Felix Lembersky

Felix Lembersky was a Jewish Soviet artist who lived from 1913 to 1970. He began his art schooling at the Kiev Art Institute and then moved to Leningrad to complete his thesis at the Leningrad Academy of Art. His parents remained in Ukraine during World War II and perished at the hands of the Nazis. During the defense of Leningrad, he was seriously wounded and spent six months hospitalized. Before fully recovering, he finished completing his thesis at the Leningrad Academy of Art and assisted in bringing food and supplies into Leningrad across Lagoda Lake.

Later, he became too sick and was evacuated to the Urals where he continued to paint, teach, and organize exhibitions. Following the siege, he was invited to return to the Leningrad Academy of Art as a prominent Soviet painter but refused as he chose freedom of thought and art and expression over producing Soviet propagandistic art.

His work of art that will be studied in this online exhibit is titled Woman in Recline: The Siege of Leningrad, Leningrad, 1964 and is a part of the series Reclining. Siege of Leningrad. 1963-1964 that portrayed an honest retrospective examination of the effect of the Siege of Leningrad.