1932-1999, USSR, Leningrad
An artist of the Leningrad underground, a key figure of the "Arefevsky circle", a group of nonconformists of the turn of the 1950s and 60s (an informal leader — Alexander Arefyev).
He studied at the Secondary Art School at the Leningrad Academy of Arts (1946-1951), then at the Tavrichesky Art College (1952-1954); he was expelled from the Academy for "formalism".
His life was dramatic: in addition to painting, he worked as an electrician, loader, plastic cutter, played guitar and double bass in an orchestra; in 1961, after the death of poet Roald Mandelstam, he led a wandering lifestyle for several months at the Krasnenky cemetery with Arefyev; in 1966-1968, he was under compulsory treatment in a psychiatric hospital.
Participated in landmark exhibitions of unofficial art: at the Recreation Center named after Gaza (1974), since 1983 — participated in exhibitions of the TEII (Association of Experimental Fine Arts); solo exhibitions were held in Leningrad‑In St. Petersburg in 1981, 1999 and 2000.
In painting, he combined expression and the utmost honesty of his gaze: his favorite themes are the courtyards of the old suburbs and Khrushchev quarters, urban landscapes without parade, everyday scenes; in these works there is always a small figure of a man — this is how the artist built a "painting of relationships" between people, the city and colors.
His works are kept in the Tretyakov Gallery, the Russian Museum, and the Pompidou Center in Paris.
© St. Petersburg, 2005, all rights reserved
