Soviet Art

Ilya Rakhnaev (1934-2003). Cotton growers of collective farm ‘Tajikistan’. 1975. Oil on canvas. Gallery of paintings by Soviet Tajik artists

Gallery of paintings by Soviet Tajik artists
This post features creativity of three Soviet Tajik artists, members of the Union of Artists of the USSR. In particular, Ilya Rakhnaev (1934-2003), Sukhrob Kerbanov (1946-2016) and Abdurakhmon Rakhimov (1933-2000).
The author of the above painting – Ilya Rakhnaev, a member of the Union of Artists of the USSR, the main artist of Dushanbe, and the head artist at the Art Fund of Tajikistan.
Born in 1934 in Tashkent, he successfully graduated from the theatrical art institute and began his creative career in the art fund of Tajikistan. The thirst for knowledge, the desire to see the world and depict what he saw in his paintings, prompted the artist to travel a lot. He creates a series of drawings and sketches depicting the life of the peoples of Central Asia, towns and villages, fortresses and historical monuments. Also, colorful portraits of Uzbeks, Tajiks, Kazakhs, Kirghiz, Gypsies, Jews and other representatives of the East.
Ilya Rakhnaev died suddenly in 2003 in Austria, and buried in the Jewish cemetery in Vienna.
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Artist Faik Agayev (born 1943, Baku). Evening over the Kaspian sea. 1979. Paintings by Soviet Azerbaijan artists

Paintings by Soviet Azerbaijan artists
Born in 1943 in Baku, Faik Agayev very early realized that he wanted to devote his life to painting. First, he studied at the Azim Azimzade Art College, and then moved to the capital of the USSR, Moscow. He entered the famous Surikov Institute, which at that time was considered to the most important and best art university in the USSR. It was at that time that he first presented his works for public viewing in the framework of the “Exhibition of Young Artists”. However, in the mid-90s, after the collapse of the USSR, he, like many of his colleagues, moved to Turkey, because he couldn’t earn much on his art those times. Thus, since 1996 F. Agayev lives in Bursa and teaches painting at Uludag University.
The Soviet state propagated the development of national art and encouraged the revival of various forms of national decorative creativity. Noteworthy, the officials freed the Islamic regions from the religious ban on realistic art.
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Fyodor Vasilievich Savostyanov (1924-2012). Kinder garten, 1951. Diploma work at the USSR Academy of Arts. One-picture artists Soviet art gallery

One-picture artists Soviet art gallery
This post features paintings of the various Soviet artists, and the above picture, in particular, belongs to Fedor Vasilyevich Savostyanov (December 23, 1924 – April 2, 2012). He was a Russian Soviet painter, Honored Artist of the Russian Federation, and member of the the Leningrad organization of the Union of Artists of the RSFSR.
Born 23 December 1924 in the Bryansk region, he studied at the Odessa Art College. At the age of 17 he volunteered for the front. He fought at Stalingrad, Southern, 4th Ukrainian and 2nd Ukrainian fronts. Wounded three times, he received the Order of the Patriotic War of the 2nd degree, medals “For Courage”, “For the Taking of Budapest”, and “For Victory over Germany”.
After demobilization he entered the Leningrad Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture of I. Repin. He studied in the workshops of Leonid Ovsyannikov, Boris Vogel, Alexander Zaitsev and Boris Ioganson. Participated in exhibitions since 1954. Mainly he painted portraits, landscapes, genre and battle paintings. The works of Fyodor Vasilyevich Savostyanov are in the Russian Museum, the Tretyakov Gallery, in museums and private collections in Russia, Japan, Spain, Ukraine, France and other countries.
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Vladimir Ulyanov (born in 1933, Yaroslavl). My land. 1981. Oil on canvas. One-picture gallery paintings by Soviet artists

