Aleksandr Mikhailovich Gerasimov (russian: Алекса́ндр Миха́йлович Гера́симов; 12 August 1881 – 23 July 1963) was a Soviet and Russian painter. He was a leading proponent of

socialist realism Socialist realism is a style of idealized realistic art that was developed in the Soviet Union and was the official style in that country between 1932 and 1988, as well as in other socialist countries after World War II. Socialist realism is c ...

in the visual arts, and painted

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...

and other Soviet leaders.

Biography

Gerasimov was born on 12 August 1881 in Kozlov (now

Michurinsk Michurinsk (russian: Мичу́ринск) is the second most populous town in Tambov Oblast, Russia. Population: History Originally known as Kozlov (), it was founded in 1635 at the northern end of the emerging Belgorod Line, a frontier defe ...

) in

Tambov Tambov (, ; rus, Тамбов, p=tɐmˈbof) is a city and the administrative center of Tambov Oblast, central Russia, at the confluence of the Tsna and Studenets Rivers, about south-southeast of Moscow. Population: 280,161 ( 2010 Census); 29 ...

Governorate,

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. He studied at the

Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture The Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (russian: Московское училище живописи, ваяния и зодчества, МУЖВЗ) also known by the acronym MUZHZV, was one of the largest educational insti ...

from 1903 to 1915. There he championed traditional realistic representational art against the

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and the

Russian Civil War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Russian Civil War , partof = the Russian Revolution and the aftermath of World War I , image = , caption = Clockwise from top left: {{flatlist, *Soldiers ...

he served in the army. Subsequently he returned to his hometown to become a stage designer, helping to present plays glorifying the Revolution and the Soviet government. In 1925, Gerasimov returned to Moscow and set up a studio, combining techniques of academic realism with an Impressionistic light touch. He favored a style known as heroic realism, which featured images of revolutionary leaders such as

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...

as larger-than-life heroes. As Stalin tightened his grip on the country, Gerasimov concentrated on official portraits, such as '' Stalin and Voroshilov in the Kremlin'', for which he won a

Stalin Prize Stalin Prize may refer to: * The State Stalin Prize in science and engineering and in arts, awarded 1941 to 1954, later known as the USSR State Prize The USSR State Prize (russian: links=no, Государственная премия СССР, ...

in 1941. He produced a large number of heroic portraits of

Kliment Voroshilov Kliment Yefremovich Voroshilov (, uk, Климент Охрімович Ворошилов, ''Klyment Okhrimovyč Vorošylov''), popularly known as Klim Voroshilov (russian: link=no, Клим Вороши́лов, ''Klim Vorošilov''; 4 Februa ...

, to the point that

Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...

would later accuse Voroshilov of having spent most of his time in Gerasimov's studio, to the detriment of his responsibilities as People's Commissar of Defense. Gerasimov's leadership of the Union of Artists of the USSR (replacing his nemesis and ironic namesake Sergey Vasilyevich Gerasimov) and the Soviet Academy of Arts was criticized as heavy-handed. He was at the forefront of the attacks against cosmopolitanism and

formalism Formalism may refer to: * Form (disambiguation) * Formal (disambiguation) * Legal formalism, legal positivist view that the substantive justice of a law is a question for the legislature rather than the judiciary * Formalism (linguistics) * Scie ...

during the

Zhdanovshchina The Zhdanov Doctrine (also called Zhdanovism or Zhdanovshchina; russian: доктрина Жданова, ждановизм, ждановщина) was a Soviet cultural doctrine developed by Central Committee secretary Andrei Zhdanov in 1946. I ...

. Although his flattering portraits of Soviet leaders and his political activities against artists who would not toe his line have gained him a reputation as a

political hack "Political hack", also called partisan hack, is a pejorative term describing a person who is more supporting to a particular party than what is ethically right. The term "hired gun" is often used in tandem to further describe the moral bankruptcy ...

, Gerasimov remained a genuine artist. Even at the end of his career, he continued to follow a moody, almost Impressionistic treatment of landscapes, at odds with the conventional nature of his official portraiture.

Selected paintings

File:Stalin and Voroshilov in the Kremlin.jpg, Stalin and Voroshilov in the Kremlin (1938) is the painting for which Gerasimov won a

in 1941 File:Nadezhda Gilyarovskaya by A.M.Gerasimov (1912, Michurinsk museum).jpg, Nadezhda Gilyarovskaya by A.M.Gerasimov

External links

Public artist USSR A.M.GERASIMOV

Public artist USSR A.M.GERASIMOV Museum-Estate
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gerasimov, Alexander 1881 births 1963 deaths People from Michurinsk People from Kozlovsky Uyezd Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, 1947–1951 Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, 1951–1955 Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, 1955–1959 Soviet painters Russian male painters Socialist realist artists 20th-century Russian painters Full Members of the USSR Academy of Arts Russian military personnel of World War I People's Artists of the USSR (visual arts) Stalin Prize winners Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture alumni