Master of genre painting. Laktionov the genius

"Letter from the Front". The story of one masterpiece

Probably, few of the schoolchildren in the USSR did not write an essay based on Alexander Laktionov's painting "A Letter from the Front". But if all the same he did not write, then everyone saw this work. However, few people know that such a bright, sunny canvas had a very difficult history. This is what will be discussed.

Unconventional look of Alexander Laktionov
But first, a few words about the author. Alexander Ivanovich Laktionov, the son of a blacksmith and a laundress, was born in 1910 in the city of Rostov-on-Don. WITH early childhood the boy was distinguished by phenomenal composure and hard work. The father noticed his son's talent for drawing, and in the hope that Sasha would leave the difficult fate of workers and peasants, he began to encourage him in every possible way.

Laktionov brilliantly graduated from Rostov art school and entered the art academy in Leningrad. They took him just by looking at the work. Since he was one of the best students here, Laktionov became one of Isaac Brodsky's favorite students. And he, as you know, was the main artist of the country at that time, the author of "Lininiana" and famous work"Lenin in Smolny". Pupils (Vladimir Serov, Yuri Neprintsev, Alexey Gritsai and others) adopted the realistic style of the teacher. But most of all in this regard, Laktionov distinguished himself. He was so precise and accurate in details that over time he was criticized for his formalism. They said that in Laktionov's paintings there is no soul, the characters are flat, without character. Yes, there is a play of light and shadow. But where is psychologism? Where is the human story?

There were even rumors that ophthalmologists, the luminaries of domestic medicine, found out that Laktionov had a special eye structure. He sees the world not like we do, but stereoscopically - that is, he very clearly defines the shape, size and features of the object. And such a vision is given only to a select few. Hence the phenomenal accuracy of the objects depicted by Laktionov.

The birth of the plot

Let's move on to famous work master - "Letter from the front". In early 1944, after the evacuation, Laktionov and his family moved to the town of Zagorsk near Moscow. Soon he signed a contract to write a picture that refers us to the plot of life in the rear during the Great Patriotic War. I even came up with a story - people from the front are waiting for a letter, receive, rejoice, read. Several times he began to write this story, but everything did not work out. And the master was displeased.

And then one day, going out into the street, he saw a soldier who, hobbling, leaning on a stick, walked along Zagorsk Street. It was evident from everything that the area was not familiar to him and that he had come here on some errand. The soldier, seeing Laktionov, stopped, took out a piece of paper with the address, and asked how to find such and such a house.

The artist offered to conduct it. While they were walking, a conversation began - about life at the front, about the approaching Victory and that a soldier was carrying a good letter to his friend's family.
Laktionov led the stranger to the gate and saw how he entered the house, how his friend's relatives came running, how they took out a letter, read it, were afraid to miss even a word.

The very picture was finally born in the artist's head. However, now it had to be written. Since Alexander Ivanovich was a solid person, it took two years to work on the canvas. He wrote not from memory, but found people who acted as models. The soldier who delivered the letter had the face of the artist Vladimir Nifontov, Laktionov's friend. He, too, went through the war, was a paratrooper, and when he put on his uniform, he looked so brave that it was a sin not to draw him. True, the bandaged hand and the stick on which the hero of "Letters from the Front" rests is already an artistic fiction.

The woman holding the envelope is Laktionov's own aunt, Evdokia Nikiforovna. There are also the artist's children in the picture. Son Seryozha - he became a boy who reads a letter (then he was seven years old), and the daughter of Sveta is a girl who stands holding the door and listens attentively to her brother. The sunniest character in the picture is a girl with a red bandage - the Laktionovs' neighbor. She posed with pleasure and this joy of hers is transmitted to the viewer.

However, there is more than enough happiness in the picture. There is a lot of sun, a lot of warmth, and looking at this work, you understand that even in the most difficult times unforgettable moments sometimes happen.

