Soviet Art

Snow Maiden. 1964. Soviet painter Elza Davidovna Khokhlovkina (born 1934, Donetsk)

Soviet painter Elza Davidovna Khokhlovkina – Member of the USSR Union of Artists (1960). The artist adheres to realistic direction, and works in the such genre of paintings as landscapes, still lifes and portraits.
Elza Khokhlovkina was born in 1934 in Donetsk. In 1953, she graduated from the Moscow Art School, where she studied in the workshops of A.P. Shorchev, N.I. Andriyaka, A.P. Gorsky, and N.K. Solomin. In 1953-1959 she studied at the Faculty of Painting of Moscow State Art Institute of Surikov. Her teachers were such prominent Soviet artists as professors P.P. Sokolov-Skalya, N.P. Khristolyubov and P.D. Pokarzhevsky. In 1959 she graduated from the institute with the diploma painting “Skiers in Sokolniki”. Upon graduation, Khokhlovkina worked on the order of the USSR Academy of Fine Arts under the direction of A. Plastov and TG Gaponenko. Painting “Khokhloma masters” is at the Museum of Russian Art in Kazan.
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The writer Valentin Rasputin. Tempera. 1981. Soviet artist Anatoly Ivanovich Alexeyev

Soviet artist Anatoly Ivanovich Alexeyev was born on 23 January 1929, in the Altai Territory of the USSR. In 1956, he graduated from the Kharkov State Art Institute, where he studied in the workshop of S.F. Besedin. In his original work, eventful history of Siberia and the Far East. No matter whom he draws – a nameless boarder guard on duty or a famous Soviet writer Valentin Rasputin, a graceful girl from the Gobi or a young builder of BAM – every portrait captivates with the inner dignity and moral integrity of character.
Anatoly Alexeyev is a full member of the USSR Academy of Arts (1988), Secretary of Department of “Ural, Siberia, and Far East” Union (1987), People’s Artist of the RSFSR (1981). From 1964 to 1975 – Chairman of the Board of the Irkutsk organization of the Artists Union of the RSFSR (1972-1988), Secretary of the Union of artists of the USSR (1983-1991), and in 1987 – Acting academician-Secretary of the Siberian-Far Eastern Branch of the USSR Academy of Arts.
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Sport girls. 1953. Oil on canvas. Soviet artist restorer Mikhail Devyatov (born 1928)

Soviet artist restorer Mikhail Devyatov – painter, graphic artist, and teacher. A member of the USSR Union of Artists, an Honored Artist of the RSFSR. He is one of the initiators of the establishment within the Union of artists the independent section of restoration, and in 1992-2006 was its permanent chairman.
Devyatov was born November 15, 1928 in Leningrad. In 1949, he graduated from the Sverdlovsk Art College. In 1949-1955 he studied at the Faculty of Painting of the Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture named after IE Repin of the USSR Academy of Arts. Workshops of AA Mylnikov and VM Oreshnikov (graduate paintings – “Mother of the artist” and “Woman in White”). In 1958-1959 he engaged in post-graduate Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture.
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1930-1980s Soviet Christmas tree decorations

1930-1980s Soviet Christmas tree decorations

After the Great October Revolution in 1918, the People’s Commissars issued a ban on the celebration of the New Year, as an attribute of the Old World, and on January 1, it was an ordinary working day. However, Christmas tree was put occasionally in some of the houses, and Christmas tree decorations in the USSR were not easy to find. It was during this period appeared fashion on homemade Christmas decorations made from scrap materials.
Fortunately, in 1935, the Christmas tree ban was lifted by government decree! And already in 1936, the significance of the holiday, as a symbol of a new ideology, has been confirmed by a Christmas tree in the Hall of Columns. In addition, began the production of ornaments, including glass balls with pictures of Lenin and Stalin. Besides, the shops flooded with “the Kremlin stars,” pioneers, dogs, poultry, fruits and vegetables, astronauts, Father Frosts and Snow maidens, and so on. Today, it is fashionable to collect Soviet Christmas toys, but they are becoming rare. Christmas decorations of the Soviet period attract the attention of foreign collectors as well, because in the New Year’s toys reflected the history of several generations of the inhabitants of the Soviet Union.
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In Europe, as in all other areas of our planet, we want peace, a lasting peace. LI Brezhnev. 1980. Soviet poster artist Mikhail Getman

Soviet poster artist Mikhail Getman
Soviet artist of social and political posters Mikhail Anatolievich Getman was born in Zhitomir in 1947. After high school, he went to Moscow and entered the Moscow State Art Institute named after Surikov. In 1976 he graduated from the institute, workshop of posters. His teachers were Soviet artists N. Ponomarev and M. Savostyuk. While still a student at the institute, Mikhail works at the publishing house “Poster” (1974). At the same period, he began participating in all-Union and republican exhibitions of Soviet Art. In addition to political and social posters, he was involved in creating theater posters (1970-1980-s). However, with the beginning of perestroika, the artist emigrated to the United States (end of 1980s). Posters of Mikhail Getman decorated magazines published in the USSR, for instance, “Youth”, Soviet Artist, Smena, etc., and now they are are available in Moscow in the Russian State Library. His major works include: “International Children’s Day” (1977), “Great Lenin illuminated our path” (1979), “Five-Year Plan effectiveness and quality – the enthusiasm and creativity of the young” (1979), and some more.
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Xenia reads tale to dolls (daughter of the artist). 1950. Soviet graphic artist Igor Ivanovich Yershov (7 November, 1916 – 6 February, 1985)

Soviet graphic artist Igor Ivanovich Yershov (7 November, 1916 – 6 February, 1985) – member of the USSR Union of artists. His father was an outstanding opera singer Ivan Yershov, and his mother Sofia – a singer and vocal teacher. In 1947, Igor Yershov graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts named after I. Repin. At first, he studied first at the fine art department, in the workshop of I. Brodsky, and then moved to graphic department, where his teachers were Shilingovsky, Zaitsev, I. Bilibin and K. Rudakov. His Diploma work were later illustrations to “The Bronze Horseman”. For this work, published in academic collected works of AS Pushkin, he was admitted to the USSR Union of Artists.
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USSR home interior in painting. Soviet Artist Agafya Belaya (1975). In the morning

1950-1980 USSR home interior in painting of Soviet artists

Soviet era interior and way of life of the fifties-eighties of the 20th century, depicted in the paintings of Soviet artists, like magic window, show our Soviet past. Our memory will forever cherish the atmosphere, life, and details of the house where we were born, spent our childhood and youth. Rooms of our grandparents, our parents’ apartment, favorite garden (dacha), where summer was eternal and we wanted to laugh from the children’s happiness. For born in the USSR, they are unforgettable images of native homes, where there was always light, comfort, and hospitality. To this house you always want to come back.
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