Lydia Vercinsky 1918 - 2001

Redwoods 1964

Forest Stream

Sierra

In the mid 1960's, Lydia Kriloff Vercinsky studied under Alexander Dzigurski. During this period, she specialized in California landscapes and seascapes. Her work is noted for her attention to natural detail. In the 1940's she worked as a commercial artist in San Francisco. Also in the mid 1960's, she taught painting from her Danville, California, home.

Vercinsky (née Kriloff) was born in Harbin, Manchuria. As a young girl, she studied under A.N. Krementieff, a graduate of the Moscow School of Painting and Sculpture. When she was 17, she continued her education at the Ecole De Dessia in France. She received a degree in Commercial Art and Design. In 1938, she returned home to Manchuria.

In 1938 however, Manchuria had been taken over by the Japanese who had forced the Russians out. The Kriloff family had to flee. Due to the political nature of their flight from Manchuria, they were given an opportunity to emigrate to the United States.

In San Francisco, Lydia developed her skills in portrait and live model painting at the San Francisco School of Fine Arts. During WWII, she worked as a draftswoman at the Moore Dry Dock Company in East Oakland and at the Mare Island Naval Ship Yard in Vallejo. She also used her artistic talents to design posters and backdrops for movie studios in support of the war.

In 1943 at age twenty-six, she married and became a naturalized U.S. citizen.

Source: AskArt