However, contrary to expectations, the fate of the picture can hardly be called easy. In 1948, Laktionov's work was brought to the Tretyakov Gallery. Since a lot of works were brought in, and the best were supposed to get to the exhibition, the paintings passed a strict selection. Everything was taken into account: from the artist's skill to the ideological component. There were controversies about "Letters from the Front" - the very extraordinary Laktionov found an approach to the topic, but nevertheless, the canvas was missed.

However, a few hours before the opening of the halls, a commission from representatives of the authorities arrived at the Tretyakov Gallery. They had to re-evaluate the political and ideological component. We watched work after work, let us pass, but stopped at the "Letters from the Front". And questions flew: "What is this disgrace? Why does the Soviet family look so unattractive? What are the peeling walls? What are the cracks in the floor? Why are people so badly dressed? Foreigners go to the Tretyakov Gallery! What will they think about the life of Soviet people?"
Questions poured in as if from a cornucopia. The museum staff did not look at the "Letter from the Front" from that angle, so they had nothing to answer. But the work was nevertheless masterfully done, and the leaders of the Tretyakov Gallery barely persuaded the officials to hang the canvas in the farthest corner, so that it would not be particularly striking.

And they hanged him. In a tiny room, in the most disadvantageous place - between the door and the window. And soon they noticed that the visitors of the exhibition began to gather on the island near Letters from the Front - sometimes there were so many people that it was impossible to get through. They looked at the picture, looked at the details, sometimes cried. The war ended just three years ago. Many had fresh memories, many did not wait for their letter from the front, so they were sad about the personal and were happy for the heroes of the picture. Since such an active interest arose in the work, the guides had to get involved - to tell something about the work and about Laktionov.

The popular vote won the bureaucratic ban. The artist himself, seeing what place was given to his hard-won canvas, was very offended. But being a strong nature, and appreciating the interest of visitors, he decided to fight for the fate of the picture. I asked the museum staff for a book of reviews. And there - most of thanks to "Letters from the Front". Then he decided to send copies of these reviews to the very top, to all the offices that are possible, so that at least somewhere they can respond.

Painter, graphic artist, sculptor

From the family of a blacksmith. In his youth he worked as a bricklayer, painter, builder, draftsman. Initial art education received in the Rostov art school (1926-1929) from A. Chinenov. In the early 1930s he lived in Moscow, where he met I. E. Grabar, M. V. Nesterov, S. V. Malyutin, D. N. Kardovsky.

Studied at the Leningrad Institute of Painting, Architecture and Sculpture (1932-1938) under II Brodsky. In 1938 he completed his thesis: “The Red Army men graduate wall newspaper(Hero Soviet Union NV Yudin visiting the Komsomol-tankers) "(1938), which, despite the criticism of S.V. Gerasimov (" all things live apart "," all objects are carefully painted, the illusion of bright light is given "), was assessed "Great". He continued his postgraduate studies at LINZHAS (1938–1944) under IE Grabar.

Lived in Leningrad (until 1942), Samarkand (1942–1943, in evacuation), Zagorsk (from spring 1943 to 1947, in evacuation), Moscow (from 1947), spent the summer months of the 1950–60s in the artists' village Abramtsevo near Moscow , rested in Palanga (1958).

He worked mainly as a genre painter and portrait painter; painted landscapes, still lifes. I tried my hand at lithography and sculpture. author thematic paintings: "Letter from the Front" (1947; Stalin Prize 1948), "Defender of the Motherland" (1948), "Again I visited ... (Pushkin in Trigorskoe)" (1949), "In new apartment"(1952)," For embroidery "," Pioneer truth"(Both - 1954)," Silence "(1967) and others.

