Irina Arkhipova in the role of Carmen. 1964

 "Bizet´s opera "Carmen" played a significant role in my life. My mother and father used to sing arias and duets from this opera at home. On their wedding rings they let engrave not the date of their first meeting, but the date they attended "Carmen" in Mariinsky Opera in St. Petersburg.  I adore "Carmen". I´ve listen to it in different performances. I was lucky to be at the Bolshoy Theater production with Mario del Monaco and Irina Arkhipova in the tittle roles. I was seized with with a strong wish to pain a portrait of Mrs. Arkhipova in the last act dressing. She agreed to model. When the portrait was finished, I was even awarded a Siver Medal for it at one of the exibitions." Tosee a full size, click on the image

Children appear in many portraits by Vera Dreznina. They are painted with extreme tenderness, though it´s a very difficult task. It's practically impossible to make a child sit motionless. Great effort and accuracy are needed to deal with them. "Every day I paint a child some adult should be around, to make hip sit quitly for while," she sais. Her first children's portraits were of her daughter and son - little Masha and Sergei. The latest are of recently born grand-daughter, Lucy Catherine, and grandson Kolya, Masha's son. To see a full size, click the image.

 Seriozha. The son's portrait. 1957

When dealing with art, it's impossible to work or not to work, because the process of creation goes on all the time even when you don't have a paint brush in hands you nevertheless go on accumulating impressions.




  Conductor Karl Oesterreicher", 1989

"In the West, in contrast to Russia, the tradition of the family portrait gallery was never broken. The same is true in Vienna, where people love art and deeply feel it".  "The first time I saw Karl Oesterreicher conducting in Moscow at a Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, I was struck by his courageous, spiritual face. As for him, he liked my works that he had seen at Sergei's place in Vienna. Thus our mutual interests crossed.  "I usually talk to a model diring sittings. While painting I have listened to many frank stories of differnt poeple's lives - sportsmen, military men, actors etc. ... With Oesterreicher it was quite different. I practically didn't participate in the conversations when Karl and Sergei talked with enthusiasm on professional topics, switching on records of beautriful music from time to time to time.    To see a full size, click the image. 






Vera Dreznina cyrcle of friends is large. Among them there are people she has known almost all of her life. The Ishimbajev family belongs to them. In their house Vera met her future husband in 1944. He was a Air Navy officer. So was Rauf Ishimbajev. God knows how often did Rauf and Lida lend their help and support during past 50 years! Vera has been paining them throughout the years. Lida's portrait was one of the first.   To see a full size, click the image.

 Lida Ishimbajeva. 1944

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