Nicolay Paskevich (

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

: ''Nikolai Aleksandrovich Paskevich'',

Lithuanian Lithuanian may refer to: * Lithuanians * Lithuanian language * The country of Lithuania * Grand Duchy of Lithuania * Culture of Lithuania * Lithuanian cuisine * Lithuanian Jews as often called "Lithuanians" (''Lita'im'' or ''Litvaks'') by other Jew ...

: ''Mykolas Paškevičius'', born: 18 August 1907 in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

, died: 19 May 2003) was a

painter working mostly in ink, acrylic, and pastel, exhibiting an interest in action, power, music, and western motifs. Paskevich was the recipient of the

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour (russian: Орден Трудового Красного Знамени, translit=Orden Trudovogo Krasnogo Znameni) was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to th ...

Biography

Paskevich was born in

in 1907. His father was from

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

, his mother was from

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

. In 1914, his family moved to

Vitebsk Vitebsk or Viciebsk (russian: Витебск, ; be, Ві́цебск, ; , ''Vitebsk'', lt, Vitebskas, pl, Witebsk), is a city in Belarus. The capital of the Vitebsk Region, it has 366,299 inhabitants, making it the country's fourth-largest ci ...

where he received his primary education. In 1922, Paskevich began studying at the Vitebsk Art School under the mentoring of

Kazimir Malevich Kazimir Severinovich Malevich ; german: Kasimir Malewitsch; pl, Kazimierz Malewicz; russian: Казими́р Севери́нович Мале́вич ; uk, Казимир Северинович Малевич, translit=Kazymyr Severynovych ...

, V. Volkov and T. Ende. Upon graduation Paskevich was accepted by the

Academy of Arts An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, f ...

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

where he studied under artists

Arkady Rylov Arkady Alexandrovich Rylov (russian: Арка́дий Алекса́ндрович Рыло́в; – 22 June 1939) was a Russian and Soviet Union, Soviet Symbolism (arts), Symbolist Painting, painter. Biography Rylov was born in the village ...

and

Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin Kuzma Sergeevich Petrov-Vodkin, (; November 5, Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O._S._24_October.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>O._S._24_October">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html"_;"title="nowiki/>Old_Styl ...

. Having finished his studies at the Academy, he returned to

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

and worked independently as an artist. Here he had his work exhibited in Moscow's

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 ...

. In 1933 he married artist Ona Dokalskaitė, then known as Galina Alfonsovna Dokalskaya. When the Germans occupied Minsk at the beginning of

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 ...

, the Paskevichs managed to escape to

Kaunas Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Trakai ...

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

, where they participated in the artistic life of the city for a few years. In 1940, prior to the German invasion during WW II, Paskevich received the Red Banner Badge as an artist in the

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 ch ...

movement in the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

and dined at the Kremlin with

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 Secreta ...

. In 1944, he fled the war again and arrived in

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

, where he and his family were given shelter by the Americans in a Displaced Persons' Camp. In 1949 the Paskevich family emigrated to the United States. He settled in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and started working for the City Services. Later Paskevich moved in the field of commercial art. In 1994, Paskevich published his autobiography ''Mykolas Paškevičius''.

Exhibitions

, 1938 *

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 ...

, Industry of Socialism, 1939 * Kaunas, Lithuania, 1943 * Hammer Galleries, 1957 * The Shoeneman Gallery, 1959 *

Southampton City Art Gallery The Southampton City Art Gallery is an art gallery in Southampton, southern England. It is located in the Civic Centre on Commercial Road. The gallery opened in 1939 with much of the initial funding from the gallery coming from two bequests, on ...

, 1971 *

Belarusian National Arts Museum The National Art Museum of the Republic of Belarus ( be, Нацыянальны мастацкі музей Рэспублікі Беларусь) is the largest art museum in Belarus and is located in Minsk. The museum comprises more than thirty t ...

, May 1993 * Anaheim Museum, January - March 1998 * Mission San Juan Capistrano Soldier's Barracks Gallery, February - March 2000

Notable works

* ''Kaminkrėtys'', 1945 * ''Liberation'', 1947 * ''Portrait of a Young Woman'', 1954 * ''Swan Lake'', 1965 * ''Indian attack'', 1975, 1988 * ''Be content'', 1991

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paskevich, Nicolay 1907 births 2003 deaths Soviet painters 20th-century American painters 20th-century Belarusian painters 20th-century male artists Belarusian male painters 20th-century American male artists Male painters