Agrippina Vasilyevna Afanasyeva (1913–2004) was a master of the Nizhny Tagil tray painting art. She created this item of decorative and applied art in the 1980s. On the rectangular tray titled “Sunny”, she depicted a branch with three large Nizhny Tagil roses framed by smaller flowers.
The tray is distinguished by an unconventional orange and yellow background that is associated with bright sunlight. The rose-red and orange-yellow flower buds seem to emerge from the background as they belong to the same color palette. By using this effect, the artist managed to add a sense of lightness. The summer heat is most vibrantly expressed by the red flower at the top. Its white center stands out against all the other flowers. In the traditional sense, it was achieved using the two-color brushstroke technique typical of the Ural painting.
The perimeter of the tray is framed by a narrow trefoil brushwork pattern. Despite its simplicity, the pattern is rich and dense. The frame is a kind of interpretation of traditional stenciling. Agrippina Afanasyeva rarely painted frames, as the employees of the Emalposuda (Enamelware) factory usually focused on one type of work — either brushwork or stenciling.
Agrippina Afanasyeva studied the traditional art of Nizhny Tagil tray painting when she was still a teenager. However, in the first half of the 20th century, the artistic crafts in the Urals experienced a decline. This was also true for the tray painting art. The artistic and technical quality of the trays deteriorated. This trend began in the artels in the 1930s.
In the mid-1970s, the tray painting art began to be revived. This process was promoted by the 1974 resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union “On Folk Arts and Crafts”. With her art, Agrippina Afanasyeva influenced the development of over 200 artists. Among her students were some of the most famous masters of Ural lacquer painting on metal, such as Vera Pavlovna Poleva, Yelena Leonidovna Otmakhova, Alevtina Nikolayevna Golubeva, and many others.
In 1977, Agrippina Afanasyeva became the first artist from Nizhny Tagil to be awarded a bronze medal at the All-Union Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy. In 1983, she was awarded the title of Honorary Master and Mentor by the Ministry of Local Industry of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.
