Vasily Tikhonovich Romanenkov (Russian: 'Василий Тихонович Романенков; 1953-2013), was a Russian
naïve art
Naïve art is usually defined as visual art that is created by a person who lacks the formal education and training that a professional artist undergoes (in anatomy, art history, technique, perspective, ways of seeing). When this aesthetic is ...
ist of the
Soviet
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 nation ...
and post-Soviet periods.
Biography
Vasily Romanenkov was born in the village of
Bogdanovka
Bogdanovka was a concentration camp for Jews that was established in Transnistria Governorate by the Romanian authorities during World War II as part of the Holocaust.
Location
Three concentration camps were situated near the villages of Bogd ...
in
Smolensk Oblast
Smolensk Oblast (russian: Смоле́нская о́бласть, ''Smolenskaya oblast''; informal name — ''Smolenschina'' (russian: Смоле́нщина)) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative centre is the city o ...
). In 1968 he graduated from 8-years school and moved to “Kosino” State farm near Moscow to live with his mother. There he apprenticed as a carpenter. In 1975–1980 Romanenkov studied at ZNUI (eng. Distance Learning National University of Arts) under N. Pavlov and N. Rotanov. The main feature of his art - a manner to draw with small strokes of different thicknesses, creating a kind of "moire" texture with the help of a pencil. Initially, Romanenkov tried to paint in oils, but on the advice of his teachers at ZNUI he engaged himself with the graphics. His first compositions, which he began to paint from the bottom, were distinguished with randomness of different shapes and patterns. Later, his works became more structured and gained the cyclic format, thus consisting of three or more separate works, each with its internal frame.
His cycles are devoted to Romanenkov's own biography, birth, baptism and death; the fate of the Ancient and Modern Russia.
Vasily Romanenkov is widely known in Russia and abroad. He was awarded the Grand Prix at the International Triennial of Naive Art in
Bratislava (Insita) at 2004 and received an honorable mention of the jury at the same exhibition in 1994 and 1997.
Personal exhibitions
*Evidence. Tsaritsyno State Museum, 1998
* Naive Art. Vasily Romanenkov. From the collection of Ksenia Bogemskaya, Central House of Artists, Moscow, 2002
Exhibitions
* All-Union Exhibition of works of amateur artists, dedicated to the XVII Congress of Trade Unions, Moscow, 1982
* Folk traditions, Moscow, 1986-1987
* The image and perception, Moscow, 1990
* Dream of Gold, Center for Contemporary Art, Moscow, 1992
* Insita 94, 97, 2000, 2004
* Naive Art of Russia, Moscow 1997, 1998
* Wisdom is with the naive eyes, The Vasnetsov Brothers Art Museum, 1997
* Naive art in the collection of K. Bogemskaya and A. Turchin, "Ark" exhibition hall, Moscow, 1998
* Pushkin images, Moscow, 1999
* Mastery of time, Gallery of the International University, Moscow, 2000
* Galerie Hamer, Amsterdam, 1998
* Naive art, 1998
* Outsiders, Galerie Hamer, Amsterdam, 1999
* Erste Begegnung (Germany), 1999
* Russische Naieven vertellen, Museum de Stadshof, Zwolle, the Netherlands, 2000
* Outsider's Art Fair, 2001-2004
* Festnaiv’04
* Art Manege Fair, Moscow, 2004
The Museum of everything, Garage Center for Contemporary Culture, Moscow, 2013Outsider Art Fair, Paris, 2014
* Outsider Art Fair, Hôtel le A, Paris 2014
Collections
* Tsaritsyno State Museum
* Charlotte Zander Museum, Besigheim, Germany
* Museum of Outsider Art, Moscow
* Museum of Naïve Art, Moscow
* Collection ABDC, Paris
* Collection Eternod-Mermod, Lausanne
Bibliography
* Vasily Romanenkov, Certificates, 1998
* Amateurish art // Amateur art: A Short History (1960-1990), Saint Petersburg, 1999
* Pushkin's images in the works of naive artists of Russia: Catalog / M., 1999;
* Erste Begegnung mit der Russische Naive, Museum Charlotte Zander. Schloss Boennigheim, 1999;
* James Young. Whispers from the Universe: Vasiliy Romanenkov, Raw Vision #6
* Outsiders, Galerie Hamer, Amsterdam, 1999
Raw Vision publications
К. Богемская. Понять примитив. Самодеятельное, наивное и аутсайдерское искусство в XX веке СПб.: Алетейя, 2001
* К. Богемская. В. Романенков (archive, not published)
К. Богемская. Наивные художники России (Russian Naive and Outsider Artists), СПб.:Алетейя, 2009
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Romanenkov, Vasily
1953 births
2013 deaths
Russian painters
Russian male painters
Draughtsmen
Soviet painters