Created an extensive gallery of portraits of the Soviet military and statesmen, representatives of culture and science. Author of pictorial and graphic portraits: scientists A. A. Bogomolets, I. P. Bardin, I. V. Kurchatov, N. I. Muskhelishvili; artists I.I.Brodsky, P.P.Sokolov-Skal; the architect A. N. Dushkin; military NI Tsybin, PF Popkovich, VI Nifontov; the old Bolsheviks PI Voevodin, FN Petrov; surgeons A. A. Vishnevsky, D. A. Arapov, B. S. Rozvanov, A. A. Bocharova; pilot-cosmonauts Yu. A. Gagarin, V. V. Nikolaeva-Tereshkova, P. O. Popovich, A. G. Nikolaev, V. M. Komarov, P. I. Belyaev; artists V.I.Kachalova, N.P. Khmeleva, V.O. Toporkova, O.L. Knipper-Chekhova, M.P. Lilina, M.M. Tarkhanova, V.F.Shevchenko, A.P. Ognivtseva , I. V. Ershova, A. V. Zhiltsova. Created a group portrait of veterans of the stage in the House of the All-Russian Theater Society. A. A. Yablochkina "Secure old age" (1958-1960); a number of self-portraits.

For portraits of V.M.Komarov, F.N.Petrov and V.I.Voevodin (all - 1967) was awarded State Prize USSR im. I. E. Repin.

Since 1935 - a participant in exhibitions (an exhibition of paintings organized by the Leningrad Regional Association of Artists in Kronstadt). Exhibited at exhibitions: theses graduates of the All-Russian Academy of Arts (1938), jubilee historical exhibition Academy of Arts 1764-1939 (1939), 5th exhibition of works Leningrad artists(1940), “Two Hundred Years of the Academy of Arts” (1957) in Leningrad; "XX years of the Red Army and Navy"(1938), All-Union art exhibitions (1939 -" Industry of socialism ", 1946, 1947, 1949, 1955), works of Leningrad artists during the Great Patriotic War (1942)," 30 years of the Soviet armed forces. 1918-1948 "(1948) in Moscow; jubilee republican exhibition dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the October Revolution (1943) in Tashkent and others. Participant of many traveling exhibitions Soviet painting and graphics in the union republics and cities of the RSFSR; exhibitions Soviet art abroad, including in Berlin, Dresden, Budapest (1949), Bucharest, Helsinki, Prague, Budapest (1950), Beijing, Shanghai, Canton, Hankou (1954-1956), Damascus, Beirut, Cairo (1955-1956 ), Sofia, Plovdiv, Bucharest (1956), Wellington and other cities of New Zealand (1957-1958), Budapest, Miskolce, Warsaw, Bucharest, Sofia (1958-1959).

Taught at LINZHAS (1936-1944), the Moscow Correspondence Pedagogical Institute (1967-1970); professor (since 1968).

In 1958 he was awarded the title of a full member of the USSR Academy of Arts, in 1969 - People's Artist of the USSR; awarded the order Labor Red Banner.

Buried at the Novodevichy cemetery.

The artist's memorial exhibition is shown in the halls of the USSR Academy of Arts in Moscow (1982).

The works of A. I. Laktionov are devoted to the works of D. M. Osipov: "Alexander Laktionov" (M., 1968), E. V. Nikolaeva and I. G. Myamlin: "Alexander Ivanovich Laktionov" (M., 1978).

The works are in the largest museum collections, including the State Tretyakov Gallery, State Russian Museum and others.

Enters beautiful person... Stately, fit. In a gray-blue suit. With a resinous, raven-winged, bushy beard. The face is somewhat puffy, which indicates an unhealthy heart. The one who entered with all his guise looked like a priest. Elegant glasses frame. Myopic eyes look sharply, a tenacious, penetrating look. it famous artist - Alexander Ivanovich Laktionov... For a long time, since 1947, his painting "A Letter from the Front" has become a classic and textbook favorite of the audience.

We, students, look at the master with fascination and respect. We want to hear it. In the first row, in the hall, his wife and son, a boy of about twelve, sat in armchairs. Where have I seen them? And I remembered where my "acquaintance" with them came from. Recently the book "Technique of painting of masters of Soviet visual arts". It presents Mikhail Nesterov, Boris Ioganson, Alexander Deineka, P. Korin and others, as well as reproductions from portraits of Alexander Laktionov's wife and son. It is surprising with what power of authenticity the artist stopped the flow of time.

