Socialist Realism

An outstanding Russian sculptor and graphic artist, who had earned the glory of “Russian Rodin” even before the revolution. Sergey Konenkov was a master of monumental compositions, portrait and plot genres, masterfully worked in wood, using folk carving techniques. As a portrait painter, he created a whole gallery of images of his contemporaries (F. Chaliapin, M. Gorky, S. Rachmaninov, A. Dovzhenko, K. Tsiolkovsky, V. Mayakovsky, S. Yesenin), compatriot writers (I. Turgenev, F. Dostoevsky, L. Tolstoy, Saltykov-Shchedrin). His outstanding monuments to A.S. Pushkin, V.I. Surikov and others are also known.Sergey Timofeevich lived and worked in the United States of America for more than 20 years, mainly in New York. To order of the Princeton University Administration, in 1935, he created a bust of the great scientist Albert Einstein, with whom he was friends; later he created Einstein’s full-length sculpture.During the war, the sculptor was an active member of the American Committee for Russian Assistance. In 1945, a ship was chartered for Konenkov and his works by order of Stalin.The sculptor, who became a full member of the Academy of Arts in the pre-revolutionary 1916, after returning to his homeland, became an academician, People's Artist of the USSR, Hero of Socialist Labor, and an honorary citizen of the city of Smolensk and laureate of state prizes.The sculptures and drawings of the master are in the leading museums of Russia, in several museums and government agencies in the United States and other countries of the world. Works are constantly exhibited at the memorial Moscow House Museum “Creative Workshop of Konenkov”, and the Smolensk Museum of Sculpture opened at the insistence of the artist, who gave a large collection of works to his native city.

A Russian sculptor-muralist, master of the portrait genre in marble and bronze, professor, an author of theoretical works on monumental art.The natural talent allowed Vuchetich to become one of the most prominent representatives of "Soviet classicism", whose works are known in many countries of the world. He was repeatedly awarded the Grand Prix of international exhibitions; his merits were evaluated by six USSR state awards, as well as the J. Nehru Prize.The sculptor was awarded medals and orders (including as a participant in the Great Patriotic War), was Vice-President of the Academy of Arts; he became a Hero of Socialist Labor and People's Artist of the USSR. In his works, Yevgeny Vuchetich depicted the most significant events in the history of his country; the images of his works symbolize the military and labour heroism of the people. Such subjects determined the dramatic nature of his creations, which, however, always were life-affirming.The most significant in scale are his sculptural ensembles in Berlin Treptower Park and on the Volgograd Mamaev Kurgan. The sculpture "Motherland Calls" was inscribed as the tallest non-religious statue in the world in the Guinness Book of Records.

A Russian sculptor-muralist, master of the portrait genre, as well as the author of innovative household plastics - vases, glasses, glass figurines.The sculptor taught by prominent Russian and Parisian masters preferred the monumental genre and introduced some techniques of cubism and futurism into the sculpture. She became famous for her impressive monuments, the main of which is “Worker and Collective Farm Girl”, for which the author was awarded the Grand Prix at the International Exhibition in Paris. She also won the Venice Biennale.Over the years, the artist was a member of the art associations "Monolith", "Four Arts", the Society of Russian sculptors, the "Team of Eight", became an academician and got the title of People's Artist of the USSR.The sculptor created dozens of portraits of war heroes, scientists, artists, in which the image of outstanding people is realistic and emotional.Vera Ignatyevna was awarded the USSR State Prize five times for individual works, orders and medals not only in her country. She taught at the sculptural faculties of several educational institutions, was an author of theoretical articles on monumental sculpture.The Vera Mukhina Museum was opened in Feodosia, where she lived for a long time; a crater on Venus was named in her honour.

A famous artist (painter and graphic artist), art theorist, talented teacher, a prominent figure in the cultural process of the first quarter of the 20th century. A native of Russia, Viktor Palmov is rightly considered a classic of the Ukrainian avant-garde. The artist developed his theory of "colorization" and was the author of several articles on the problems of the theory of new painting, published in the magazine "New Generation". The master’s works were among those “arrested” and were banned from showing at galleries and museums on a par with the canvases of A. Bogomazov, D. Burliuk, A. Exter, and “Boychukists”.

