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Maikova Lyubov’ Mikhailovna. 1899-1998. Tver’ region Born near Rzhev in a large peasants family. Was skilful in many crafts: weaving, sewing, knitting, embroidering. In 1942 she became a widow and left her home together with children, having wandered for a while, she settled in the village Selishche, Tver’ region, on the Volga -river. Worked as a postman, a cleaner, a courier, picked up marshrooms, berries, herbs. Liked to sing and knew a lot of songs and romances. Started to paint in 1978, at first with gouache, since 1985 - with oil. Her patron, V.Moroz, an artist who became a collector of her works and her art-manager, supplied Maikova with art materials (canvases and paints) but never dared to interfere into her working process. Each of hundreds of her pictures is a peculiar type of a landscape - she shows a human emotional drama which can’t be separated from the life of Nature. Main themes of Maikova’s works: gratitude to Mother-Earth, memory of the killed in war, living apart, loneliness. Often her pictures are supplemented with poetic inscriptions: «Eternal Couple on the Walk», «Abandoned Temple of God Seen through My Tears», «Thoughtful Decisions at the Repose». Russian experts list her among the top-ten of the Russian naive painters. Reaper Thanking Mother-Earth. 1986 Oil on canvas. 60 õ 80 Author’s inscription, bottom: Æíåÿ áëàãîäàðèò çåìëþ ìàòóøêó Çåìíîé ïîêëîí Ïîêëîíèìñÿ äî çåìëè. Museum of Russian Folk Painting (collection of V.A.Morozov), Moscow