The master from the stage talks about his difficult childhood in the provinces. About the first earnings. Future academics start somewhere ... And for 19-year-old Sasha Laktionov, the first craft he mastered was the work of a bricklayer. The artist proudly named the street in his homeland in Rostov-on-Don, where he built part of the house.

He worked as a draftsman. He studied in Rostov, could not go to Moscow, there was not enough experience. Finally, with two comrades I left for the capital. We spent three or four nights at the Kazan station. Then we spent twenty-two days behind barrels. I heard Nesterov's phrase from the Korin brothers, the artists: "I didn't like to mess with you and I don't like it." However, Nesterov looked at the drawings of Laktionov and his friends, gave the order: "Make a portrait of a tree." They completed the task, among other things, pinning a reproduction from Velazquez to the barrel, and copied it.

When he came to study in Leningrad, he realized that fate brought him together with an artist who was close to him by his nature of perception of life. The motto of II Brodsky, who became Laktionov's teacher at the Academy of Arts, was the axiom: "To be as close as possible to nature!" This attitude became the credo of life and his student Alexander Laktionov. And when he created a half-length portrait of a teacher with hands, in which the artist showed the highest skill, I. Brodsky, at that time already a seriously ill person, summed up: "Now you can die in peace."

This portrait is today in the I.I.Brodsky Museum-Apartment in Leningrad. He always makes you stop in front of him, delighting with realism and life-giving energy.

The Academy of Arts was already finished, but life young artist proceeded in pursuit of the essentials. No apartment, no orders. This was accompanied by family troubles.

After the war, Laktionov lives with his family in Zagorsk, in the monastery premises, in a cell. The painting "Letter from the Front" was painted here. And there it is - the broken, rotten floor in the foreground of the painting. The edge of the monastery wall is brickwork, with sprinkled plaster. But what a piercing joy in the picture! And no matter how much envious people scold her, she remains a picture born on high level realism possible only on the basis of such a serious academic background. And this is the mastery of drawing in perspective, shape, color! The ability to put together all the terms that work on artistic image... "Erase the random features and you will see: the world is beautiful!" The feeling of being filled with the sun in the picture is extremely strong. A state of calm, silence, frozen joy. Victory! The symbolic figure of a demobilized soldier, unarmed, peacefully marching along the paths of Russian soil. And in the sky is the trail of a jet plane. A new level of tracking the security of the country. Close people are inscribed in the picture. Everything was done from nature. 1947 is the year the painting was created. I remember in 1947, as if nature itself responded to victory. The summer was unusually fine, warm and sunny. It is this state that is reflected on the canvas. And there is no second such sunny, jubilant, victorious picture in world art as "Letter from the Front". She was first shown at the All-Union art exhibition 1947.

At first it was hung out under the stairs on the first floor of the Tretyakov Gallery. The place is narrow, dark, there was no exit for viewing the picture. Once A. Zhdanov is walking through the halls of the Tretyakov Gallery with a government commission. Examining the exhibition. Stopping in front of the painting "Letter from the Front", he asks:

How do artists evaluate it?

Artists scold, - answer Zhdanov.

And what do ordinary spectators say, people? - again the stern secretary of the Central Committee raises the question.

People like it, admire ...

Why is it hanging under your stairs in the dark? Give her a good, prominent position.

I come the next day - there is no painting. Day no, two ... I ask the Tretyakov Gallery directorate, where is the picture? Nobody knows. She appears a few days later. They hung her in central hall, not far - “Harvesting” by T. Yablonskaya. Mine is on the wall with a distant exit. The picture, it turns out, was taken to the Kremlin. They showed it to Stalin. Everyone already knows: the leader liked this victorious work.

I meticulously wrote down all the artist's stories about myself in a notebook and therefore reproduce them here almost verbatim.

