Soviet Art

Traveler. 1974. Painting by Soviet Yakut painter Afanasy Osipov (28 February 1928 — 11 September 2017)

Soviet Yakut painter Afanasy Osipov
Born in 1928 in Ergit nasleg of Yakutia, Afanasy Osipov was People’s Artist of the RSFSR, Honored artist of Yakut ASSR, member of the USSR Union of Artists since 1956. The winner of the Yakut Komsomol Award, and corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Arts. In 1955 he graduated from the painting department of the Moscow State Institute named after VI Surikov, which he entered in 1949, after finishing Art School at the same institute. He was awarded the Order of Red Banner of Labor, the medal “For Valiant Labor” in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Lenin’s birth.
Noteworthy, in the sixties of the last century, in Yakutia has formed a creative group of leading painters. For the next decade they created many paintings that enriched the perspective of the modern fine arts of the republic. They widened the theme of the native land, which now sounds in a new way, deeper and fuller, often in close conjugation with the past and the future.
Read more »

Soviet Kirghiz sculptor Turgunbai Sadykov working on the statue ‘Liberty’

Soviet Kirghiz sculptor Turgunbai Sadykov – Member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1973), winner of the Lenin Prize (1980), Corresponding Member (1979), USSR Academy of Arts, academician (1988), People’s Artist of the Kirghiz SSR and the USSR (1986), Hero of Socialist Labor (1991), rector of the National Academy of Arts of the Kirghiz Republic (4 October 2010), Hero of Kyrgyzstan (1997). From 1985 to 1990 he was a Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Kirghiz SSR. Turgunbai Sadykov was born November 4, 1935 in the village of Govsuvar, Osh oblast, Kirghiz SSR. From an early age he was lucky for kind and sensitive teachers. The first school teacher noticed and always encouraged the talent of Sadykov. He was constantly busy with painting, sculpture, carving in a boarding school, where he was after his mother’s death …
Read more »

Glorification of labor in Soviet art. Yuri Mikhailovich Neprintsev (August 15, 1909 – October 20, 1996). Metro builders – drifters, 1959

Glorification of labor in Soviet art
Any work in the Soviet times was held in high esteem, and proletarian enjoyed not less respect than office worker. To be a worker was beneficial, prestige and promising in the USSR. Without workers – turners, millers, welders – Soviet production would not have reached such high results. It is the working class of the Soviet Union kept the industry. Labor heroes were at the same level as movie stars, if not higher. They were often invited to television programs, interviewed, their portraits decorated magazine covers, about them were filmed documentaries and feature films. Not surprisingly, the theme of workers has been widely reflected in the works of famous artists, and to draw the heroes of socialist labor was an honorable thing.
Read more »

Soviet actress Natalia Belokhvostikova

Soviet actress Natalia Belokhvostikova (born July 28, 1951, Moscow, USSR) – Honored Artist of the RSFSR, the winner of two State Prizes of the USSR (1971, 1985). She is the youngest winner of the State Prize of the USSR in age to obtain it in the history of national cinema (she was 19). A young Moscow schoolgirl has dreamed about the career of an actress from early childhood. She, after the ninth grade, managed to prove her right to study in the All-Union State Institute of Cinematography. Natalia graduated from high school in parallel with studies at the institute. So, Natasha began to rise to her profession, the profession of an actress … The event, which largely determined her creative life, was the meeting with SA Gerasimov. Coryphaeus of Soviet cinema, Gerasimov trained several generations of actors and directors, he not only taught his students the basics of skill, but also helped to apply their knowledge in practice.
Read more »

This portrait of Soviet artist Mirel Shaginyan (1918 – 2012) was painted by Aleksander Deineka in 1944

Soviet artist Mirel Shaginyan (May 17, 1918 – February 24, 2012) – painter, member of the Union of Artists of the USSR. Her mother, Marietta Shaginyan (1888-1982) was a famous Russian writer, one of the first science fiction writers in the Soviet Union. Mirel’s father – Yakov Hachatryants was a teacher of Nakhichevan seminary. Mirel’s first school was Russian school in Armenia, and then she continued studying in Kislovodsk. In 1931 Shaginyan family moved to Moscow. In 1936, Mirel Shaginyan graduated from high school. During World War II she was evacuated to Sverdlovsk. In 1948 she graduated from the Moscow Art Institute of Surikov (class of Alexander Deineka). Mirel Shaginyan lived in Moscow (Arbat) and in Koktebel, the Crimea.
Read more »

Soviet artist Andrey Demykin. Self-portrait with a broken brush. 1982

Soviet artist Andrey Demykin (02.11.1951 – 15.02.1989) became aware of himself as an artist when he was twelve. At this age, he became acquainted with the famous graphic artist Lev Tokmakov who gave Andrey his watercolors and a brush. Andrey became interested. Andrey showed him his drawings. “You will be an artist, like no one else”, – Tokmakov said. These words became true very quickly. Originally, Andrey manifested himself in the first works – watercolors, oil, graphics, etchings. His spiritual vision like a scalpel cut the top layer of life, revealing the metaphysical essence of the world. Andrey graduated from the Art School, where his teacher was a great master, artist Michael Roginsky, but Andrey nevertheless at any time, at any age remained true to himself, like no one else.
Read more »

Soviet artist Tatyana Yablonskaya. Knitting

Soviet artist Tatyana Yablonskaya was People’s Artist of the USSR (1982), member of the Russian Academy of Arts (1992); full member of the USSR Academy of Arts (1975), winner of three of the USSR State Prize (1950, 1951, 1979), two medals of the Academy of Arts of the USSR. Same age as the October Socialist Revolution, Tatyana drew poetic, life-affirming paintings dedicated to the work and life of the Soviet people (“Bread” 1949; “Nameless heights”, 1969; “Len”, 1977). Tatiana was born February 24, 1917 in Smolensk, Russia. Her father, NA Yablonsky was a well-known Smolensky painter, graphic artist and a teacher of Russian literature.
Read more »