ZOMMER Richard Karlovich (Richard-Karl)

July 20, 1866 — 1939

Painter, graphic artist

From 1884 till 1893 Richard Zommer studied as a noncredit student in the Imperial Academy of Arts (IAKh) in St. Petersburg. He was often awarded medals for his study works; in particular he was awarded small silver medal in 1886, small and big silver medals in 1890, and big silver medal in 1891. In 1893 he graduated from the Academy with the title of class artist of the 3rd degree.

At late 1890s — early 1900s Zommer worked in Central Asia. In 1910s he traveled a lot through the South Caucasus; he visited Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. He was one of the founders of Tiflis Society of Fine Arts. Since 1894 he participated in many exhibitions. His works were shown at the exhibitions of St. Petersburg Society of Artists, the Society of Russian Watercolorists, and at the Autumn Exhibitions in the halls of the Academy of Arts. In 1915 the personal exhibition of the artist was held in Tashkent.

Zommer painted battle scenes and scenes of everyday life, views of Turkestan architecture, landscapes of old quarters of Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara, which enjoyed wide popularity among collectors and art amateurs.

 Zommer’s paintings were characterized by clear composition and attention to details. In his paintings, as in works by the other masters of the 19th — 20th century, there were elements of realism and impressionism.

Genre painting by Zommer was close to works by such painters as V. V. Vereshchagin, Y. F. Tsionglinsky, and L. E. Dmitriev-Kavkazsky.

Works by Richard Zommer are in many museum collections, including the State Russian Museum, Omsk Regional Museum of Fine Arts named after M. A. Vrubel, Tula Regional Art Museum, Azerbaijan State Museum of Art in Baku, Uzbekistan Museum of Culture and Art History in Samarkand, North Ossetia Republic Art Museum.