My wife and I wake up in our cell, in Zagorsk, - he says. - We played and sang the anthem of the Soviet Union on the radio. We hear the latest news reports: "Laktionov was awarded the Stalin Prize for the painting" Letter from the Front "."

Did you hear? - I ask my wife. My God, we can't believe our own ears. I ran out into the street, waited for the newsstand to open, and read the newspaper. Indeed, I have been awarded the Stalin Prize. Since then, - continued Alexander Ivanovich, - I got orders, I got an apartment in Moscow. Money began to be found ...

A very impressive painting was created in the 50s by A. Laktionov, depicting a girl's figure sitting on the windowsill of an open window - "A girl at embroidery." The work is sunny and joyful.

Once he comes to the Tretyakov Gallery and finds out that there is no painting. Without asking the author, it was presented as a masterpiece to the collection of Jawaharlal Nehru. She left for India forever.

Two other works of the artist, executed in the pastel technique, were also of great influence: "Still life with oranges", "Self-portrait" with a cane. All three pictures were published in the Ogonyok magazine. And at the All-Union Exhibition of 1957, in the Manege, spectators gathered in crowds near these works.

Once the Central Committee of the party ordered A. Laktionov a portrait of NS Khrushchev for mass circulation. It was executed in the technique of lithography based on photography and fleeting meetings with general secretary... As you know, Nikita Sergeevich was very stout, almost obese. This completeness also spread in the person of the first leader of the country. The artist "pulled up" the face of the subject, removed the excess puffiness, painted everything in detail - even the warts on the neck and nose, but he did everything, masterfully generalizing.

The artist recalled:

They hung a portrait of Nikita Sergeevich in front of the office in the Central Committee of the CPSU so that he, following in the morning to work in the office, could see him. He hung there for a week, they asked Khrushchev if he liked the portrait and could it be distributed throughout the country?

Print! Start up in circulation! - agreed the head of the country, who liked the portrait. NS Khrushchev personally in subsequent years congratulated AI Laktionov on the New Year. There was an artist with his sick heart attached to the "Kremlin", where he was treated.

He told how he painted a portrait of his son for many sessions, he worked almost all summer, so his son did not have a chance to play during the holidays.

He painted a large canvas - multi-figure composition“Secured old age”. On it famous artists who have worked on the stage and are living out their days in the house of veterans. In the picture, the actors are sitting in armchairs and on the couch around a large table covered with fruit. Tea is going on at the table, lively conversation.

Artists - they are artists until the end of their days. And before last day they live with an inextinguishable fire in their souls, an endless fantasy, - continued Laktionov.

They were so old that many died while I was painting them. - And while pointing his finger: - And this, and this. I had to finish many portraits from memory.

There were many funny and tragic episodes while I was working on it. Their main, one might say, professional passion is declaration of love. Yes, yes, these old, old people. - Calls a couple famous actors... - He pursued her throughout the house of veterans, courted, showed attention, offered her a hand and a heart. And how did it all end? And she ended up washing in the bathroom. He (Othello) went to her, fell to his knees and continued the confession. She (Ophelia) showed him a fig from the bathroom and died right there ...

The childhood and youth of A.I. Laktionov were difficult, fate favored him in mature age... With his labor and talent he reached the heights in art. But sadness settled in his heart after the tragic events. Once they took me to America best works Soviet artists: "Letter from the Front" by A. Laktionov, "Defense of Petrograd" by A. Deineka, "At the Old Ural Plant" by B. Ioganson, early landscapes M. Saryan ... they were loaded into the hold of the ship, where they were flooded with water. Tried, restored by the master. But on the canvases, there is practically no author's letter, handwriting, genuine paints of the artists who created these masterpieces ...

Biography

Known Soviet painter, schedule; a significant master of portrait and genre painting. A convinced realist, he adhered to a conservative academic manner in drawing and painting. Laureate Stalin Prize first degree (1948). Full member of the Academy of Arts of the USSR (1958). People's Artist RSFSR (1969).

