Prodigy

While investigating asbestos beds in the Ural Mountains, a Soviet engineer, M. Troutman, himself an amateur artist, met a 14-year-old Russian boy, Peter Miranov, found promise in his drawings. Troutman brought the boy back with him to Moscow, showed his work to Malieva, who declared that, apart from minor technique, he could teach him nothing, as the boy possessed the rarest of natural gifts -correct draftsmanship. Troutman continued further, interested the Soviet authorities, who have recently commissioned the boy to travel through the South to do landscapes for the State gallery.

One of Peter's drawings was shown to Sir William Orpen, who does portraits for -L-1,000. Said he: "Remarkable."