Soviet artist Viktor Mikhailovich Oreshnikov 1904-1987

Portrait of actress Lyudmila Chursina. 1980. Painting by Soviet artist Viktor Mikhailovich Oreshnikov (20 January 1904 – 15 March 1987)

Soviet artist Viktor Mikhailovich Oreshnikov
Born 20 January 1904 in Perm, Oreshnikov – Soviet painter, teacher, and master of portrait. Candidate of Art History (1937), Corresponding member of the Academy of Arts of the USSR (1947) and Doctor of Art History (1948). Besides, he was the winner of the Stalin Prize of the third degree (1948) for the painting “VI Lenin at the exam at the Petersburg University” (1947). In addition, the winner of the Stalin Prize of the third degree (1950) for the painting “At the headquarters of the defense of Petrograd” (1949). Academician of the Academy of Arts of the USSR (1954) and People’s Artist of the USSR (1969).
First, Oreshnikov received an art education in the Perm Art College (1924). Next, in 1927 he graduated from the Leningrad Higher Art and Technical Institute, and Academy of Arts (1933-1936). Noteworthy, his teachers were prominent Soviet masters Konstantin Petrov-Vodkin and I. I. Brodsky.

Iosif Stalin, portrait. 1948. State Russian Museum. St. Petersburg

Meanwhile, in 1930-1987 he taught at the Leningrad Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture of IE Repin. He directed the creative workshop of painting (since 1954), since 1952 – the head of the department of painting and composition, and in 1953-77 – rector, professor.

A great portraitist, he worked a lot in this genre. Meanwhile, a special place in his work take female images. Before us are always the personifications of femininity, they have grace and grace. And of course the muse, and the favorite model of the artist is his wife. In each model he found the features of an ideal harmonious and therefore eternal, beyond the changes of fashion, beauty.

Soviet artist Viktor Mikhailovich Oreshnikov

A girl with a book. 1955

The landscapes of the master breathe the desired harmony of the world order. Their main characters are light, air and sky. Here reign silence and peace. He was an artist who did not seek dramatic effects.
Personal exhibitions of the artist took place in Leningrad (1954, 1974, 1985) and Moscow (1975). His son Alexander Oreshnikov (1939) and granddaughter Olga Oreshnikova (1962) are also artists.
Viktor Mikhailovich died on March 15, 1987 (Leningrad). His works are in the State Tretyakov Gallery, the State Russian Museum, the Perm State Art Gallery, and the Perm Regional Museum.