Balalaika player with a mysterious signature. Maybe someone knows?
 

Beginning of the twentieth century watercolors from the collection of the famous collector.
Ladies and gentlemen, share, please assumptions: anyone could belong to the signature.

A strange kind of signature, seems extraneous watercolors.

Afanasyev Leont'ev
November 30, 1850 (St. Petersburg) - no later than 1921 (Siberia (?))

He lived in St. Petersburg. He worked mainly in the field of genre painting in the mainstream "peredvizhnicheskoy" tradition. He was engaged in lithography, turned to watercolors, tempera. He participated in exhibitions TPHV (1889-1918, with interruptions, since 1918 - member of the Association), 36 Artists (1902-1903), New Society of Artists (1904, 1910), the Society of Russian watercolors (1905, 1910), the Union of Russian Artists (1906-1907), Association of South Russian Artists (1907, 1915), Association of Independent (1911-1916), the Society of Artists to them. AIKuindzhi (1918), the first free public exhibition of works of art (1919), the Community of Artists (1921).

In 1887-1905 he taught at the School of Drawing Society for the Encouragement of Arts, until 1903 led a class of drawing with pen and ornament, to 1905 - full-scale class. In 1896 he completed four cardboard outer cartons and 8 mosaics mosaic interior of the temple of Christ's Resurrection (Savior on Spilled Blood). He was engaged in book and magazine graphics, created a series of illustrations to Pushkin's fairy tales, works by AP Ershov, A. Tolstoy.

In 1905 he moved to Penza, having been appointed director of the Penza Art College. ND Seliverstova. In 1906 he became one of the initiators of the organization Mug Penza artists. In 1909 he resigned from his post as director and left the city in protest against the deportation of the Penza School teacher AI Vakhrameyeva accused of inciting students to anti-government riots.

Since 1912 worked in the magazines "Lukomorye", "Fragments," "Fool," "Spark," "Virgin Soil," "World illustration", "Painter", "History for All" by placing them in drawings and cartoons. Have repeatedly traveled to Russia.

Works Afanasyev are in many museum collections, including the State Tretyakov Gallery, Pushkin Museum. Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts Ulyanovsk Oblast, Omsk Regional Museum of Fine Arts. Mikhail Vrubel, and others.

Alkalan!
Thank you very much!

The artist is identified, the subject can be closed.

Favorite teacher VE
Tatlin.