One-picture gallery paintings by Soviet artists
The author of the first picture in the gallery of paintings of various Soviet artists – Vladimir Ulyanov. Born October 30, 1933 in Kostroma, he grew up on the Volga. Vladimir’s father was a skipper on a barge and dreamed of seeing his son as captain. However, Vladimir dreamed to become an artist and began to learn painting. First, he studied in the Yaroslavl Art College (1949 -1954), workshop of Soviet artist G.A. Daryin. According to Ulyanov, there he achieved confidence in his skill and defended his diploma with honors.
For several years (1954 -1967) Ulyanov taught at the Yaroslavl Children’s Art School N1. He created a series of portraits of children and adolescents – Yunnatka 1965, Sanka 1970, Our Son 1978, and others. Since the mid-1950s, Ulyanov became a regular participant of not only regional, but also many large and diverse exhibitions: republican, all-Union and international. In addition, his works were exhibited abroad (France, Germany, Great Britain, China, Finland, etc.), and reproduced in various printed publications.
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Memory. 1983. Autolithography. V.S. Vilner. Soviet graphic artists Illustrations and drawings

Soviet graphic artists Illustrations and drawings
First of all, the Soviet graphics – a big era, which refers to the period from 1917 to 1991. Also, it includes post-revolutionary, pre-war, military (1941-1945), post-war, thaw (1960s), and stagnation (1980s) periods. Traditionally, the graphics itself realized itself in various forms – illustration, portraits, prints, ex-libris, emblems, drafts of banknotes, stamps, etc. In addition to engraving, traditional types of graphics continued to exist – pencil, charcoal, and pastel.
Numerous portraits of Lenin, the workers, determined to fulfill the plan, occupied prominent places on the pages of newspapers and magazines. But graphic art is diverse, from a newspaper drawing to a book illustration, made in classical techniques of pencil, coal; and subtle, refined color harmonies of watercolors, gouaches and pastels.
Meanwhile, in graphic art appeared a unique image, a personal beginning, caused by the desire for a comprehensive depth of analysis of spiritual processes in the life of modern man. The development of author’s techniques is evidence of the complication of the figurative system in the work of this or that artist.
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Various types of passenger cars and trucks. Photos from “The Soviet Union” magazine #37, 1953. The Soviet Union automobile industry

The Soviet Union automobile industry in 1953

The appearance of an article on various types of passenger cars and trucks that the USSR produced was welcomed by foreign readers of the magazine “The Soviet Union”. In particular, the article of the prominent Soviet scientist Academician E. Chudakov and several photographs showing the production.
The automobile industry of the USSR can rightfully be called the offspring of Soviet power. In tsarist Russia there was no automobile industry, except for attempts to organize the production of cars at the Russo-Baltic plant – an attempt that ended in failure: for 6 years this enterprise produced … 450 cars.
However, created in the Soviet Union a new branch of industry, the enterprises of which, for example, in 1937, produced more than 200,000 cars, overtaking England, France and Germany in truck production. In the same year 1937, the USSR’s road transport by tonnage of the cargo transported was ahead of the railway transport. The growth of road freight transportation continues at a very fast pace.
Noteworthy, the motorization of the Soviet Union was carried out in an extremely short time. In the first years after the Great October Socialist Revolution, the general state of industry made it impossible to seriously raise the question of automobile production on a scale corresponding to the needs of the national economy. First of all, there was no necessary metallurgical base. Nevertheless, a small production of cars started. And the Moscow plant AMO produced the first Soviet cars, the one-and-a-half-ton cargo brands AMO-F-15, in 1924.
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The Soviet Union, 1953 magazine. Photo B. Utkin. The Soviet female vocal ensemble Fyodorov Sisters on the stage

Soviet female vocal ensemble Fyodorov Sisters
In March 1953, along with a report on the death of Stalin, the magazine “The Soviet Union” published this photo and an enthusiastic article about the Fedorov sisters. The natives of the village of Stary Borok of the Pskov region, Sisters Fyodorovs – Soviet female vocal ensemble, performers of Russian folk songs, who created their band in the mid-1940s. In particular, the sisters Ekaterina (born in 1924), Nina (born 1926), Ninel (born 1928), and Anastasia (born 1931) Ivanovna Fedorova. After three years of concert performances, since 1948 the band has become a professional ensemble. In addition, the youngest of the sisters – Galina Ivanovna Fedorova joined the quartet in 1955.
However, because of Ninel Fedorova, who emigrated to Switzerland in 1972, the ensemble’s performances ceased. Emigration caused the ban on broadcasting the ensemble’s records on radio and television. Radio funds of the country received an unspoken instruction about the destruction of all phonograms of the Fedorov sisters. In addition, at the same time, a rumor was launched about the death of the entire ensemble in the plane crash. The fans soon forgot the names of the sisters and their further performances were possible only in rural clubs of the Leningrad region.
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