The artist Vladimir Aleksandrovich Serov painted many historical paintings over the years of his work. He completely and completely shared the ideology propagated in the Soviet Union, believed in socialism and communism, and therefore wrote a lot on this topic.
Canvases depicting the October Revolution leader Vladimir Ilyich Lenin occupy a special place in his work. Serov wrote in the manner of so-called socialist realism.
Biography
Vladimir Alexandrovich Serov was born in 1910 in the village of Emmaus, Tver Region. Before the revolution, the family lived well - Vladimir’s grandfather was a priest and was respected by the villagers. His parents were teachers, and when the revolution began, they fully accepted its ideology and began to build socialism together with the whole of society. Subsequently, Vladimir’s mother became the Honored Teacher of the RSFSR and received the highest award of the Soviet Union - the Order of Lenin.
When the son grew up, the Serovs moved to the district city of Vesyegonsk. There, the future artist went to school, and a significant event happened in his life: he met with avant-garde artist Savely Shleifer. He had his own studio in Vesyegonsk, where he taught those who wanted painting.
From the very first lessons Volodya understood how much he liked to draw. So the question of choosing a profession never stood before him - Serov always knew that he would become an artist.
Much later, during the war, Schleifer died in the Auschwitz concentration camp. Serov learned that the mentor bequeathed to him as his best student all his canvases. Now these works, and many paintings of Serov himself are in the artist’s homeland in Emmaus, where the memorial art museum of the famous countryman was created.
Contemporaries knew Vladimir Alexandrovich as the author of several paintings, where Lenin was depicted - sort of "Leninians." This interest in the leader of the revolution was from his childhood, from his parents - convinced builders of socialism. As a child, he painted portraits of "Lenin's grandfather."
And when he entered the Academy of Arts in Petrograd, he took the painting "Lenin's Arrival in Petrograd in 1917" as a thesis. The head of the young painter’s diploma was artist Vasily Savinsky, who painstakingly painted historical canvases and portraits. Perhaps he took Vladimir and took over the interest in the historical topic.
After the Academy of Arts, Serov entered graduate school and got to another talented artist - Isaac Brodsky became his leader. In 1934, when he graduated from graduate school, Vladimir presented the graduation picture "Siberian Partisans."
Artist career
While still a graduate student, Serov began to participate in exhibitions with his works. In 1932, he first presented his work at an exhibition dedicated to the twentieth anniversary of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army. His work was liked by the most stringent critics, and since then he has become a regular participant in various exhibitions.
A special place in his work is a historical theme. We can say that his canvases are historical and heroic. Their heroes are revolutionaries, soldiers and sailors, Lenin, and later - participants in the Great Patriotic War. These are the pictures “Winter is taken!”, “Walkers by Lenin” and others.
At all times, propaganda posters were popular in Soviet Russia. There is even such an expression as “poster war”, because visibility is a weapon in the struggle for one or another ideology. In collectivization, Serov drew posters, urging them to grow a high crop and increase labor productivity.
In 1941, when the war began, artists draw posters of a different kind: they call for the fight against the enemy, ridicule the Nazis and raise patriotic feelings.
During the war, Serov remained in Leningrad and survived the horror of the blockade. At that time, he led the Leningrad branch of the Union of Artists. Many painters then entered the Battle Pencil association, where they created anti-fascist posters, leaflets and painted illustrations for newspapers.
In addition, Vladimir Alexandrovich writes such paintings as “The Battle of the Ice” and “Baltic Landing”. In the first picture, he pays tribute to the courage of Russian soldiers and addresses the patriotic feelings of the audience, the glorious history of Russia. And in the second he glorifies the defenders of the fatherland fighting the fascists.
The manner of socialist realism prevailed in the artist's works, however, the lyrical motifs were not alien to him. This is especially noticeable in the portraits of his relatives and friends. This is a completely different style of writing - soft and accurate, some kind of "live".
In addition, Serov painted landscapes, painted illustrations for works of classical literature, and also worked in a caricature genre.
Vladimir Alexandrovich was awarded the title "People's Artist of the USSR", he had two Orders of the Red Banner, two Orders of Lenin and two Stalin Prizes. At that time, all these awards are very significant.
Until the end of his life Serov remained faithful to the ideas of socialist realism in painting. Beginning in the sixties of the twentieth century, attacks began on him by some representatives of the creative intelligentsia - they denied this genre as obsolete and unnecessary. However, he firmly defended his position.
The last six years of his life, Vladimir Alexandrovich was president of the Academy of Arts, chairman of the Union of Artists of the USSR. He also was elected to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR several times.
Serov passed away in January 1968, he was only fifty-seven years old. The artist was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery in Moscow.