Alexander Ivanovich Laktionov was born in Rostov-on-Don. The father of the future artist worked as a blacksmith at a factory, he painted well. He instilled in his son a love for the fine arts. Laktionov received his primary art education in hometown... In 1926 he entered the Rostov Art School, where he studied for three years under the guidance of the founder of the educational institution, artist-teacher A. S. Chinenov. This is where the formation began realistic direction creativity of the future master.

Continues his studies at the All-Russian Academy of Arts in Leningrad (1932-38). Notable influence the director of the Academy, professor of painting I.I.Brodsky, a student of I.E.

After completing the academic course, Laktionov completed his postgraduate studies at educational institution(1938-1944), where I.E. Grabar was its leader. During this period, Alexander Ivanovich devoted a lot of time to studying the work of artists of past years, studied the technique of their writing, trying to find his own painting style. The manifestation of such searches was reflected, for example, in the Self-portrait of 1945, which bears the imprint of the traditions of the old Spanish masters.

A. Laktionov's work began to attract the attention of specialists and spectators at the turn of the 1930s-1940s. The artist, who began his career in art as a portrait painter, at this time creates a number of memorable works, which, first of all, include the painting "Cadets Publishing a Wall Newspaper" (1938), a portrait of I. Brodsky (1939) and a series of graphic portraits of Moscow Art Theater artists ( 1940).

During the Great patriotic war Laktionov was evacuated to Samarkand, where the students of the Repin Institute of Fine Arts moved to. The artist drew a lot, was engaged in painting, painted the picture "Speech of Comrade Stalin on November 7, 1941" (1942).

In the post-war period, most Soviet artists turned to genre painting. Such masters as F.P. Reshetnikov, S.A.Grigoriev and others are widely known in this direction. Alexander Ivanovich also tries his hand at the genre and achieves significant success. His painting "A Letter from the Front" (1947) produced to the public strongest impression and brought wide popularity to the author. A year later, the artist was awarded the State Prize of the first degree for this painting.

"Letter from the Front" - one of the most famous post-war genre paintings was painted by the artist in Zagorsk (Sergiev-Posad) near Moscow, where in early 1944 Laktionov and his family arrived from evacuation. Alexander Ivanovich recalled: “I am with my big family lived in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. There, in the wall of the Kremlin, there was once a loophole for a cannon, and later a large cell was built. " Having concluded an agreement in the spring of 1945 for his first postgraduate painting, the artist was going to give it the name "Meeting". I considered several compositional options, but everything was decided by chance. Once, while walking, he met a soldier with a bandaged hand, leaning on a stick while walking. He was looking for desired address to transfer the letter. We started talking. Laktionov helped to find the right house and became an unwitting witness to the scene of receiving the long-awaited news from the front. So the idea of ​​the future picture was finally determined.

Laktionov worked on the painting for two years and finished it in 1947. As a model for a letter-carrier soldier, he attracted the artist V.I.Nifontov. According to the memoirs of the author of the canvas, a paratrooper who recently returned from the front, as expected, in army uniform, he asked for the canvas with all his gallant appearance. Only the hand had to be tied with a bandage and lightly rest on a homemade crutch. The woman with the envelope is the sister of A.I. Laktionov's mother, Evdokia Nikiforovna. The boy reading the letter is the artist's seven-year-old son Seryozha, and the girl with braids is his daughter Svetlana. Finally, the neighbor became a girl in a blouse, with the red armband of an air defense officer on duty. Her whole figure is bathed in the sun, and her smile adds warmth and light, fills the picture with optimism and joy.

In 1948, the painting was shown at the All-Union Art Exhibition at the State Tretyakov Gallery, where it had significant success with the audience. After the exhibition, the canvas was acquired by the State Tretyakov Gallery. Subsequently, for various museums A.I. Laktionov made more than one author's repetition of this famous work.

