Street children play cards. 1925. Oil. Tretyakov Gallery. Soviet artist Fyodor Bogorodsky (1895, Nizhny Novgorod – 1959, Moscow)

Soviet artist Fyodor Bogorodsky
Portraits of homeless children, painted by Fyodor Semyonovich Bogorodsky in the mid-1920s, became a significant phenomenon in the history of Soviet Art. A generalized social portrait of a homeless child is a boy of 12-14 years old, whose parents were workers or peasants. In early childhood, children were brought up in complete families, therefore, despite the breaking of the psyche in the hardest conditions of homelessness, many of them were oriented to a worthy future. Particularly, to getting education and a good profession from the child’s point of view that would allow them to live a normal life. However, not everyone was destined to return to normal life. Such was the price for the socio-political upheavals that swept Russia in the first quarter of the 20th century.
In addition, along with homeless children, Fyodor Bogorodsky devoted his paintings to revolutionary sailors.
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Generous Earth (fragment of painting). 1976. G.I. Popov (born 1939, Vologda region). Oil on canvas. Soviet naive art 1974 All-Union exhibition

Soviet naive art 1974 All-Union exhibition
In essence, amateur art is one of the brightest social phenomena characteristic of our, the Soviet way of life. From the first years of the existence of Soviet power, the party and government attached great importance to the movement of independent activity. In addition, it was a means of education in every working person a harmoniously developed personality. Still, it was one of the most important factors in creating a rich spiritual culture of the people. It is well known, what attention the party and the government paid to the development of the amateur movement. In particular, the number of amateur circles, clubs, studios, full-time and correspondence forms of upbringing and education grew. Also, concerts, exhibitions, festivals of amateur art were systematically organized. And, finally, the special government resolutions of 1978 and 1979 consolidated the achievements of amateur art and opened the way for its development. In particular, the Resolution of the CPSU Central Committee (March, 1978) “On measures for the further development of amateur artistic creativity,” and a similar resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 275, March 1979.
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Fragment of painting ‘To the memory of twenty million people’ (died in WWII). Artist G.P. Sapozhnikov. 1975 Soviet Self-taught Artists All-Union exhibition

Soviet Self-taught Artists All-Union exhibition
First of all, this post is a tribute to the amateur artists of the USSR, and, in particular, those, whose works became a part of All-Union exhibition of 1977. By the way, the exhibition, titled “Self-taught Artists – to their Motherland” was a great success. According to a prominent Soviet artist D. Shmarinov, the exhibition was the self-portrait of the country. And those who sincerely love art, who had occasion to see the exhibition of amateur artists, still keep bright memories of them for a long time. Indeed, there is so much amazing truthfulness, integrity of perception, vital persuasiveness and at the same time, poetic freshness and spiritual health.
Especially rich in information about the life of the country were all-union expositions, representing the work of people’s talents from all the republics of the USSR.
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St. Bernard dog sleeps. Painting by Soviet artist Igor Skorobogatov

Soviet artist Igor Skorobogatov (10 June, 1920 – 1997) – animal painter, member of the Leningrad organization of the Union of Artists of the USSR. Honored Artist of the Russian Federation. Born in 1920 in Saratov into the family of a professional actor Konstantin Skorobogatov. Veteran of the Second World War (1941-1945), awarded with medals “For the defense of Leningrad”, “For victory over Germany”. During the Great Patriotic War he fought on the Leningrad front. Demobilized in 1945 in the rank of sergeant. And the same 1945 he entered the painting faculty of the Leningrad Repin Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture of the Academy of Arts, from which he graduated in 1951. Skorobogatov studied in the workshops of prominent Soviet artists Isaak Brodsky and Professor Rudolf Frentz (1945-1951). His thesis work was the picture “On the collective farm” (1951). Already after the institute (1952), he began participating in exhibitions of Soviet art, together with the leading masters of fine arts of Leningrad.
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On guard of peace. 1975. Soviet realist painter Akhmed Kitayev 1925-1996

Soviet realist painter Akhmed Kitayev (15 February 1925 – 13 July 1996) – Member of the USSR Union of Artists.
Born in the village of Tatar Yunki, Mordovia, Akhmed Ibadullovich Kitayev grew up in the religious family (his grandfather was a mullah). When the boy was 5 years old, his family was exiled to Siberia (1930). Meanwhile, drawing accompanied the talented boy in grief and joy. Aged 10, Akhmed won the All-Union competition of young artists. And he decides on a brave act: he writes a letter to Stalin, in which he expresses a desire to learn to draw and asks him to help. A few weeks later, to the Siberian settlement where they lived, a military man appeared. He told Akhmed to get ready and put him on a train to Leningrad.
So, in the 1940-1945’s he studied at the Moscow Secondary Art School. And then, at the Moscow State Academic Art Institute of VI Surikov (1945-1950). After graduation from the institute he worked in Moscow. Starting exhibiting since 1950, he took part in All-Union art exhibitions of Soviet Art in Moscow (1950, 1955), and “Soviet Russia” (Moscow, 1960). He mostly specialized in genre paintings, and since the 1960s – in portraits. Besides, in the 1950-1952 he taught at the Moscow Secondary Art School.
Ahmed Ibadullovich died on July 13, 1996 (Moscow).
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Smile. Artists Kaleria and Boris Kukuliev. Yuri Gagarin in Soviet Palekh lacquer miniatures

Yuri Gagarin in Soviet Palekh lacquer miniatures
The world’s first cosmonaut – the man who left the Earth’s atmosphere and ventured into outer space Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin. Не is а hero whose name has gone down in history ..
The hero’s life resembles а lens which focuses the fate of а people, а thorny way of science, the voice of poetry and strivings of the human intellect. These beautiful lacquer miniatures explain the essence of the Russian man, in particular Yuri Gagarin. His soul, woven of many threads – fairy tales of childhood, dreams, heroes and ideals. None of the miniatures has a specific name, but the plots of these miniatures clearly show the history of the Russian people, whose glorious son was Yuri Gagarin.
Gagarin’s history is inseparable from the history of the country and his great compatriots Lomonosov, Pushkin, Tsiolkovsky, and Chkalov. His fate is inseparable from the conquest of the revolution, the young Soviet country and its achievements in the fields of energy, construction, and engineering. Without the first five-year plans and hard work, there would be no success in cosmonautics.
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Lyucia, 1986. Oil on cardboard. Soviet artist Margarita Dmitrievna Ruban (May 1, 1934 – October 21, 2011)

Soviet artist Margarita Dmitrievna Ruban was a member of the Union of Artists of the USSR. Born May 1, 1934 in Yanaul, Bashkortostan, she grew up in Leningrad (since 1937). She showed her ability to draw very early. Accordingly, in 1953-1961 she studied at the Tavrichesky Art College. After graduation from the college she entered the Faculty of Painting at the Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture of I.E. Repin of Academy of Arts of the USSR. She studied in the workshops of prominent Soviet artists Yuri Neprintsev and A.D. Romanichev (1961-1967). The diploma painting “Attack repulsed” was dedicated to the difficult tense years of the Great Patriotic War, witnessed by Ruban herself, having experienced all the 900 days of the blockade.
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