'175th Anniversary of Vasily Vereshchagin' and '150th Anniversary of A.E. Arkhipov' - Russia, 2017

'The 175th Birth Anniversary of Vasily Vereshchagin (1842‒1904)' and 'The 150th Birth Anniversary of A.E. Arkhipov (1862-1930)' souvenir sheets on cover, posted on Jul 25th, 2017, from Novosibirsk, Russia to New York, NY. The first souvenir sheet was first issued on May 24th, 2017 and the latter on Sep 9th, 2012. Thank you, Alexander!

Vasily Vereshchagin  (1842–1904) was one of the most famous war artists in Russia. He traveled extensively to war zones and even took part in combats. He enjoyed fame and controversy at the same time as his paintings realistically depict 'the horror of war'.

Abram Arkhipov was a member of the art collective The Wanderers (The Itinerants). He paints the life of the Russian peasants and landscapes. The stamp depicts his painting "Visiting", with his portrait as the backgroup. 

I got lucky this time as the cover was received before the local post office was able to freelance on it :). But there is still a small mark reads '8/2' which may indicate its arrival date. Alexander was amazed by its speed.

'200th Anniv of Ivan Aivazovsky (1817‒1900), a Painter' - Russia, 2017

'The 200th Birth Anniversary of Ivan Aivazovsky (1817‒1900), a Painter' souvenir sheet from Novosibirsk, Russia to New York, USA, posted on Jul 25th, 2017, on the first day of issue. Thank you Alexander!

Ivan Aivazovsky was well-known in Russia, but not much so in China. As many of you already know, P.R.C. was significantly influenced by the Soviet Union when she was in her cradle, industrially, ideologically, and culturally. Till this day, the Soviet Union's influence can still be felt in the older generation of China, particularly on music and painting. However, Ivan Aivazovsky was lesser known in China due to his focus on seascapes (or maybe it is just my ignorance).

BTW, the Soviet Union issued several stamps in 1967 to commemorate his 150 birth anniversary.