A Russian painter, master of landscape, art theorist and art critic, theater artist. The artist’s creative career and personal life were happy. He was successful from his student years, appreciated after the revolution, got various honours (prizes, orders, titles); he avoided all the persecutions that swept the country in waves. However, he was never an opportunist – the painter worked in his manner and mainly on “his” themes – landscapes and architecture, paying much less attention to plot and portrait painting.The style of Konstantin Yuon, close to realism and moderate impressionism, acquired a certain colour either of symbolism or of primitivism, but always remained “living” and genuine.Numerous works of the master are in the collections of large Russian museums and galleries; they are presented at regional and former republican museums of the post-Soviet territory.

A Russian artist, an illegitimate son of famous landscape painter-wanderer Alexei Savrasov. Alexey Morgunov was at the center of the creative events and artistic ideas of the Russian avant-garde in the first two and a half decades of the 20th century, but subsequently completely abandoned it.The artist was an active member and exhibitor of the Moscow Association of Artists, Youth Union, Jack of Diamonds, became a participant in such landmark exhibitions as Tram V, Shop (Petrograd), Moscow Salon, and The World of Art, Fifth State Exhibition of Paintings in Moscow, etc.Morgunov was a close friend of Malevich. Together they invented different shocking events for Futurists. He was a regular at Kracht's salon of intellectuals; was fond of the theories of M. Larionov and N. Goncharova, working both in neo-primitivistic and cubo-futuristic manners. In terms of style of his early and late creative periods, he was the closest to French Fauvism.As a professor of painting, he taught at the State Free Workshops and was a member of the Objective Analysis group at the Institute of Artistic Culture. In the last decade of his creative career, moving away from the avant-garde, he created thematic paintings that are close to the style and meet the spirit of socialist realism.

An outstanding Ukrainian artist Alexander Osmerkin was a member of the “Jack of Diamonds” art group, many other associations and groups, worked as a professor of painting at several higher art educational institutions and headed a personal workshop. In the 1940s, he came under the definition of “formalist” and “propagandist of Western art”, was dismissed from the Academy. He was forbidden to execute orders, exhibit and sell his works. Accepting the merits and talent of the master, the graduates of his workshop held the exhibition “In Memory of the Teacher”. An art and memorial museum was opened in the city of Kropyvnytskyi, the homeland of the artist, in the mansion where Osmerkin’s childhood passed; one prize is awarded in his name.

A Georgian artist, graphic artist and master of scenography, as well as an art historian, inventor and teacher. David Kakabadze was an innovator not only in the field of fine arts but also in cinematography, who patented a film apparatus for volumetric shooting. His work is characterized by love for various European modern trends and by both a commitment to national themes and traditions and a distinctive interpretation of avant-garde art movements of the 20th century. The painter left a rich artistic legacy. The largest collection of his paintings belongs to the national museums and galleries of Georgia.

A Ukrainian avant-garde artist, painter and designer, an active and prominent participant in various latest art movements and groups of the 1910-1920s of the 20th century. He is often referred to as “Ukrainian Picasso” in art history. He was the author and designer of such innovative projects at that time as book and propaganda vans, prefabricated kiosks and advertising stands. He worked productively in industrial graphics, developing design for packaging, factory and brand names and so on. Being engaged in the processing of fonts, he created new original styles. He wrote many easel paintings in the genres of landscape and portrait, and also painted covers for avant-garde magazines and books. Yermylov can be called an associate member of the activities of El Lissitzky and Alexander Rodchenko; he was a friend of Vladimir Mayakovsky, Velemir Khlebnikov and Vasily Kamensky. The post-revolutionary development of art in Kharkov is often called the “Yermylov period” - he is deservedly considered the leader of the Ukrainian Constructivist school and a key figure in the country's avant-garde. The master’s works are, in addition to Ukrainian and Russian major museums of modern art, in galleries and museums in the USA, Germany, France, and are in demand at international auctions. In Kharkov, in 2012, the first center of contemporary art was opened, named "Yermylov Center" after the innovative artist.

