Arkady Plastov

Painter, graphic artist, illustrator. Born to a family of peasant icon-painters in the village of Prislonikha (1893). Studied religion at Simbirsk Theological College (1903–08) and Simbirsk Religious Academy (1908–12), painting in the studio of Ilya Mashkov (1912) and under Fyodor Fyodorovsky at the Stroganov School of Art and Industry (1912–14), sculpture under Sergei Volnukhin at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture and painting in the studios of Leonid Pasternak, Alexei Korin, Apollinary Vasnetsov and Alexei Stepanov (1914–17). Returned to Prislonikha (1917), where he worked as a secretary in the local rural council (1917–25). Returned to Moscow (1925), where he designed agricultural posters (1925–31). Painted pictures extolling the virtues of Socialism and collectivisation in the Russian village (1935–53) and illustrated the short stories of Leo Tolstoy (1952–54). Winner of the Stalin Prize (1946) and Lenin Prize (1966). Full member of the Academy of Arts of the USSR (1947), People’s Artist of the USSR (1962). Died in Prislonikha (1972). Contributed to exhibitions (from 1921), including My Collection by the Elena Zenina Gallery of Arts in the Central House of the Artist at 10 Krymsky Val in Moscow (2011) and one-man shows in Moscow (1976, 1983, 1993, 2003) and Sofia (1964).