Zernova, Ekaterina Sergeevna

Ekaterina Sergeevna Zernova studied in Moscow at the private art school of the master painter Fedor Rerberg from 1915 to 1918. She continued her studies at GSKhM (State Free Artistic Studios) / VHKUTEMAS (Russian State Art and Technical School) where she graduated in 1924. She was a prominent artist with OST (Obshchestvo khudozhnikov-stankovistov), the Society of Easel Artists that was formed in 1924. When OST was terminated, she became a member of IzoBrigada (Art Brigade). Formed in 1931 to advance "political realism" in art, IzoBrigada was disbanded in 1932.

During the Second World War, Ekaterina Zernova was sent to the front lines under the orders of the Military Sanitary Museum. She created sketches in hospitals, medical battalions and in operating rooms while serving on the First Baltic front. After the war, Zernova worked as a designer for film and theater and taught at the Moscow Textile Institute. Starting in the 1950s, she began working in the genre of monumental art. She is the author of the autobiography, “Memoirs of a Monumentalist” (1985). In 1932, Ekaterina Sergeevna Zernova became a member of the Union of Artists of the USSR and in 1974 she was made an Honored Artist of the RSFSR.