Elena Marttila - Leningraders (1941-1944)
Martilla had just turned 18 when, on September 8th 1941, the city was surrounded by the Nazis. A dedicated young art school graduate, she continued to work throughout the war, creating a series of sketches during the deadly winter of 1941-42, when the daily bread ration dropped to 125g and the death toll was up to 7,000 civilians a day. Memories of war have haunted her ever since. After the war, Elena returned to her studies but refused to follow the strict canons of the state doctrine of Socialist Realism. She developed her sketches into lithographs and engravings on cardboard. In her predominately black and white images, objects appear almost blurry – just as how starving Leningraders perceived them. Looking at them one feels transported through time and connected to the artist’s experiences of the siege. (source)














