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Welcome to Avvakum Art, a collection of historical and religious-themed pen and ink drawings created by Felix G. Kuehn.

Galleries are currently unavailable as we update this site and create our new site at www.FelixGKuehn.com. We apologize for this inconvenience. Please contact us at FelixGKuehn@gmail.com with any questions or comments or to order prints.

A message from the artist:

Thank you for visiting my website.

Avvakum Art is a collection of historical sketches depicting the history and heritage of Eastern Christianity - Holy, Orthodox, Catholic and Apostolic. Many of these sketches are illustrations for articles I have written on the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Eastern Catholic Church and the history - glorious and tragic - of the fall of Constantinople and the fate of the most beautiful Hagia Sophia, mother church of all Byzantine Christians.

My goal in creating this artwork - and now placing it on the Internet - is to share my passion for the unsurpassed richness of Holy Orthodoxy - "the faith which upholds the universe" - and to provide you with an opportunity to deepen your understanding of the history of the Eastern Church in Byzantium, Russia,Ukraine, Serbia, Greece, Syria and Egypt.

My sketches are available as prints or as note cards. In addition to being perfect for home and office, Avvakum Art prints could also provide points of interest and inspiration to prayer in your church hall, Sunday School, monastery and parish classrooms.
I hope that you will take the time to visit all eleven Galleries of this site, and that you will find something that you would like to add to your collection of historical artwork. In the first nine galleries you will find my artwork that is being offered for sale; the artwork of the tenth gallery is free. The eleventh gallery tells “ About Us.”

The Purpose of This Website
The purpose of this website is to share my own passion for the history of the Eastern Church and my artwork on that subject. Most of the drawings on this website are illustrations for publications I have written or articles I have published or am still working on.

Each drawing on this website is accompanied by a short explanation. Those of the Second Gallery, “When the Wall Opens Again – Past Tragedy; Future Glory” also have a more comprehensive commentary, one which relates the 1453 Fall of Imperial Constantinople.

A Clue
The photo at the top of this Homepage will give you a clue as to the origin of my religious, historical and artistic interests. During the nineteenth century, my family (originally Lutherans from northern Germany) were residents of the Russian Empire, first in Poland and then in what is now the Ukrainian province of Volynia. Thus in this photo, in addition to two pieces of my artwork, you will see several documents from my collection of Old Country family papers. Among these are a “Certificate of Praise,” a nineteenth-century Russian graduation certificate, and “A Prayer for His Imperial Highness Czar Alexander III and the entire Imperial Family.” Beside them is an Old Believer Russian Orthodox Cross which my wife purchased some years ago when she visited Greece during Great Lent and Pascha.

What You Will Receive
When you purchase any drawing from Avvakum Art, in addition to my artwork you will receive one or more pages of interpretive commentary. This material will fully explain the significance of the drawing to you.

These illustrations are all top-quality laser prints, reproduced on 24 lb. paper. You have a choice of size in the illustrations and we are also happy to offer a laminating service.

The Presentation of This Website
Much of the detail of these sketches has been sacrificed in presenting them on the web. However, if you visit Gallery Ten to check out the free designs, you will be able to click on a link to view a detailed picture of each of the designs there. This will give you an idea of the fine detail that is a part of each and every work of art on this website.
Why the name Avvakum Art? The autobiography of the seventeenth-century Russian Orthodox Archpriest Avvakum Petrovich Kondrat’ev is one of the most remarkable documents I have ever read. This website is named in his honour because I believe his life deserves to be much more widely known – not only among Eastern Christians – but among everyone fascinated by such virtues as moral courage, loyalty and perseverance. These extraordinary qualities of his complex personality are ones we should all like to emulate. Although the following synopsis will be of interest, I warmly encourage you to read his autobiography, The Life of the Archpriest Avvakum Written by Himself.