Hourglass. 1987. Soviet theater artist Pyotr Alekseyevich Belov (October 17, 1929 – January 30, 1988)

Soviet theater artist Pyotr Alekseyevich Belov

Since the beginning of perestroika and the collapse of the Soviet Union, it has become fashionable to scold the Soviet past in newspapers, from television screens, theater scenes and paintings of artists. The wave of “denunciation and condemnation” swept over Pyotr Alekseyevich Belov as well. So, according to his friends, he seemed to burst out of creating, and one by one began to appear canvases – small in size, but grandiose in their philosophical content and fullness of thought”. However, it is easy to see that all of the artist’s paintings, which metaphorically portrayed Stalin’s repressions, he created in the period 1985-1988. In total, there were 23 paintings in the “anti-Stalin cycle. Of course, they were up to date, on the wave of popularity and used as illustrations to anti-soviet and anti-Stalin articles. Interestingly, in the early 1990s, took place the premiere of the American film “Stalin” in Moscow. The film began with a panorama of the works of Pyotr Alekseyevich Belov.
Meanwhile, Pyotr Alekseyevich Belov (October 17, 1929 – January 30, 1988), Honored Artist of the RSFSR (1978), member of the USSR Union of artists (1974-1988) was mainly a theater artist.
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Detail of Decorative figure. The gardener. 1975. Chamotte, salt, glaze. Directorate of exhibitions of the Union of Artists of the USSR. Soviet Russian ceramic artist Mikhail Kopylkov

Soviet Russian ceramic artist Mikhail Kopylkov
Born in 1946 in Leningrad, Mikhail Kopylkov graduated from Leningrad Higher Art and Industrial School named after Vera Mukhina (1969). He joined the USSR Union of Artists in 1975.
Annual exhibitions “One Composition” were of great importance for the history of Soviet Leningrad ceramics, the first of which took place in 1977. According to the charter, the artist could put out only one work, which he chooses himself. A month later, a large exposition “Ceramics of Leningrad” became the first serious review of Leningrad ceramics in the last five years. Criticism rated it as one of the most interesting phenomena in decorative art. The notion of “school of Leningrad ceramics” appeared.
Meanwhile, since the beginning of the 1970s, a group of young artists-ceramists, graduates of the Leningrad Higher Art and Industrial School has been actively working in the city on the Neva. In particular, A. Zadorin, N. Savinova, V. Gorislavtsev, V. Tsyvin, L. Solodkov, N. Gushchina, O. Nekrasov-Karateeva and others. Among them one of the brightest figures was Mikhail Kopylkov.
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Portrait of Hero of Socialist Labor Nazarali Niyazov. Oil. 1949. Painting by Soviet Uzbek artist Abdulkhak Abdullayev (30 December 1918 – 29 October 2001)

Soviet Uzbek artist Abdulkhak Abdullayev

Honored Art Worker of the Uzbek SSR Abdulkhak Abdullayev was born in 1918 in the city of Turkestan. The boy showed his art abilities very early. “I was very fond of animals,” recalls the artist. He watched them with interest, recognized their habits, character, and then tried to depict them. Sometimes molded them out of ordinary clay or painted them on the wall of the house. Such were the first steps of the future artist in the art. In 1928, the boy entered the school of K. Liebknecht in the village of Lunacharsky, located near Tashkent.
Pupils of this school, along with other subjects, got acquainted with the basics of drawing. The artist recalls that these lessons were for him the most fascinating. Abdulhak spent his free time after school drawing. The successes of the young artist in this subject attracted the attention of the teachers of the school. And, first of all, AP Grintsevich, who in every possible way strove to support Abdulhak’s desire to “study as an artist”.
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Portrait of Shota Rustaveli. Cloisonne enamel. 1962. Soviet Dagestan goldsmith Manaba Magomedova (November 5, 1928, Kubachi – March 10, 2013, Makhachkala)