Synopsis:A Russian painter and graphic artist, who officially called himself an artist-researcher. He was one of the famous leaders of the avant-garde in his country, a theorist and founder, as well as a practitioner and teacher of "analytical art", a unique reforming movement that had a significant impact on the artistic mindsets of many creators of the first half of the 20th century.Filonov brought elements of scientific knowledge into the vanguard movement and was engaged in combining different ways of knowing the world, relying on intuition. In fact, the artist, who had phenomenal abilities in abstracted thinking, developed a symbolic understanding of painting, the aim of which was to depict not only the object but also thoughts about it and the way of its transmission, that is, added self-reflection to symbolism.Filonov had many followers and imitators, but the strength of his original “accomplishment” was difficult to achieve. Filonov’s “analytical art”, which formed the symbolist branch in the Russian avant-garde, was in opposition to constructivism and suprematism and came close to the surrealistic motives of European modernism.The master’s works are popular in the art market and are constantly exhibited throughout the world. At the exhibition in the Paris center of G. Pompidou in 1990, eight works stolen from the Russian Museum were found; seven of them were returned after many years of negotiations.

Fedor Grigorevich Krychevsky was an outstanding Ukrainian painter, teacher and an active public figure, the first rector of the Ukrainian Academy of Arts; he was a professor at the Kiev Art Institute for many years, was awarded the title "Honored Artist of Ukraine" (1940).He was born into a family of a baptized Jew, a Zemstvo paramedic. He was one of eight children and grew up in the Ukrainian small village of Malaya Vorozhba (Kharkiv region) on the Psel River. The talent of Fedor, just like the talent of his elder brother Vasily (the future outstanding architect and artist), manifested itself early - he painted with coal, embroidered his own compositions, molded figures of clay. In the 1890s, the talented guy was noticed by Count V. Kapnist, in the estate of whom Fedor got acquainted with painting, could read books from a rich library, began to copy paintings from albums and original works of art.An example of Ukrainian Art Nouveau was Krychevsky’s monumental triptych "Life" (1925-1927), exhibited in Europe and the United States. Many prominent Ukrainian artists (the Kiev school) consider themselves students of Professor Krychevsky. The main works of the artist are in the permanent exposition of the National Art Museum of Ukraine.

Martiros Sergeevich (Sarkisovich) Saryan was a Russian and Armenian landscape painter, graphic artist and theater artist.He was born into an Armenian patriarchal family. In 1897-1904, he passed a course at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture.An active participant in the exhibitions of “Blue rose”, The Union of Russian artists, “The World of art”, the magazine “Gold Fleece", the association "Four Arts". The founder of the Academy of Arts in Armenia had a title of academician, People’s Artist of the USSR, Hero of social labor, was awarded state prizes. The creativity and activity of M. S. Saryan played a leading role in the formation of the national Armenian school of painting. The House-Museum of Martiros Saryan was opened in Yerevan.“Nature creates a man, in order to look at itself with its eyes, to enjoy its amazing beauty,” - said the artist about creativity.

A Ukrainian artist, painter and graphic artist. He was the founder of the monumental art of Ukraine, during the 20th century. He worked in the styles of Expressionism, primitivism and socialist realism. The teacher of the rural school where young Mykhaylo studied, noticing the talent of the guy, wrote about him in the newspaper with the goal of finding a mentor for the beginning artist. The artist from Lvov, Julian Pankevich, took Mykhaylo under the patronage. He taught him at his workshop, went with him for six months to Vienna to get acquainted with the museums. He was the leader of a group of like-minded people, called "boychukists" in the history of the fine arts. A member of the Scientific Society named after T. Shevchenko, Association of Revolutionary Art of Ukraine, one of the founders of the Ukrainian Academy of Arts. One of the representatives of the Executed Renaissance of Ukraine.

