Soviet art painter Maya Andreevna Korotkova

Self-portrait. Oil on canvas. 1962. Soviet art painter Maya Andreevna Korotkova

Soviet art painter Maya Andreevna Korotkova – Member of the USSR Union of Artists.
Maya Korotkova was born in 1925. Since childhood, drawing was a constant need for her, and a vital necessity. After the war, she graduated from the Leningrad Art College. As a thesis Maya Andreevna chose a thematic painting “Meeting of V.Belinsky with M. Lermontov.” And her further training skills continued at the Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture named after Repin. Here her teachers were V.M.Oreshnikov and AA Mylnikov. Her thesis painting “At the festival” was a success. The main Soviet magazines, such as “Ogonyok”, “Youth” and “Rabotnitsa” immediately published reproductions of this work.
Works by Korotkova in 60s-70s characterize her as a bright representative of socialist realism art. At that time, she has traveled around the country with creative trips. Paintings, dedicated to rural themes, created during a trip to the farm “Comintern” of Sumy region: “Poultry farm”, “Milk farm”, “Shepherds on the farm”, and others. The portraits of farmers are very interesting. Contrasting shade, tanned faces, the transmission of sunlight, and major mood characterize these works.

A girl at the mirror. Portrait of artist Lena Gerasimova. Oil, canvas. 1984. Soviet art painter Maya Andreevna Korotkova

Since 1972, Korotkova constantly lives in Moscow. She often visited the Houses of creativity in Tarusa and Academic dacha in Vyshny Volochek, where she worked fruitfully, and painted a lot of landscapes of central Russia, still lifes and portraits. These paintings include still lifes “Potatoes”, “Autumn Still Life”, “Still Life with Watermelon”, and “Apples. Tarusa.”

Srazhdin Batyrov. Artist from Daghestan. 1979. Oil on canvas

In the Houses of creativity, Maya Andreevna meets with her colleagues. Returning to Moscow, she always brought a series of portraits of contemporaries and artists of younger generations. Among them, of particular interest is a portrait of 28-year-old artist from Dagestan Srazhdin Batyrov. The portrait was painted in 1979. Twelve years later the artist tragically died. He was forty years old. And during his lifetime, his name was surrounded by legends.

In the collection “Painting” of Dolgoprudny History and Art Museum 126 works of MA Korotkova represent her work from the 1950s to the 1990s. In today’s world of ever-growing interest in the Soviet art, which prominent representative is Soviet art painter Korotkova. Unfortunately, her name is not widely known. Her work is waiting for its art-researcher who is sure to be rewarded by the discovery of a new, until now, remaining in the modest shade name.