Since I was a child, I've never been attracted to any type of visual art. But there have been two exceptions to this rule. This blog entry is dedicated to the second exception.
In one of my last visits to Moscow several years ago I saw a book entitled Москва: место встречи at one of my favorite bookstores in the city. The watercolor drawing on the cover of this book never left my mind since then, and I was sorry that I hadn't bought a copy of the book back then. Just in time before the start of the (stupid) sanctions against Russia, however, I bought both a print copy and an electronic copy of the book online from two bookstores in Moscow.
But the enigma of the artist of this drawing in which I literally fell in love remained unresolved, until I stumbled upon one article - Everyday life in Russia through the eyes of illustrators - published in one of my favorite online magazines in Russia a few months ago, and finally discovered the artist.
She is called Алёна Дергилёва (Alena Dergileva) and naturally lives in Moscow. In the meanwhile I've also found her website and started following her page on the Russian social media VK. It didn't take me a long time to find an album of her watercolor drawings of Moscow entitled Нарисованная Москва.
To make a long story short, I finally got a print copy of this amazing album last Friday with the help of a close friend of mine in Jerusalem who visits Moscow every month for his business.
I don't know when I'll be able to visit Moscow again as long as I can't use my credit card in Russia due to the sanctions. Until then I'll visit streets of the city in this album. I never seem to get bored to see these heart-warming watercolor drawings again and again. I'll complement this virtual trip of mine by starting to read at long last the above mentioned collection of memoirs of Moscow by a number of famous Muscovites.