A Russian and Soviet painter, graphic artist and book illustrator, master of stage set and stage costume.He was born into a family of Peter Petrovich Konchalovsky, a hereditary nobleman, a writer, translator and publisher. In the 1890's, he studied at the Kharkov Art School, visited the evening classes of the Imperial Stroganov School of Art and Industry. After that, he studied at the private academy of Julian in Paris.Peter Petrovich Konchalovsky was one of the founders and active participants of the art association "Knave of Diamonds" and its chairman from 1911. He was also a member of the progressive art associations "Union of Youth" (since 1911), "The World of Art" (with interruptions until 1922), "Genesis" (in 1926-1927). He was an academician and full member of the Academy of Arts of the country, a laureate of prestigious awards.

A Romanian Impressionist (landscape, portrait, still-life) and a master of monumental paintings, the creator of the Romanian school of painting of the early 20th century.Born into the family of major Dumitru Luchian, who lived after resigning in the Botosani district, Stefanesti village.S. Luchian became one of the initiators of the Ileana Society of the dissemination of artistic taste in Romania and was an active participant of it. At the same time, the society published a magazine with the same name, for which the artist wrote articles on art criticism. S. Luchian received a high award - the Medalia Bene Merenti medal of the 1st class (1909).In 1981, a feature film was made about the life of S. Luchian.

Polish artist, outstanding painter and graphic artist Wojciech Weis is one of the key figures of Polish modernism. Wojciech began to study as an artist in Lviv. Then he attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow, at first as a free listener. Artist recognized and appreciated during his lifetime; he was a member of the Vienna Secession and the Society of Polish Artists, the professor and rector of the Cracow Academy of Fine Arts. The master had a huge influence on the development of Polish culture at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Despite all the titles and awards, Wojciech Weiss was in constant creative search, experimenting with a variety of techniques and trends in painting. The artist enriched Polish art with the latest European tendencies and contributed to the cultural rise of the country, which was called "Young Poland". The museum of the artist is opened in Krakow.

An outstanding Russian painter, portraitist and graphic artist, a singer of peasantry.The artist was born into a family of poor state peasants, who had many children. He started drawing early, copying icon-painting images at the age of four to five, later painted portraits of fellow villagers, sculpted figures from clay. He quickly learned to read and write from a retired sergeant major.The master of the peasant theme in a very temperamental and peculiarly variegated interpretation, Philip Malyavin became famous in Russia and abroad. The decorative-epic and very recognizable "Malyavinian" manner began with picture "Laughter", which became the diploma work of the graduate of the Academy and caused a scandal, and then was exhibited at the World Exhibition in 1900 in Paris, where it received "gold". Laughing peasant women in red, monstrously bright sarafans, put in the center against a background that is difficult to read, are performed pasty and with such a transfer of emotion that one cannot simply not smile. A member and participant of exhibitions of associations "World of Art", "Union of Russian Artists", the author of historically significant images of Lenin and his associates, painted from real life. As a talented portraitist, he left hundreds of paintings and drawings that convey the appearance of outstanding and significant personalities not only of Russia but also of Europe.

A Russian and Soviet painter, still-life master, landscape painter and portraitist, one of the founding members of the exhibition and art association "Jack of Diamonds", a member of the Society of Moscow Artists.Ilya was born into the family of "state peasants" engaged in petty trade. He was the oldest of nine children and had to start working at the age of 11.He worked in the styles of post-impressionism, fauvism, neo-primitivism, in the late period – in the style of postmodernism ("socialist realism").He was a member of the movement "The World of Art" (since 1916), the creative group "Moscow painters" (since 1925), and became an active member of the Association of Artists of Revolutionary Russia in 1924-1928. The fame of I. I. Mashkov spread beyond the European continent, since from 1924 works were exhibited in America, Venice, London. Vienna and Paris. He was awarded the title of Honored Art Worker of Russia in 1928, was awarded a gold medal at the International Exhibition in Paris in the late 1930s, received a bronze medal "For Outstanding Contribution to the World Art" in New York.