Soviet Dagestan goldsmith Manaba Magomedova

The range of works created by Manaba Omarovna Magomedova (November 5, 1928, Kubachi – March 10, 2013, Makhachkala) is unusually wide. In particular, decorations (bracelets, rings, necklaces), book salvage, utensils (pitchers, dishes, cups, cups), weapons, decorative chandeliers of large and small forms. Magomedova- a well-known metal artist. Member of the Union of Artists of the USSR and Russia (1960), People’s Artist of Dagestan (1978), and Honored Artist of the Russian Federation (2003). The first woman in Dagestan is a goldsmith, laureate of numerous republican, all-Union and foreign exhibitions and competitions, Honored Artist of Russia, People’s Artist of Georgia and Dagestan, Chevalier of the Order of Honor of Georgia. Her works participated in more than one hundred prestigious exhibitions. Besides, she represented the country at international symposiums and seminars. Personal exhibitions of the artist took place in Moscow, Makhachkala, Tbilisi, Jablonec nad Nisou (Czech Republic), Rangoon, Algiers, Budapest, Székesfehérvár (Hungary), and Istanbul. Her works received awards of different countries, and gold, silver and bronze medals of the Exhibition of Economic Achievements of the USSR.
Meanwhile, admiring the artist’s work, poet Rasul Gamzatov wrote about her: “It is impossible to imagine that her almost childish hands were forging and burning metal. In the works she created, I see a poetic dream of perfect beauty.”
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Chinese and Soviet workers under the banners with Marx-Lenin. Soviet Ukrainian graphic artist Vasily Kasiyan (1 January 1896 – 24 June 1976)

Soviet Ukrainian graphic artist Vasily Kasiyan

Awarded honorary titles and distinctions of the Soviet state, about Kasiyan, published many books, albums, and art articles. With high dignity he carried the people’s trust: three times in a row – elected to the Supreme Council of Ukraine. The art of Kasiyan is a world of exciting images, seen in life and inspired by the historical past, books by Taras Shevchenko and Ivan Franko, Lesya Ukrainka and Olga Kobylianska. Images of the past, images of the Soviet era … In the work of Kasiyan lives a memory of the past of Ukraine, and the life-affirming spirit of the Soviet days.
Soviet Ukrainian graphic artist Vasily Kasiyan said: “Creative inspiration feeds on vital, earthly sources, it does not fall from heaven at all. Only during intense, tireless work does inspiration appear as a result of the development of the conceived business.” According to him, the basis of inspiration is, first of all, the artist’s connection with life, with the people.
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Amedeo Modigliani in the cafe Rotonda. Painting by Soviet Georgian artist Lado Gudiashvili (18 March 1896 – 20 July 1980)

Soviet Georgian artist Lado Gudiashvili

– A lot of sun … Since the morning he’s running away from it. The sun prevents the artist. Exaggerating colors, deceives the eye. But all his art is full of the sun, and he can not do without the sun.
Lado Gudiashvili, People’s Artist of the USSR, laureate of the Rustaveli Prize has lived long life with convenient, well-established concepts. Even with his youthful appearance, slender, with vivacious eyes and greed for work, this eighty-year-old man claimed the favorite idea that wisdom is the ability and in his old age to maintain the immediacy of the perception of the world.
Meanwhile, back in the 1920s, he appeared in Paris, this “mecca” of the artistic world, this capricious sea, which absorbed more than one talent. The young artist stayed true to himself even after the meeting with the eminent maestros. And after the noisy coronation and the abundance of artistic trends, the bohemian life of creative youth, who brought their claims to Paris and bury them there.
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Minimalistic landscape, Leningrad, Views of the City (1953). Soviet graphic artist Gennady Dmitrievich Yepifanov (4 August 1900 – 4 September 1985)

Soviet graphic artist Gennady Dmitrievich Yepifanov
Born August 4, 1900 in Rostov the Great of Yaroslavl Province, future graphic artist illustrator Gennady Dmitrievich Yepifanov grew in the family of a bookbinder of the local printing house. Interestingly, aged 21, Gennady Yepifanov taught singing at the Rostov Gymnasium (1921-1922). In 1923 he entered the Yaroslavl Art College and at the same time, worked at the Rostov Museum of Antiquities (1922-1924). After graduation from the art school in 1925, he studied at the Leningrad Institute of Art and Technology. At first, it was the fine art workshop of Konstantin Petrov-Vodkin, and then the graphic faculty of VD Zamirailo, Dmitry Mitrokhin, Vladimir Konashevich, YS. Kruglikova, and PA Shillingovsky. Under the guidance of Konashevich, he completed his thesis work – illustrations for children’s tales of S.Ya. Marshak, awarded the title of graphic artist.
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