Themes

LYUDMILA PIROGOVA, graduate of Kiev State University; director of the department of lacquered miniature painting of the Russian National Museum of Crafts and Folk Art; deputy chairperson for culture of the Russian National Union of Rural Woman; author of articles, catalogues and books on folk art; member of the commission on folk art of the Russian Artists Union. She has organized many folk art of the Russian and abroad. In the past eighteen years Lyudmila's work has been focused on lacquered miniature painting in Fedoskino, Palekh, Kholuj and Mstera styles. In her writings and exhibitions Lyudmila reveals the inexhaustible diversity of talents, the multifaceted character and the depth of this Russian art form. Her exhibitions - "Rites, Myths and Legends in the Russian Miniature", in the Musee de I'Homme (Paris), the "Contemporary Lacquered Miniature Painting", in the Asprey Gallery (London), in the Bucharest and Damascus museums of national art, in the Mexican Center of Culture; the "Symbols and Sources", the "Time of Troubles", and the "Religious Motifs in Russian Lacquered miniature Painting" speak of her profound insight into folk art. Pirogova's dedication to her profession in seen in her theoretical studies and wide-ranging exhibition practice as well as her active assistance to artists. She regularly advises master craftsmen, and participates in art councils, debates and discussions on the most complex contemporary problems of art. In recognition of her efforts to preserve and promote the oldest Russian craft tradition, Lyudmila Pirogova has been awarded the Medal for Cultural Achievements.