An outstanding Russian painter and draftsman, who worked in the genres of portrait, everyday and plot pictures, theatrical scenery.He was born into the family of a professor of a theological seminary. At an early age his father passed away when Boris was younger than two. Him and his three siblings were raised by a his mother on a small pension, she also gave music lessons and sewed. After graduating from the parish school, he studied at the gymnasium, where he got addicted to drawing. In 1887, when the 15th exhibition of Peredvizhniki artists was opened in Astrakhan, Boris, while watching paintings with admiration, decided to become an artist. His mother, despite the fact that she was poor, supported the aspiration of her son.He was an academician of painting, a member of all the progressive communities of St. Petersburg, created in the early 20th century, but at the same time stood apart from them due to his unique talent. A self-portrait of the artist was placed in the prestigious Florentine Uffizi Gallery, and his House-Museum was opened in Astrakhan. The demand for Kustodiev's art does not diminish - in 2012, the painting "The Cabman" from the collection of P. Kapitza sold for 4.4 million pounds sterling.

An outstanding Mexican painter, muralist, as well as a left-wing politician. Born in Guanajuato (northwest of Mexico), in a notable and well-to-do Spanish family. His mother was a Jew from among the conversion (converted to Catholicism). His twin Diego died at the age of two. The boy started drawing when he was three years old; his parents actively encouraged him. The significant periods of his career were in France and the United States. He was the most influential Mexican artist of the 20th century. His art served as the basis for the concept of public art in America, becoming a significant part of the Federal Program for the Development of National Art in the 1930s and 1940s. D. Rivera is widely known in the world as a monumental artist and as the husband of artist Frida Kahlo. Although his main legacy, no doubt, are murals there was a fairly long and noticeable cubist period in his creative career, when about 200 canvases were created.

Artist and art theoretician. He was the pioneer of geometric abstract art and the originator of the avant-garde Suprematist movement and Cubo-Futurism.Malevich created his first oil painting at the age of 16. It was named “Moonlit Night”. In his paintings, he tried to combine the principles of Cubism, Futurism and Expressionism. He was also interested in aerial photography and aviation, which led him to abstractions inspired by aerial landscapes.

Mediums: reinforced concrete, steel, metal cables. Located on the Mamaev Kurgan in Volgograd (Russia).

Mediums: marble. Location: The State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg (Russia).

Located in front of the UN building in New York (the USA).

Mediums: stone, concrete. Location: The village of Pyatimorsk, Volgograd region (Russia).

Mediums: bronze. Location: Berlin Treptower Park (Germany).

Mediums: granite. Location: The Mariinsky Park, Kyiv (Ukraine).

Mediums: bronze. Location: The State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow (Russia).

Mediums: marble. Location: The State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow (Russia).

Location: The central square in Vyazma (Russia).

Mediums: brass. Location: The State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow (Russia).

Mediums: bronze casting. Location: located on the roof of a planetarium in Volgograd (Russia).

Mediums: glass. Location: The State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg (Russia).

Mediums: plaster. Location: The State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg (Russia).

Mediums: bronze. Location: The square named after M. Gorky, Nizhny Novgorod (Russia).

Mediums: bronze. Location: The State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow (Russia).

Mediums: stainless chrome-nickel steel. Location: The roof of the museum and exhibition center of the same name in Moscow (Russia).

Mediums: bronze. Location: The Vatican Museum (Rome, Italy).

Mediums: bronza. Location: The State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow (Russia).

Mediums: wood. Location: The State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow (Russia).

Mediums: tempera, cardboard. Location: The State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow (Russia).

Mediums: oil, canvas. Location: the collection of the State Museum Association "Artistic Culture of the Russian North", Arkhangelsk (Russia).

Mediums: oil, canvas. Location: the State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow (Russia).

Mediums: oil, canvas. Location: The Museum of Fine Arts of the Republic of Karelia (Petrozavodsk, Russia).

Mediums: oil, canvas. Location: The Museum of Fine Arts of the Republic of Karelia (Petrozavodsk, Russia).

Mediums: oil, canvas. Location: The National Art Museum of Ukraine, Kiev.

Mediums: oil, canvas. Location: The National Art Museum of Ukraine, Kiev.

Mediums: oil, canvas. Location: National Museum, Warsaw, Poland.