Soviet Art

Caucasian. 1979. Oil on canvas. Soviet Russian painter Viktor Ladeyschikov (born 1928, Sverdlovsk – died 1987, Kiev, the USSR)

Soviet Russian painter Viktor Ladeyschikov
Born in the village of Istok of Sverdlovsk region, Russia, Viktor Leonidovich graduated from the Sverdlovsk Art College (1950). Later, he moved to the Ukraine, where he entered the Kiev Art Institute, from which he graduated in 1956. He studied in the workshops of master of Soviet Art K. Trokhimenko and participated in republic art exhibitions while still a student. The same 1956 Ladeyschikov participated in All Union exhibitions of Soviet art and became the member of the USSR Union of Artists. Socialist realism artist, he worked mostly in the field of easel painting, and in particular, genre painting.
He created several paintings dedicated to social life. The artist’s works are in many regional museums of Russia and Ukraine and in private collections in Russia, as well as in England, Germany, Spain, and Japan. Works of the artist are very rare in the art market.

Read more »

New Settlers. Oil on canvas. 1965. Soviet Belarusian artist Mai Dantsig (27 April, 1930 – 26 March, 2017)

Soviet Belarusian artist Mai Dantsig 1930-2017

The passion for bright large canvases, life-affirming pathos, publicism are characteristic of the work of Mai Danzig. The artist perceives reality as if on a widescreen scale and speaks with the viewer in full force of voice and in full measure of emotions. Even the names of his paintings sounded exalted: “The Soligorsk land is rumbling”, “Belarus is the mother of the partisans” …
Danzig began with sketches, genre scenes and portraits. He painted the secluded corners of Minsk against the background of the sky with white clouds reminiscent of flying sails. He deployed on the canvases the prospects of squares and quarters with cranes, created a series of picturesque reports from the new buildings of the republic.
In the painting “New settlers” the artist clearly pretends to cause in the viewer complex associations. In the smiles and poses of his heroes, in the spaciousness of a freshly painted room, not cluttered with things of sustainable well-being, he seeks to express not so much the joy of a young family who has received a new apartment, but the bright and solemn feelings of the builders of a new life.
Read more »

Geese-swans. 1970s. Lithography. Soviet graphic artist Vladimir Bendinger (1924-2012)

Soviet graphic artist Vladimir Bendinger
Born April 14, 1924 in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Vladimir showed his art abilities in early childhood. However, the war years prevented him from studying art, Yet, after the end of the war, in 1948 he entered the Leningrad Artistic and Pedagogical School, from which he graduated in 1953. Vladimir studied at the workshops of famous Soviet artists Vladimir Sudakov and G.A. Shakh.
Noteworthy, Vladimir began participating in exhibitions of Soviet art in 1948, when he still was a student. A member of the Leningrad and the USSR Union of Artists (1974), he mostly worked in print techniques of linocut and woodcut. Traditionally, the main themes in creativity of Bendinger – nature and landscapes of his country.
Vladimir Adolfovich Bendinger died in 2012 in St. Petersburg.
Read more »

Self-portrait. Soviet artist Vasily Prokofievich Yefanov (November 23, 1900 – March 3, 1978)

Soviet artist Vasily Prokofievich Yefanov (1900-1978) was a master of the ceremonial portrait, communist (since 1954), and five-time winner of the Stalin Prize (1941, 1946, 1948, 1950, 1952). Besides, a full member of the Academy of Arts of the USSR (1947) and People’s Artist of the USSR (1965). For his 50 years of artistic life, Yefanov has created a gallery of portraits of his contemporaries. His paintings entered the treasury of Soviet art. The master of the portrait and the teacher, Yefanov brought up a whole galaxy of young talented Soviet artists who took a prominent place in Soviet art.
Born on 23rd November 1900 in Samara, he studied at the local Art and Industrial College (1917-1921). After unsuccessful attempts to enter the Petrograd Free Art Workshops (the former Academy of Arts) and the Moscow Higher Artistic and Technical Workshops (Vhutemas), in 1922 he moved to Moscow. There he studied at the studios of AE Arkhipov (1922) and DN Kardovsky (1922-1926).
Read more »

Soviet canned goods. Oil on canvas. Still life. 1939. Soviet Russian painter Boris Yakovlev (17.09.1890-08.12.1972)

Soviet Russian painter Boris Yakovlev (17.09.1890-08.12.1972) was a Corresponding Member of the Academy of Arts of the USSR (1958). A Member of the Association of Artists of Revolutionary Russia, he acted as one of its organizers (1922).
Born in Moscow, Yakovlev graduated from the Moscow University (1917), and then – School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. He studied in the workshop of A.M. Vasnetsov and A.S. Stepanova (1918), and also his teachers were S.V. Malyutin and A.E. Arkhipov. Mentors of the young artist were representatives of Russian realistic art. From them, Yakovlev perceived the remarkable national traditions of landscape painting. Master of lyrical landscape, he became the founder of the Soviet industrial landscape. His famous works on the topic of industrialization of the country – “Transport is getting better”, 1923 and the lyrical landscape “Arable land”, 1950s.
Since 1916 he began to participate in exhibitions. Since 1922 – a participant in exhibitions of the CPX. In 1921, the artist exhibited with the group “World of Art”. Yakovlev’s paintings were present at the exhibitions “Artists of the Russian Federation for 15 years”, “Industry of Socialism”, All-Union art exhibitions,
Read more »

After milking. 1970. Oil on canvas. Painting by Soviet Ukrainian artist Mikhail Antonchik (15 June, 1921 – 8 July, 1998)

Soviet Ukrainian artist Mikhail Antonchik (15 June, 1921 – 8 July, 1998) – member of the USSR Union of artists (1950), Honored Artist of the USSR (1970), People’s Artist of the USSR (1982). He studied in the Kiev State Art Institute (1944-1950), workshops of Soviet artists A. Petritsky and K. Eleva. The artist mostly worked in the field of easel painting and began exhibiting in 1949.

Mikhail Vladislavovich Antonchik is the author of lyrical paintings on rural themes, posters, and portraits. In particular, “Portrait of the milkmaid K. Koshevaya”, “The Peace Will Win”, “Youth”, “Holiday in the village of Morintsy”, “Poem about a Woman”, “Golden Age”, “My teachers”, “Morning”, “The owner of his native land. Twice Hero of Socialist Labor F. Zhelyuk” (1975), and others. Representative of Soviet school of socialist realism, Mikhail Vladislavovich died on July 8, 1998 in Kiev. His works are in the National Art Museum and other museums of Ukraine and Russia, as well as in private collections in Europe and US.
Read more »

Frontier Guard returned (1948). Oil on canvas. Painting by Soviet Turkmen artist Yakub Annanurov (1916-2002)

Soviet Turkmen artist Yakub Annanurov – member of the USSR Union of artists, Honored worker of arts of the Turkmen SSR, laureate of the State Prize named after Makhtum-Kuli. Among the most notable works of Annanurov – Frontier Guard returned (1948), News from the front (1946), At the maternity hospital (1947), Shepherds (1946), Kurbandyaga (1941). Besides, the artist created a gallery of his contemporaries and notable people of the time – “People’s Artist of the Turkmen SSR laureate of the Stalin Prize Alty Karliev” (1949), Honored Artist of the Turkmen SSR Annagul Annakulieva (1949), Hero of Socialist Labor Ata Karryev (1949), Hero of Socialist Labor of Alta Nazarov (1946), etc.
The leadership of the country did not forget the people who started building Turkmenistan’s independence and preserved culture and art. Ya. Annanurov was awarded posthumously, according to the Presidential Decree.

Read more »