‘Klassiki’ (popular in the USSR outdoor game for girls, known in English as Hopscotch). 1958. Paper, pencil, pastel. Drawing by Soviet Georgian graphic artist Dmitry Eristavi

Soviet Georgian graphic artist Dmitry Eristavi – Member of the USSR Union of Artists, Honored Artist of the Georgian SSR. Laureate of the Lenin Komsomol Prize of the Georgian SSR and People’s Artist of the Georgian SSR (1985). Born in 1931 in Tbilisi, he graduated from the Tbilisi Academy of Arts (1956). His teachers were Soviet artists L. Grigolia, I. Charlemagne, S. Kobuladze, D.A. Gabashvili and others. Master of easel and book graphics, poster artist, Eristavi worked also in the cinema as a set designer, and scriptwriter.
Eristavi works mainly in easel graphics. He constantly takes part in republican, all-Union and foreign exhibitions. Meanwhile, the first personal exhibition of Dmitry Eristavi in ​​Tbilisi in 1967 brought success to the artist. Thus, the same year he received the title of Honored Artist of the Georgian SSR and laureate of the Komsomol Prize of Georgia.
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Melody. 1990. Painting by Soviet Tatar artist Rifkat Mukhamedovich Vakhitov

Soviet Tatar artist Rifkat Mukhamedovich Vakhitov
Born February 26, 1938 in Izhevsk, Rifkat grew up in a typical Tatar family, where they instilled love for their national traditions. In 1965 he graduated from the Kharkov Art Institute. Aftar graduating from the institute he became a permanent participant of exhibitions of Soviet Art. And already in 1972, he became the member of the USSR Union of artists.
Meanwhile, the artist traveled a lot. Thus, the result of his creative trips to Soviet Tashkent in the 1970s, to Turkey in the mid-1990s, became his colorful landscapes. However, after a visit to America in 2012, the artist did not create a single canvas. According to the artist, the East, and in particular, Tatarstan and its culture inspire him more.
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Before the long journey (Nadezhda Krupskaya and Vladimir Lenin). 1973. Painting by Soviet artist Sergei Yakovlevich Dunchev (October 24, 1916 – October 1, 2004)

Soviet artist Sergei Yakovlevich Dunchev

Born 24 October 1916 in Baku, Sergey Yakovlevich Dunchev studied at the fine art department of the Azerbaijan Art College(1934-1939), workshop of S.I. Kulikov. Veteran of two wars – with the White Finns and the Great Patriotic War, he defended Moscow. And as part of the 16th Army, fought in the Smolensk direction. In 1943, after graduating from the three-month courses of the commander of the Navy, he became the junior lieutenant and a commander of the infantry platoon. In battles during the liberation of Smolensk he received a severe wound. Aawarded the Order of the Red Star, the Patriotic War of the 1st degree, and medals “For the defense of Moscow”, and “For victory over Germany”. After recovery, he received a disability. Demobilized in late 1944.
Since 1944 he lived in Sergiev Posad.
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RSFSR in precious stones. Industry of Socialism precious mosaic map of USSR. Located in the Central Research Geological Prospecting Museum of Academician FN Chernyshev, St. Petersburg, Russia

Industry of Socialism precious mosaic map of USSR

This magnificent mosaic is a monumental monument of the imperial style of the times of the Soviet Union. Created in 1937 for a fantastic period of 5 months, the map and the arms of 11 union republics appeared at international exhibitions in Paris and New York. By creating a giant mosaic panel of gems, which would reflect all the victories of the Social Industry, the authorities decided to celebrate the Communist Party of the USSR on the 20th anniversary of October. In fact, this idea belonged to G. K. Ordzhonikidze, People’s Commissar of Heavy Industry of the USSR.
Laid out from thousands of precious and semiprecious stones, the map first shone in 1937 at the World Exhibition in Paris. It amazed the imagination of Europeans along with the gigantic monument of “Worker and Collective Farmer”.
In particular, the mountains on the map are from jasper, and next to them are lazurite seas and rivers, cities are solid rubies. All in full geographical accordance with the original.
However, tThe most expensive stones – emeralds – marked the objects of industry. Impressive is not only the art of artists who created a panel of gems, but also the cost of the work. In the 1940s, the map, taken to an exhibition in New York, was insured for $ 137 million. And it’s hard to imagine how many panels can cost today.
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Still life with garlic. 1962. Oil. State museum of art of peoples of the east. Soviet Armenian artists paintings

Soviet Armenian artists paintings
Akop Tigranovich Akopyan (1923-2013), Honored Artist of the Armenian SSR, born in Alexandria (Egypt). He studied at the Art Academy in Cairo from 1943 to 1947, and in the art studio of Gran Chaumieu in Paris from 1952 to 1954. In 1952 he moved to Yerevan. Author of thematic paintings, landscapes, still lifes. Gazing closely at nature, Akop Tigranovich Akopyan seeks to reproduce it with an almost illusory accuracy. However, his creative method is far from naturalism. Reality with its particular weight, concreteness becomes its peculiar formula, a certain metaphor that emphasizes the stability of the world, the certainty of feelings. “Still Life With Garlic” (1962) is a typical example of strong-willed, vigorous handwriting of the artist. Lived and worked in Yerevan.
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Athletes, 1938. Soviet Kyrgyz painter Gapar Aytiev 1912-1984

Soviet Kyrgyz painter Gapar Aytiev

One of the first professional Kyrgyz artists, a participant in the Great Patriotic War, Aitiev followed the classical Russian tradition of landscape painting. At the same time, he is truly a national artist in the aesthetic perception of various life phenomena and deep connections with the spiritual culture of the Kirghiz people. Born September 28, 1912 in the village of Tuleiken, near the city of Osh, he became the Corresponding Member of the Academy of Arts of the USSR and People’s Artist of the USSR.
In the work of Aitiev, the thematic composition does not occupy an equivalent position with the landscape, although the artist himself attached great importance to it. In his canvases, a coloristic and composition-spatial solution along with a carefully thought out motive is an important creative problem.
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New boots. 1967. Painting by Soviet artist Valentina Mikhaylovna Avdysheva (March 29, 1931 – December 27, 1975)

Soviet artist Valentina Mikhaylovna Avdysheva

Born March 29, 1931 in the Siberian village of Poltavka, Omsk region, Valentina Avdysheva was a painter, graphic and theater artist. She studied at the Leningrad Art and Graphic Pedagogical School (1947-1951). After graduating from the institute, she immediately went to Petrozavodsk, Karelia. Since 1953, she participated in all the annual republican exhibitions of Soviet Art. Meanwhile, Zaonezhie land, and, in particular, Kizhi became her main inspiration. “Clouds over Kizhi”, “Boyarschyna Village”, “Zaonezhsky Islands”, “Evening in Zaonezhye” – creative milestones of her trips to the ancient land of epic story-tellers.
Member of the Union of Artists of the USSR (1968), she led a great public work, being a deputy. Chairman of the Board of the Union of artists, she created the Club of amateur artists of Petrozavodsk. Besides, she worked as the main artist in the Finnish Drama Theater in Petrozavodsk in the late 1960’s and 1970. She created several stage decorations for performances: “Will you accept me, Karelian land” based on the play of A. Timonen, “Ordinary story” by A. Goncharov, and others.
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