Erik Bulatov (russian: Эрик Владимирович Булатов; born September 5, 1933 in Sverdlovsk) is a Russian artist, who was raised in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. His father was a communist party official who died in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Pskov Pskov ( rus, Псков, a=pskov-ru.ogg, p=pskof; see also names in other languages) is a city in northwestern Russia and the administrative center of Pskov Oblast, located about east of the Estonian border, on the Velikaya River. Population ...

, and his mother fled Poland at age 15 in support of the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...

. Bulatov's works are in the major public and private collections in Europe, Russia and United States. In 2008 Bulatov became an honorary member of the Russian Academy of Arts.

Early life

Education

Bulatov studied painting at the Surikov Art Institute in Moscow, graduating in 1958. He began working as a children’s book illustrator with friend and collaborator, Oleg Vassiliev for which he won numerous awards. Both artists were immensely influenced by

Robert Falk Robert Rafailovich Falk (russian: Роберт Рафаилович Фальк, October 15, 1886 - October 1, 1958) was a painter. Biography Falk was born in Moscow in 1886. In 1903 to 1904 he studied art in the studios of Konstantin Yuon and I ...

and

Vladimir Favorsky Vladimir Andreyevich Favorsky (russian: Владимир Андреевич Фаворский; March 14, 1886 – December 29, 1964) was a Soviet graphic artist, woodcut illustrator, painter, art critic, muralist, and teacher. He was a Peopl ...

two artists of the early-twentieth century

Russian avant-garde The Russian avant-garde was a large, influential wave of avant-garde modern art that flourished in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union, approximately from 1890 to 1930—although some have placed its beginning as early as 1850 and its e ...

Sretensky Boulevard Group

In the 1960s Bulatov formed the Sretensky Boulevard Group with

Ilya Kabakov Ilya Iosifovich Kabakov (Russian: Илья́ Ио́сифович Кабако́в; born September 30, 1933), is a Russian–American conceptual artist, born in Dnipropetrovsk in what was then the Ukrainian SSR of the Soviet Union. He worked ...

, Edik Steinberg, Oleg Vassiliev,

Vladimir Yankilevsky Vladimir Borisovich Yankilevsky ( Russian: Владимир Борисович Янкилевский) (February 15, 1938 in Moscow – January 4, 2018 in Paris) was a Russian artist known mostly for his participation in the Soviet Nonconformist ...

, and

Viktor Pivovarov Viktor Dmitrievich Pivovarov (russian: Виктор Дмитриевич Пивоваров; born 1937) is a Russian artist who lives in Prague since 1982. He represented Soviet Nonconformist Art and was one of the leading artists of the Moscow ...

. Named by a Czech historian for the block on which they lived, the group often met at Kabakov's to discuss and show their work as they were not permitted to do so in "official" settings. This group was more of an association of like-minded artists rather than a school with similar stylistic tendencies. Through the Sretensky Boulevard Group, Bulatov became a prominent member of the loosely affiliated

Moscow Conceptualists The Moscow Conceptualist, or Russian Conceptualist, movement began with the Sots art of Komar and Melamid in the early 1970s, and continued as a trend in Russian art into the 1980s. It attempted to subvert socialist ideology using the strategies of ...

. This group, related ideologically rather than stylistically, has defined the "Moscow School" of contemporary Russian art as it is known today.

Style

It is thought that Bulatov works in

sots art Often referred to as “Soviet Pop Art”, Sots Art or soc art (russian: Соц-арт, short for Socialist Art) originated in the Soviet Union in the early 1970s as a reaction against the official aesthetic doctrine of the state— socialist ...

style. "Bulatov's paintings are large, colorful, realistic images of landscapes, skies, urban settings, and people, many of which are painted over and partially obscured by wry words or phrases. Metaphorically rich and poetic blue skies are overlaid with Russian texts that translate: 'Glory to the U.S.S.R.' or 'Trademark'. Lush, green landscapes toil under the labels 'Not To Be Leaned On' or 'Caution.' But Bulatov in one of his recent interview indicates that he has nothing to do with Sots Art. Sots Art according Bulatov is an irony. And irony is absent in his wor

Bulatov's subject matter is broad. Equally broad is his perception of the government's role in the classification and control of everything. Bulatov symbolizes the government through his use of language as a system of order and control, the foundation of written law and constraint which he then plasters on every tree and rock. It is in this sense that Bulatov's paintings may take on a more universal accuracy and a more populist appeal. His emphasis on only the public and external aspects of life--the street, the land, the State television broadcast--reinforces the notion that one's thoughts and feelings are (still) one's own. the psychological and emotional are beyond the confines of words, language and law."

