Lacquered box painting is Victoria Sinelnikov's true calling. For ten years now, her art has been connected with Fedoskino - the world famous capital of the lacquered box. These years have brought her true mastery of the miniature with a gentle, radiant play of colors in her palette and a consummate brushstroke.
Many of her works are distinguished for the particular creative power and poetic spirit the images embody. The tradition of Lukutin lacquers lives on in her art, manifesting itself in her artistic technique, in the fine combination of painting on both a "dense" and a "slippery" base. At the same time, the artist is full of innovation in her artistic technique, materials and decorative designs.
Her works, including the earliest, such as "Skating on the Chistye Ponds" or "Promenade in the Devichy Field," are always thoroughly thought out and elaborately done, down to the minutest detail. She is drawn to old-world romanticism and delicate imagery. Her themes are mostly based on the stories of the "golden" 19th century and they seem to be a continuation of the lives of the characters populating the Lukutin lacquered boxes and snuffboxes.
Architectural landscapes and scenes from old Moscow play a special role in the artist’s work. The Novodevichy Convent, with its elaborate towers, church domes and famous belfry, is her favorite site in Moscow. In many of her miniatures, the Convent not only serves as a background, but also plays an active role in the composition and recreates the flavor of olden times. The pictures on the Marfino cigarette case are devoted to the architectural monuments of the famous Marfino villa on the outskirts of Moscow. Images of baroque churches and the palace itself, which was built in the Russian pseudo-gothic style, are delicately scattered on all sides of the case. They are in full harmony with the natural shape of the cigarette case and the moiré background of green and brown tones of the painting, which calls forth nostalgic recollections of quaint 18th century art forms.
The image of nature is predominant in the Fedoskino miniature. In Victoria Sinelnikov's interpretation, such images become more than just beautiful landscapes. She finds special ways to convey the power and spirituality of Nature. A genuine, breathtaking love for the beauty of her native land is reflected in rain drops, frozen in time on a pane of glass, in the fragile trembling of frost-covered trees in winter, and in the golden oaks that look out at you from her cigarette cases and boxes.
Each and every new work by the Artist is a realm of scintillating, singing colors, and one wants this song to go on forever.
Svetlana G. Zhizhina, Ph.D. Fine Arts, Honoured Artist, Head of Section of the State Historical Museum, Moscow.
Mrs. Sinelnikova Viktoria Valerievna,
is a Member of the Union of Artists of Russia. In 1985-89 she studied at the Fedoskino School of Miniature Painting; in 1989-92 she studied at the Moscow Institute of Technology. Since 1991 she has taught at the Fedoskino School of Miniature Painting and worked as an artist at the Fedoskino Factory. Her works have been acquired by the Museum of History of the City of Moscow, the State Historical Museum, Moscow and private collections in Russia, Britain, France, Holland and the USA. She has participated in numerous art exhibitions in Russia and abroad.