She was born on the 3rd of June into a simple large family (Elena was the seventh child) in Chuguev in Kharkiv, which was then part of the Russian Empire. Her mother, Pelagia Trofimovna, was a peasant; her father, Andrei Stepanovich Pastukhov, just like her grandfather, worked as a lifeguard at Siversky Donets. Her parents sang in the choir of the Intercession Cathedral, where Elena was baptized and where she, a deeply religious person from childhood, admired ancient icons. After the Civil War, the hectare of the Pastukhovs’ estate was equally divided into vegetable gardens and her father became a mercenary watchman on his own land. The girl chilled her legs in childhood, picking up white clay from a river to create paints from it, mixing it with herbal juice. She did not attend school because of that, studied with her elder siblings at home and remembered, “my father taught me alphabet at home”.
1915 - 2013
Elena Volkova
description
A Russian self-taught artist of Ukrainian origin, one of the most prominent and world famous representatives of amateur art. Elena Volkova was the first naïve artist, whose personal exhibition was held at the State Tretyakov Gallery (December 2005 – January 2006), when she was alive. Valentin Volkov, the artist’s son, initiated and opened her private museum in Moscow. Volkova’s name is included in the English and American Encyclopedias of naïve art.
Key ideas:
– E. Volkova often said to art experts and the press that happy childhood is always on her mind. Although she called each next canvas with the name of the place where her destiny brought her (“Siberian Beauty”, “Gray Wolf on the Moscow River”, “People’s Party on the Irtysh”), she still depicted her Siversky Donets, Chuguev neighbors and relatives, fish caught by her grandfather, animals from the tales of her mother and those who lived at their farmstead. That was her personal paradise; however, any viewer can understand it due to its simplicity and joyfulness.
– Unlike many naïve artists not too painstakingly working on the painting, Volkova took much time to create her works, applying brushstrokes of different shades and ensuring that everything became “alive”. It was not figuratively, but literally. She said that as soon as the deer pushes away the brush with its hoof, she might stop painting it. When painting water, she carefully looked at it. Water has different colors; so, if it started flowing and shining, you can stop painting it.
– The artist’s favourite plot was fish and water. Volkova’s fish is as multi-valued space symbol, as that of Matisse or of nonconformists (for example, for D. Pavlinsky, it was a cross-cutting image). A very large fish crosses the canvas diagonally; above, there is the sky with realistic flowers; there are water lilies and small fish below. So free placement of objects is found both in children’s drawing and in paintings by sophisticated avant-garde artists. This is Volkova’s natural talent, which she received without many years of work and without mastering the rules of painting and image systems.
– Experiencing the world of people and animals as a paradise garden, Volkova naturally moves into the space of universal agreement of everything with everything. According to her, everyone has his own role, color and character and, thus, its own place in the painting. At the same time, she claims that she does not need a model to draw from, as she remembers everyone.
– The artist had an amazing technology – she saw the pictures ready. They “swam by” in her mind; it was not even while she slept. She drew the main contours on the clean paper sheet, and then began to carefully “make them alive” – not matter whether it was a big beast or a small grape. She preferred oil paints, because they took time to dry, so that she could correct what she was painting. Thus, it turned out to be what one could not even dream about – the painting created itself.
– Art experts were impressed by her phrase, “I just want the apple to become round, I touch it and I make sure that the brush goes behind the apple.” So, she was so much inside the painting that her consciousness was in the direct contact with the world she was creating, making it reality. Perhaps, it was only a result of her true love for any blade or stone, for all living. Volkova had no anger, but fully accepted the world.
1915
1930
1940
1950 - 1960
1970
1974 - 1976
1980
1990
2000
2013
The artist was born
She studied according to the educational program and completed accounting courses in Kupyansk
She studied according to the educational program and completed accounting courses in Kupyansk. Worked as an accountant assistant. In 1932 she married Nikolai Ivanovich Volkov (died in 1942). She worked as an assistant projectionist.
She worked at the military hospital
She worked at the military hospital and was evacuated together with it to Voronezh, then to Yalta. In 1947, her son Valentin was born. Soon she returned to Kharkiv to the house of her parents.
She lived in Chuguev
She lived in Chuguev, continued to paint. In 1963, Kharkov artist V. Yermilov, an elder of the Ukrainian avant-garde, approved and purchased her painting. She also met other Kharkiv artists – L. Kuznetsov and V. Bakhchanyan, who provided support in her studies. Her attempts to present her works in Chuguev, Kharkov and Kiev were unsuccessful.
She lived in Omsk
Thanks to her Chuguev compatriot D. Zhuravlev, Moscow specialists, in particular, prominent art historian M. Alpatov, saw her paintings. For five years, she lived in Omsk, where her first solo exhibition was held in 1973.
Participated in the All-Union Exhibition for the first time
Participated in the All-Union Exhibition for the first time. After 2 years, she became successful – the artist became the winner of the All-Union exhibition “Glory to Labor!” and was soon invited to the workshop of amateur artists in Old Ladoga.
Her paintings were exhibited at six All-Union exhibitions
Her paintings were exhibited at six All-Union exhibitions; her solo exhibitions were held in Suzdal (1985, Museum at the Monastery of Saint Euthymius), at the halls of the Museum of folk art (Moscow, 1988). An article about the artist is included in the World Encyclopedia of Naive Art, published in London in 1984; several significant publications about her appeared in the magazines “Artist”, “Spark”, “Art”.
A permanent exhibition of her works was opened at the gallery of naïve art “Dar”
A permanent exhibition of her works was opened at the gallery of naïve art “Dar”; apart from several domestic exhibitions, she exhibited her works at the International art fair “Art-Myth” (1991), at the exhibition “Moscow-Berlin” and at the Charlotte Zander Museum (1999, Bönigheim, Germany). Articles on her work were published in large magazines “Folk art” (in 1990 and 1995), “Ochag”, etc.
“Peace to all!”
Her personal exhibition “Peace to all!” was held at the Moscow Museum of Modern Art in 2001; from 14 December 2005 to 15 January 2006 her retrospective personal exhibition was held at the Tretyakov Gallery.
On October 8, the artist died in Moscow
On October 8, the artist died in Moscow. She was buried in the cemetery “Rakitki”. Due to the efforts of the artist’s son, Valentin Volkov, a private museum of Elena Volkova exists in Moscow.