This painting by Alexander Laktionov became widely known and loved by the audience, participated in numerous exhibitions, and was repeatedly reproduced in print. She was included in school textbooks, placed on the pages of calendars, on the centerfolds of the magazines "Krestyanka", "Ogonyok", "Rabotnitsa", printed on separate sheets in mass circulation. A reproduction of the painting "Letter from the Front" is depicted on one of postage stamps USSR series "History of Soviet Painting" (1973).

He also created genre paintings: "Defender of the Motherland" (1948), "Summer" (1951), "Embroidery", "Moving to a new apartment" (1952), "Summer in Abramtsevo" (1958); painted ceremonial salon-style portraits: "Portrait of the Bolshevik Voevodin" (1950), "Portrait of A. Ya. Shterenberg", "Portrait of Academician I. P. Bardin"; turned to still life: "Svetlana with a bear" (1940), "Still life. Toys "(1949). In these works, Laktionov demonstrates high pictorial skill, however, a heightened desire for illusion and a naturalistic approach to reflection objective world sometimes, they deprived his work of the integrity of perception and did not allow him to penetrate into the area psychological characteristics characters.

V last decade his creative activity the painter created a series of images of Soviet cosmonauts, among which the masterfully painted portrait of V.M.Komarov (1967) attracts attention.

Alexander Ivanovich Laktionov was engaged teaching activities... As a student, he began teaching at LINZHAS (Leningrad Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, 1936-1944), then worked at the Moscow Correspondence Pedagogical Institute (1967-1970, since 1968 - professor).

Laureate of the State Prize of the RSFSR named after I. E. Repin (1971), awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor and medals.

Picturesque works of A.I. Laktionov are presented in the State Tretyakov Gallery, Altai Regional Museum of Local Lore, Donetsk Regional art museum, Sevastopol Art Museum named after P. M. Kroshitsky, Institute of Russian Realistic Art.

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The work of Alexander Ivanovich Laktionov in professional circles caused heated debates. Some believed that his works lacked the inner richness of images, while others noted the veracity of his art. The criticism voiced from the lips of the outstanding artist-teacher Sergei Vasilyevich Gerasimov about Laktionov's thesis has become a certain stereotype in the attitude of colleagues and critics to the artist's future works. But if Laktionov had painted only one textbook painting "A Letter from the Front", his name could have been inscribed in golden letters on the pages of the history of the fine arts of the Soviet era.

The life of Alexander Laktionov

The future artist Alexander Ivanovich Laktionov was born into a working class family in 1910. His homeland is Rostov-on-Don. Here in 1926-1929 he studied at the art school under A.S. Chinyonova.

The first mastered crafts young master were the professions of a bricklayer and a draftsman. Already in adulthood, Alexander Ivanovich proudly demonstrated the house in which he made his first masonry. Then he worked as a draftsman.

After some time, I decided to study further and went to Moscow with two friends. Through the Korin brothers, I came across Mikhail Nesterov, who decided to see what young talents were capable of. They completed the creative task of the eminent artist to make a “portrait of a tree”. In addition, they copied one of Velazquez's reproductions. Together with I. Grabar M. Nesterov gave the future artists a letter of recommendation, with which the guys go to Leningrad.

In 1932, Alexander Laktionov entered the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. Laktionov got into the workshop of Isaac Brodsky and managed to become one of his favorite students. In turn, Brodsky had the greatest influence on the work of the young artist. It is his motto "Closer to nature!" became decisive in the work of Alexander Ivanovich. The artists were surprisingly close in their perception of the world. The death of Brodsky in 1939 was a heavy blow for Laktionov.

While still a student and graduate student in 1936-1944, Laktionov taught at the Leningrad Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. The entire pre-war life of the young artist was full of wanderings and worries about their daily bread. During the blockade, the artist's family lived in evacuation in Samarkand. After the war - in Zagorsk, in one of the cells of the monastery. It was here that the most famous painting Alexander Ivanovich "Letter from the Front" (1947).

