia Afonina In memory of Pavel Ivanovich Afonin (1920–2011) He was the thirteenth child in a peasant family from central Russia — an unlucky number in this part of the world, where people are generally known to …

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Elena Marttila’s Retrospective: A Moment between the Past and the Future. 17-28 January 2018

Elena Marttila Exhibition 2018

  A Moment between the Past and the Future was launched in Saint Petersburg, Russia at Saint Petersburg Union of Artists on 17 January 2018. It marks the artist’s 95th Birthday and the 75th anniversary of the Siege of Leningrad being lifted on 18 January 1943. The exhibition shows 160 works created by Elena Marttila …

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