Alexey Shilov is a well-known Russian artist who works mainly on portraits. He repeatedly received prizes and was awarded several orders for services to the fatherland. The artist’s works can be seen in his personal gallery, which is located near the Kremlin. Shilov's paintings were presented not only in Russia, but also in France, Portugal, Canada and Japan.
Shilov childhood
The artist was born in the fall of 1943 in the capital of Russia. His childhood was difficult, since he grew up in the post-war period, in addition, at the age of 15, Shilov lost his father. While studying in evening school, the boy was forced to work as a loader in order to help his family financially. In parallel with his studies and work, he was engaged in the art studio of the Pioneer House.
Immediately after receiving the certificate, the young man, without hesitation, decided to enter the Moscow Art Institute named after Surikov. After successfully passing the entrance exams, the young man was enrolled in the faculty of painting. Shilov was a very gifted and capable student, so back in his student years he began to exhibit his works at exhibitions of young artists.
Carier start
After graduating from the institute, Shilov’s work was increasingly seen at exhibitions, including foreign galleries. Most often, the artist worked on portraits, and the heroes of his works were people of different ages, sex, social status. The artist paid much attention to the touching images of the elderly. His first work in this genre was The Old Tailor.
As a thesis, the graduate presented the commission a series of portraits of famous astronauts, for which in 1977 he received the Lenin Komsomol Prize.
In 1976, Shilov was offered to become a member of the Union of Artists of the USSR, and after 2 years individual exhibitions of the painter were organized in Moscow. In 1985, the young artist was awarded the title "People's Artist of the USSR". Shilov’s creative biography contains more than 15 orders, several awards and medals.
In 1997, the artist became a member of the Russian Academy of Arts, and after 2 years - a member of the Presidential Council for Culture and Art. Since 2012, the artist is on the list of proxies of the candidate for presidency of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin.
Shilov's work
Among the huge number of works by the artist you can see landscapes, graphic and genre paintings, still lifes and portraits. Emphasis should be on paintings that depict older people, for example, "The Old Tailor", "My Grandmother", "Forgotten", "The Fate of the Violinist."
A special place in the artist’s work is devoted to portraits of famous people, including diplomats, artists, politicians, and writers. At exhibitions, visitors can see a portrait of Yuri Luzhkov, writer Mikhalkov, ballerina Semenyak. In addition, Shilov from his student years began to replenish his collection of paintings with portraits of ministers of the church.
Among the artist’s still lifes, you can see objects that are inseparable from our life, for example, books, flowers, dishes. Painting in the genre of landscape is represented by the paintings "Golden Autumn", "Thaw", "Silence" and others.
