Soviet Art

The nomad. 1931. Soviet Uzbek artist Ural Tansykbayev (14 January 1904 – 18 April 1974)

Soviet Uzbek artist Ural Tansykbayev
Often called the bard of Soviet Uzbekistan, landscapes by Tansykbayev are full of poetic inspiration and at the same time, are truly monumental.
People’s Artist of the USSR (1963), member of the Academy of Arts of the USSR (1958), chairman of the Union of Artists of the Uzbek SSR (1956 – 1959), Tansykbayev was one of the founders of contemporary fine art in Uzbekistan. An outstanding painter, canvases by Ural Tansykbayev entered the gold fund of the largest museums, such as the State Tretyakov Gallery and the State Museum of Oriental Art in Moscow. And also the state museums of arts of Uzbekistan and Karakalpakstan, and a number of museums of the countries of the former USSR.
Ural Tansykbaev was born in Tashkent. After graduating from a seven-year school, he went to work at the plant. Aged twenty, he began to draw. After his drawings have appeared in the exhibition of club factory where he worked, the newspaper “Turkestanskaya Pravda” published a note “about the artist-worker Ural Tansykbaev” (1924).
Read more »

Lenin in October, 1986. Soviet Ukrainian artist Nikolai Borovsky (April 14, 1930 – April 26, 1988)

Soviet Ukrainian artist Nikolai Borovsky (April 14, 1930 – April 26, 1988) – Member of the USSR Union of Artists (1964) and Honored Artist of the USSR (1984).
Born 14 1930 in Svetlovodsk, Nikolai Stepanovich Borovsky graduated from Dnepropetrovsk Art school with honors (1953). His teachers were M. Pogrebnyak and A. Kuko. Then, he studied in Kiev art institute (1956-1960). In particular, the historical and battle workshop of the People’s Artist of the USSR, GS Melikhov, and his teachers were M. Khmelnitsky and M. Ivanov, the diploma work – “Koliivshchina”.
Since 1960 he taught at the Art College in Dnepropetrovsk. In addition, he took part in exhibitions of Soviet Art. Borovsky worked in the field of easel painting, and created canvases, portraits, landscapes and still lifes. In 1966 he received the III prize of the Central Committee of the Komsomol of Ukraine and the Union of Artists of the Ukrainian SSR for the painting “Worker. Year 1928». And his first solo exhibition took place in 1980 in Dnepropetrovsk.
Nikolay Stepanovich died on April 26, 1988 (Dnepropetrovsk, Ukrainian SSR). His works are in the Dnepropetrovsk Art Museum, the Dnepropetrovsk National Historical Museum of DI Yavornytsky, and the Museum of Ukrainian Painting (Dnepropetrovsk), as well as private collections.
Read more »

Rest after fight. Oil on canvas. 1960s. Painting by Soviet Ukrainian artist Igor Reznik (April 15, 1918 – 1978)

Soviet Ukrainian artist Igor Reznik

Born April 15, 1918 in the city of Yekaterinoslav, Igor Alexandrovich Reznik graduated from the Dnepropetrovsk Art College in 1939. And then, in 1948 he graduated from the Kiev Art Institute, where his teachers were Soviet artists AA Shovkunenko and TN Yablonskaya.
The artist began participating in exhibitions of Soviet art (since 1949) and soon became a member of the Union of Artists of the Ukrainian SSR. In addition, for a long time he worked in the creative workshop of his teacher AA Shovkunenko, including the monumental canvas “Hymn of People’s Love” commissioned by the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. The author of thematic paintings, Reznik also taught at the Kiev Art Institute.
Ukrainian painter and teacher Igor Aleksandrovich Reznik died in 1978 in Kiev, Ukrainian SSR. His works are in art museums of Ukraine and Russia.
Read more »

Annunciation. Angel with a flower. 1987. Soviet painter Geliy Korzhev-Chuvelev (July 7, 1925, Moscow – August 27, 2012)

Soviet painter Geliy Korzhev-Chuvelev became recognized immediately – after the appearance of his first paintings at the exhibitions of Soviet Art. In particular, the triptych “Communists” and paintings from the series “Scorched by the fire of war.” The last of the great socialist realists, he followed the tradition as faithfully as he tore with it, allowing in his work the influence of modernist trends, neo-realistic cinematography, and monumental art. Ignoring the cliché, he never questioned the basis of the method – realism and sociality. And remained faithful to the painting and did not doubt its capabilities to fully present the complexity of the modern world, to testify about time and truth.
Read more »

Children on winter walk. 1978. Soviet artist Nadezhda Vorobyova (14 April, 1924 – 9 July, 2011)

Soviet artist Nadezhda Vorobyova (14 April, 1924 – 9 July, 20110) worked in different genres: landscape, still life, and multi-figure genre compositions. Meanwhile, in the 1950-1960’s she focused her attention on genre of children and youth themes. During this period she creates a large series of works devoted to the theme “Kindergarten”. However, in the 1970’s and 1980’s, the plots in the paintings become more diverse: the city, life in the village, and portrait compositions.
Nadezhda Dmitrievna passed away on July 9, 2011 (Moscow). Her works are in the Podolsk Art Museum, the Belgorod State Art Museum, and private collections in Russia, Britain, Germany, France, Italy, the USA and Japan.
Read more »

Wait for me. Soviet painter Vyacheslav Shumilov (1931-2004)

Soviet painter Vyacheslav Shumilov – People’s Artist of Russia, awarded the Silver Medal of the Russian Academy of Arts. Chairman of the Board of the Kalinin (Tver) organization of the USSR Union of Artists. Born in 1931 in Tver, Shumilov Vyacheslav Fedorovich
began his creative life in 1950s. He graduated from Moscow Art and Industrial School of memory of 1905 (1949-1953). And already in 1956 became a participant of the All-Union and republican exhibitions of Soviet art.
In 1956, he first visited the Academic Dacha of I.E. Repin, where he worked under the direction of A.P. Bubnov. This trip played a huge role in the formation of the young artist and largely determined his fate. “Academic dacha” became for him not only a school, but also a permanent place of work, a corner of inspiration, and an inexhaustible source of topics and subjects of his paintings.
Read more »

Father and son. 2015. Oil, canvas. Painted for the 70th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War. Sons became older than their early departed fathers. The son remembers his father, the WWII member. Above them is a fiery bird of fate. Soviet Russian graphic artist Yuri Aksyonov (born 14 February 1950)

Soviet Russian graphic artist Yuri Aksyonov
Born on February 14, 1950 in Tyumen, Yury Alexeyevich Aksyonov studied in Leningrad. He completed two years at the Leningrad Higher School of Industrial Art named after Vera Mukhina. For six years (1971-1977) he worked as an artist-designer in the Tyumen branch of the Art Fund of the RSFSR. From the same period he began to participate in exhibitions of Soviet art. However, in 1977 he moved to Vladivostok for permanent residence. There, for 15 years (1977-1992) worked as an artist-designer in the Primorsky branch of the Art Fund of the RSFSR. In particular, he specialized in designing and sketching interiors, chasing, monumental painting, and easel graphics.
The artist works fruitfully both in painting and in graphics. But it is in the graphics that he is most organic, and it is in the graphics that his recognizable handwriting was formed. The works of Yury Aksyonov remind old frescoes. They are laconic, the figures are majestic and calm, and faces are distinguished by large, regular features.
Read more »