Career

Erik Bulatov is currently represented by ARNDT Berlin, SKOPIA Geneva and pop/off/art gallery Moscow - Berlin.

Public collections

* The State

Russian Museum The State Russian Museum (russian: Государственный Русский музей), formerly the Russian Museum of His Imperial Majesty Alexander III (russian: Русский Музей Императора Александра III), on ...

, St. Petersburg, Russia * The State

Tretyakov Gallery The State Tretyakov Gallery (russian: Государственная Третьяковская Галерея, ''Gosudarstvennaya Tretyâkovskaya Galereya''; abbreviated ГТГ, ''GTG'') is an art gallery in Moscow, Russia, which is considered th ...

, Moscow, Russia * The State

Hermitage Museum The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is the list of ...

, St. Petersburg, Russia * The

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, often referred to as The Guggenheim, is an art museum at 1071 Fifth Avenue on the corner of East 89th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It is the permanent home of a continuously exp ...

, New York *

Centre Georges Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the Centre national d'art et de culture Georges-Pompidou ( en, National Georges Pompidou Centre of Art and Culture), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English, is a complex building in the Beaubourg area of ...

, Paris, France * The

Garage Museum of Contemporary Art The Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, also referred to simply as ''The Garage Museum'', is a privately funded art gallery in Moscow. It was founded by Dasha Zhukova and Roman Abramovich as the ''Garage Center for Contemporary Culture'' in 2008 an ...

, Moscow, Russia * The

Moscow Museum of Modern Art The Moscow Museum of Modern Art is a museum of modern and contemporary art located in Moscow, Russia. It was opened to public in December 1999. The project of the museum was initiated and executed by Zurab Tsereteli, president of the Russian Aca ...

(MMoMA), Moscow, Russia * The

National Centre for Contemporary Arts The National Center for Contemporary Art (NCCA) (russian: Государственный центр современного искусства) in Moscow, Russia, is a museum, exhibition and research organization which primarily aims its efforts ...

, Moscow, Russia * The ART4.RU Museum of Contemporary Russian Art, Moscow, Russia * The

Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum The Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum (known popularly as the Zimmerli Art Museum) is located on the Voorhees Mall of the campus of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. The museum houses more than 60,000 works, including Russian and ...

at Rutgers University, USA * The

Nasher Museum of Art The Nasher Museum of Art (previously the Duke University Museum of Art) is the art museum of Duke University, and is located on Duke's campus in Durham, North Carolina, United States. The Nasher, along with Dartmouth's Hood Museum of Art and Pr ...

at Duke University, USA

References

* Matthias Arndt (ed.): ''Erik Bulatov. Paintings 1952-2011. Catalogue raisonné in two volumes, volume 1''. Compiled by Kristin Rieber. With an essay by Yevgeny Barabanov. Wienand, Cologne 2011, . Russian/English. * ''Erik Bulatov''. Paris: Centre Georges Pompidou, 1988. * ''Erik Boulatov''. Dina Vierny Foundation, Paris: Musee Maillol, 2000. * ''Erik Bulatov Oleg Vassiliev''. New York:

Phyllis Kind Gallery Phyllis Barbara Kind ( Cobin; 1933–2018) was an American art dealer active in Chicago and New York. She promoted the work of the Chicago Imagists and outsider artists. Early life and family Phyllis Kind was born Phyllis Barbara Cobin in The B ...

, 1991. * Bulatov, Erik and Oleg Vassiliev, illustrators. ''The Mitten: A Ukrainian Fairy Tale'', Moscow: Malysh Publishers, 1979. * ''Erik Bulatov: Freedom Is Freedom''. DAP, 2007. . * ''Erik Bulatov. That's It''. Moscow: Knigi WAM, 2006 (in Russian and English). . * Jolles, Claudia et al. ''Erik Bulatov: Moscow'', Zürich and London: Parkett and ICA, 1989.

External links

* Kolodzei Collection of Russian and Eastern European Art,

Kolodzei Art Foundation The Kolodzei Art Foundation, Inc. promotes the contemporary art of Russia and Eastern Europe. The Kolodzei Art Foundation often utilizes the artistic resources of the Kolodzei Collection of Russian and Eastern European Art, one of the world's larg ...

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* Art4.ru Contemporary Art Museu

* The Norton & Nancy Dodge Collection of Nonconformist Art from the Soviet Union (1956–1986), Zimmerli Art Museu

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bulatov, Erik 1933 births 20th-century Russian painters Russian male painters 21st-century Russian painters Soviet Nonconformist Art Living people Russian contemporary artists 20th-century Russian male artists 21st-century Russian male artists