Vasnetsov and others, she helped make Abramtsevo the center of the Arts and Crafts movement in Russia. In 1886, she made her first illustrations for twenty folk tales collected by Alexander Afanasyev. Although "War of the Mushrooms" (1889) were the only ones published during her lifetime, her work influenced other illustrators such as Ivan Bilibin and Sergey Malyutin. Polenova exhibited her work at the Palace of Fine Arts at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois. After 1893, she spent less time at Abramtsevo and concentrated on designing embroideries, wallpaper, ceramics and other craft pieces. Always a lover of music, she claimed to have "color hearing"; that listening to music made her see ornamental designs. In April 1896, while riding in a cab on Tsvetnoy Boulevard, her carriage's wheels got caught in the tram rails and overturned. She was seriously injured when her head hit the pavement. Complications from this accident would result in her death over two years later. In her memory, her brothers established an award of 300 Rubles, to be presented to promising young artists so they could study abroad. Among those who received the award were Konstantin Bogaevsky and Yeghishe Tadevosyan. Further reading Natalia Murray (ed.), A Russian Fairy Tale: The Art and Craft of Elena Polenova, Watts Gallery, 2014 A.I. Leonova (ed.), Василий Дмитриевич Поленов; Елена Дмитриевна Поленова: Хроника семьи художников: Письма, дневники, воспоминания (Chronicle of a Family of Artists: Letters, diaries, memoirs), Искусство, 1964. Vera Koshaleva, Елена Поленова, Masters of Painting series, Белый город, 2009 References External links Articles from the Tretyakov Gallery magazine: "She Lived in a Magical World of Fairy tales" by Olga Atroshchenko "Yelena Polenova - The artist’s work in the collection of the Polenov Museum Reserve" by Yelena Kashtanova "I feel you intimately and deeply... Excerpts from the correspondence of Maria Yakunchikova and Yelena Polenova" by Yelena Terkel 1850 births 1898 deaths 19th-century painters from the Russian Empire 19th-century women artists from the Russian Empire Artists from Saint Petersburg Russian women painters Russian women illustrators Art Nouveau painters Russian illustrators Arts and Crafts movement Accidental deaths from falls Embroidery designers