Lydia Vercinsky Rough Sea In California Coast C. 1980 Painting

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This artwork "Rough Sea" c.1980, is an oil painting on canvas by noted Chinese/American artist Lydia Vercinsky, 1918-2001. It is … Read more This artwork "Rough Sea" c.1980, is an oil painting on canvas by noted Chinese/American artist Lydia Vercinsky, 1918-2001. It is signed at the lower left corner by the artist. The artwork (Canvas) size is 20 x 24 inches, framed size is 25.75 x 29.75 inches. Framed in original wooden dark brown frame, with fabric liner and brown color fillet. It is in excellent condition. The original frame as been restored. Please note: the two dark area on top and left side of the painting are not a part of the artwork, they are the shadow of the lighting.

About the artist:

Lydia Vercinsky (née Kriloff) was born in Harbin, Manchuria; the youngest of three daughters. Encouraged by her father, Kriloff began her formal training in oil painting at age 7. Kriloff received private art instruction in the family home until the age of 16. One of her earliest teachers was A.N. Klementieff, a graduate of the Moscow School of Painting and Sculpture.

At age 17, Kriloff was admitted to the "Ecole De Dessia" in France for art practice. Kriloff graduated three years later with a degree in Commercial Art and Design. Upon graduation in 1938, Kriloff returned home to Harbin.

Harbin had been a construction center for the Chinese Eastern Railway prior to 1904, a base for Russian military operations during the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905), and later, a safe harbor for refugees of the Russian Revolution in 1917. By 1938, however, Japan had forced Russia out of Southern Manchuria (Liaotung Peninsula), and expanded its occupation into all of Manchuria. Under Japanese colonial rule, the Kriloff family was forced to flee Harbin in 1938. In their state of homelessness, the Kriloffs were offered relief by the United States government-they were given affidavits in lieu of passports for immediate immigration to the U.S.

Kriloff continued her fine arts education in the United States. She attended the San Francisco School of Fine Arts (now the San Francisco Art Institute) from 1940 to ca. 1944, where she developed her skills in portrait/live-model painting and photography. During this span of World War II, Kriloff was employed as a draftswoman at the Moore Dry Dock Company in East Oakland and the Mare Island Navy Yard. She also designed posters and backdrops for movie studios in support of the war effort.

Kriloff married in 1943, and became a naturalized citizen a year later in 1944, at the age of 26.

During the latter part of the 1940's, Vercinsky worked as a commercial artist in the San Francisco area. From the early 1950's to early 1960's, she was employed by photographic studios and retail shops in San Francisco (such as Maiden Lane Studios, The City of Paris, I. Magnin, Sandino Studio, and Paul Sommers on Geary) to retouch black-and-white negatives and hand-color prints.

In the mid-1960's, Vercinsky began to specialize in painting Californian landscapes and coastal seascapes. At this time, she befriended and studied under the Alexander A. Dzigurski (Californian 1911-1995), who is well-known for his evocative seascapes.

In 1964, Vercinsky retired from selling art and opted to teach private art lessons in her home. She taught at her home in Hayward for approximately 13 years, and then in Danville for 26 years. She was an active member of both the Hayward Art Association and the Danville Art Association (1973-ca. 2000)

Her later work is characterized by an attention to naturalistic detail. In this way, it reveals her lifelong influence by the late 19th century Russian Realist painter, Ivan Shishkin. Her subject matter was envisioned rather than directly observed. That is, Vercinsky chose to work from memory in a studio setting instead of plein air. In her lifetime, Vercinsky was a prolific painter, devoting a large number to seascapes. See less