Herbs of summer. 1987. Painting by Soviet artist Mikhail Abakumov (1948-2010)

Soviet artist Mikhail Abakumov was a deep patriot of his country, his “small homeland” – Kolomna, delicately felt the history of the region, sang its beauty and uniqueness. The master defines his “creative credo” as follows: “Painting is a way of life. It gives strength to live and stay in a good mood. Painting comes from the word “alive” (in Russian). My credo in painting: to sing the world of God in its beauty, in its harmony, and in its light. If I can get the light of God, then it will be a great happiness … The main thing in life is not to get depressed. Optimism will save us.”
Born in 1948 in Kolomna, Abakumov studied at the Moscow Art and Industrial School named after Kalinin. Then, in 1977, he graduated from the art faculty of the All-Union State Institute of Cinematography, the studio of professors I.A. Shpinel and G.A. Myasnikov.
In 1983 he worked in the creative workshops of the Academy of Arts of the USSR under the leadership of famous Soviet artists academicians AP. And S.P. Tkachev and A.M. Gritsai.
Member of the Union of Artists of Russia since 1980. In 1985 and 1987 he received diplomas of the Academy of Arts of the USSR.
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Village girl. Soviet Russian artist Alexandr Moravov 1878-1951

Soviet Russian artist Alexandr Moravov
Alexander Viktorovich Moravov was one of the artists who brought in the Russian painting of the XX century the tradition of “peasant genre”, going from the Wanderers. Honored Artist of the RSFSR (1946). Full member of the Academy of Arts of the USSR (1949). Alexander Moravov was born in the village of Velikaya Motovilovka in the former province of Kiev. His father, a well-educated man, was fond of art, and he was friends with such famous artists as N.N. Ge and M.A. Vrubel.
Surrounded by the creative atmosphere, the boy started drawing very early. Since 1888, he studied at the Kiev Art School, headed by N.I. Murashko. In 1897-1902 he studied at the Moscow University of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, workshops of N.A. Kasatkin, K.A. Korovin, A.M. Korin and A.E. Arkhipov, who had a particularly great influence on the young man.
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Three Graces. 1989. Oil on canvas. Soviet Russian painter Tatyana Fyodorova

Soviet Russian painter Tatyana Fyodorova – Member of the USSR Union of Artists since 1980 and Member of the International Federation of Artists of UNESCO.
Born in 1952 in Peterhof, Leningrad, Tatyana Sergeyevna Fyodorova studied at the Secondary Art School of Ilya Repin in 1970. And in 1977 she graduated from the Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture of I. Repin. She studied in the workshop of monumental painting led by Professor A. A. Mylnikov. After graduation she worked at the same institute, first as an assistant trainee at the Institute (1978-1979) and later as teacher of drawing (1978-1981). A many-awarded artist, she first received her award in 1978 – II prize at the Republican Youth Exhibition. Then followed the Diploma of the Academy of Arts of the USSR (1979), II Prize at the 7th Academic All-Union Exhibition of Young Artists and III Prize and Diploma of the Union of Artists of the USSR at the All-Union Youth Exhibition (all in 1982). Also, in 1984 she received two international awards, including Grand Prix and Gold Medal at the exhibition “Traditions and Search” (Spring Salon, Grand Palais, Paris) and The World Exhibition in Cagnes-sur-Mer, France. In addition, among her numerous Soviet awards are Prize of the Central Committee of the Komsomol of Leningrad (1985) and Diploma at the VII Republican exhibition of Russian artists (1986). Noteworthy, her painting “At The Mirror” was bought by the State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow (1988).
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Bilgah. 1972. Oil on canvas. Painting by Soviet Azerbaijani artist Sattar Bahlulzade (December 15, 1909 – October 14, 1974)

Soviet Azerbaijani artist Sattar Bahlulzade (December 15, 1909 – October 14, 1974, Moscow) – People’s Artist of the Azerbaijan SSR, laureate of the State Prize of the Azerbaijan SSR. Known for his landscapes, dedicated to the nature of Azerbaijan, many of his works are in the style of impressionism.
The nature of Azerbaijan is fabulously beautiful in the artist’s canvases. Its spacious landscapes-panoramas, like wide-open windows, open the world of beauty, harmony and happiness. They are always mobile, trembling, as if filled with the living breathing of the earth. Hills, flowering trees, water and sky in the landscape of “Bilgah” (1972) merge into a single poetic element. The canvas is written in the usual for the artist, almost watercolor in its transparency, a distinct, moving a stroke that reveals the rhythmic structure of the picture.
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Russian winter. 1969. Oil, tempera. Painting by Soviet Russian artist Gennady Myznikov

Soviet Russian artist Gennady Myznikov – a member of the USSR Union of Artists (1961). Born in 1933 in a family worker in a small town of Orekhovo-Zuevo, Moscow region. In 1951 he graduated from Leningrad Higher Art and Industrial School named after Mukhina. The author of historical and genre paintings, landscapes, and still lifes. In the work of Myznikov, original reliability and poetic generality, monumental solemnity and the merriment of folk music.
In the permeated with humor and decorative color painting “Russian Winter” (1969) reigns typical for the artist’s atmosphere of joy and celebration. All of it – like a cheerful mosaic, recruited from individual, acute seized couplings. Here everything is very reliable and at the same time sharpened in its character. Solemn beauties in bright clothes perceived as participants of the fair carnival.
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V.I. Lenin. 1969. Oil canvas. State art museum of Estonian SSR, Tallin. Painting by Soviet Estonian artist Elmar Yanovich Kits (27 April 1913 – 24 March 1972)

Soviet Estonian artist Elmar Yanovich Kits (27 April 1913 – 24 March 1972) – People’s Artist of the Estonian SSR, laureate of the State Prize of the Estonian SSR. Born in 1913 in Tartu, in 1939 he graduated from the Higher Art School “Pallas” in Tallinn. And in 1944-1949 he taught at the Tartu Art Institute. Elmar Kits the author of paintings, portraits, still lifes and landscapes. Characterized by a desire for analysis and a broad generalization of life phenomena (triptych “Music, ballet, fine arts”, “Builders”), emotional and coloristic refinement.
In the canvas “V. I. Lenin “(1969), the artist finds the original form of a publicistic epic. The picture of revolutionary events consists of separate “frames” framing the central figure of Lenin. This method also creates a deep associative course of disclosure of the plot and at the same time enhances the moment of authenticity of the image. The tall imaginative structure did not deprive the picture of inner warmth and deep sincerity. Noble color, softly reminiscent of a fresco, contributes to the imaginative significance of the art.
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Still life with a red carnation. 1968. Oil on canvas. Tretyakov Gallery. Painting by Soviet Estonian artist Olev Subbi (1930 – 2013)

Soviet Estonian artist Olev Subbi (1930 – 2013) – Honored Artist of the Estonian SSR (1976), People’s Artist of the Estonian SSR (1987), Honorary Foreign Member of the Russian Academy of Arts. The artist’s paintings are in the collection of the Estonian Art Museum, the State Tretyakov Gallery, the Ludwig Museum in Cologne and the collections of other museums.
Laconic, subtly and artistically painted “Still Life with a Red Carnation” (1968). The environment and objects do not just coexist, come into contact – they are in continuous communication and interaction. Their colorful dialogue, paraded and mysterious, in its own way conveys the life hidden in nature and the emotionally excited feeling of a person arising from a meeting with nature.
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