Atrworks by Yakov Weber in the collection of the Literary and Art Museum of Anton Chekhov's the Sakhalin Island Book

Abstract

The article introduces two early works by the artist Yakov Yakovlevich Weber (1870-1958): the drawing “Unser Grossmütterlein” (“Our Grandmother”, 1891) and the painting “Street in the Povolzhye” (1894). In 2023, the works were donated to the funds of the Literary and Art Museum of Anton Chekhov's the Sakhalin Island Book. This valuable gift enabled the museum to become the only institution in the eastern part of Russia to possess the artist's works. The study demonstrated the considerable artistic merit of the works, which were created at the outset of the artist's creative journey. At the time, Y.Y. Weber resided with his family in the village of Rovnoe, before relocating to Saratov, where he studied under the tutelage of renowned masters such as G.P. Barakki, V.V. Konovalov and F.N. Korneev. In his role as a copyist at the Radishchev Art Museum, Weber was also able to develop his own artistic identity. Unfortunately, only a small number of his works from this period have survived. Those that have been preserved demonstrate his interest in portraying the landscapes and people from his homeland. The drawing “Unser Grossmütterlein” (“Our Grandmother”) evinces a kinship with “Portrait of Grandmother Y.Y. Weber (Profile)" (1887) and “Portrait of a Woman” (1890). Similarly, the painting “Street in the Povolzhye” resonates with the series of landscapes “Twilight with Figures of People” (1893) and “Moonrise” (1894). The two artworks obtained by the museum are contextualised within the artist's life and oeuvre, thereby facilitating a more comprehensive understanding of his initial forays into the field of fine art.