Creative, humane, hardworking, modest person. These words are about artist-animator Viktor Aleksandrovich Nikitin, who lived a decent 90-year life and made a significant contribution to the development of Russian animation art and painting.
Biographical Information
Victor Alexandrovich Nikitin was born in 1925 in Ivanteyevka. My father worked as a craftsman in a factory and loved to draw. As a child, V. Nikitin showed interest in aircraft construction. And he considered painters to be extraordinary people. There was no mug at school, so the boy learned to draw on his own. Victor's lucky reward was an album and paints. A student was awarded them at the end of the school year. The Tretyakov Gallery made a huge impression on the boy.
V. Nikitin never received a secondary education - at the end of 1942 he joined the army as a seventeen-year-old boy. V. Nikitin called himself a “six percent”, since only six percent of the military generation of his age survived. Demobilized, he tried to enter the Aviation Institute. He was not accepted due to lack of certificate. V. Nikitin was taken to VGIK, and he graduated with honors.
Cartoon art
His first animated work - "The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights". While working on the film "The Snow Maiden" V. Nikitin was already a production designer. Subsequently, he participated in the creation of such paintings as “The Tale of the Golden Cockerel”, “How the Mushrooms Fought with Peas”, “Moroz Ivanovich” and others. V. Nikitin happily worked on Pushkin's tales, loved Russian and national themes. Among the cartoons he created, V. Nikitin singled out "Ratibor's Childhood." He was fascinated by the theme of the birth of Russia through the eyes of a child. A whole field has opened up for imagination. When asked about the idols that he created, he replied that they dreamed about them.
A person who has devoted himself to creating animated images needs to subtly feel the world of childhood. Genres can be different. Therefore, you need to be able to transform like an actor. That was exactly what V. Nikitin was.
Brush master
V. Nikitin is also known as an artist. He wrote posters, landscape sketches, stories about trips around the country. V. Nikitin admitted that he loves sunlight. He has no gloomy pictures. He depicted a calm, cozy countryside: a quiet backwater of native local rivers in the summer, streets, depths of thickets, pine forest, flower fields, small rural churches, village horses. His painting created an atmosphere of happiness.
V. Nikitin has portraits of his parents and wife, which he painted "by the will of the soul." He gifted three paintings to the Ivanteyevsky Museum. I.F. Gorbunova. The work of V. Nikitin "Seeing Shrovetide" is in the Museum of Cinematography in Hollywood.
Personal life
In recent years, V. Nikitin was looked after by Lyudmila Nikolaevna Mitrofanova, his niece. She said she learned a lot from him. Uncle, according to his niece, was distinguished by "kindness, a bright attitude to everything, and most importantly - love of beauty." To everyone who published her uncle's Book of Memories, she said thanks.
Last years
35 years V. Nikitin gave animation work. At 60, he retired. He explained the departure from Soyuzmultfilm that he would have time for painting. In the spring he left the capital and lived in Ivanteevka, where he devoted himself entirely to his favorite business.
Until the last days, students came to Viktor Alexandrovich, he was invited to schools. He talked a lot about his work, showed sketches, described characters.