The picture became a milestone in Laktionov's life. For her in 1948, the artist received the Stalin Prize, but, more importantly, nationwide recognition. Although some colleagues still do not consider the picture to be something special. Nevertheless, after this painting, the Laktionovs received an apartment and the artist received orders.

After "Letters from the Front" A.I. Laktionov was officially recognized. In 1949 he became a corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Arts, and 9 years later - an academician. In 1969 he received the title of People's Artist of the RSFSR. 1971 became special in the creative biography of Alexander Ivanovich, he was awarded the State Prize to them. I. Repin for a series of portraits of Heroes socialist labor and also for the portrait of the cosmonaut Komarov. He was an artist and a professor. In the late 1960s, he taught at the Moscow State Correspondence Pedagogical Institute. He was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor and medals.

In March 1972, Alexander Laktionov's heart stopped beating.

It is interesting that the first and last personal exhibition of the artist took place 10 years after his death. To this day, Laktionov's work has both adherents and opponents.

Creation

One of the deepest works by Laktionov “Portrait of I.I. Brodsky "(1939). The artist depicted a dying teacher. With glare, halftones and other means of artistic expression, the artist managed to convey the atmosphere of a person's departure to better world... Looking at the picture, Isaac Izrailevich said: "Well, now you can die in peace." The work is kept in the Brodsky house-museum in St. Petersburg.

"A Letter from the Front" is a painting written in 1947. The work was created at the moment when the public needed it. The highly realistic canvas is noticeable not only by its emotions, but also by its mastery of color, shape, and meticulously detailed. The picture seems to be filled with the sun and at the same time the frozen joy of victory. In the year of its creation, it was exhibited at the All-Union Art Exhibition. Then they hung it up in the Tretyakov Gallery, under the stairs. The place seemed not very good to Zhdanov himself. On the advice of a party leader, "Letter from the Front" took its proper place in the Tretyakov Gallery. After a trip to an exhibition in the United States, the canvas was flooded with water in the hold of a steamer. It was restored, but the work has lost its original freshness.

The positive painting "Girl Embroidering", written in the 1950s, depicted a girl sitting on a windowsill. She left the Tretyakov Gallery for India as a gift to Jawaharlal Nehru.

The portrait of N.S. Khrushchev, whom the artist retouched, but at the same time left an external similarity. The portrait was immediately replicated. Since then, the General Secretary personally congratulated Laktionov on the holidays.

V last years life Alexander Ivanovich is working on a series of portraits of cosmonauts. The most notable is the portrait of V. Komarov, for which he received the Prize. I.E. Repin. The astronaut turned out to be strong-willed, strong and courageous in the portrait.

He portrayed Laktionov and people of art - actors of the Moscow Art Theater (Kachalov, Khmelev, Knipper-Chekhov), veteran actors in the composition "Secured Old Age". As the artist confessed in his interviews, he was especially interested in working with their faces. The artist painted self-portraits and portraits of people close to him.

Alexander Laktionov felt a particular passion for the transfer sunlight, all its shades. Soft tones in the still life "February", the landscape of ancient Suzdal. Still Life with Oranges is a wonderful example of pastel work.

The most fruitful period was the second half of the artist's life. He created a series of portraits, landscapes, still lifes, which are not only skillfully executed (they feel the traditions of the Russian realistic school), but are also brightly colored emotionally.

The artist worked in oils, pastels and tempera, was a wonderful master of watercolors, often mixed the technique of tempera and oil. He was also not alien to graphic techniques - a simple pencil, lithography, etching. Alexander Laktionov also used pressed coal and sanguine.

Until the end of his life, the artist was faithful to the realistic manner of painting, not recognizing experiments. His adherence to the classical traditions of Repin, Serov, Malyavin is felt in many of his early works. In the 1950s, he turned to European classics - Van Eyck, Lyotard. His manner of critics is called photographic illusionism with features of socialist realism.

In Laktionov's brush one can feel a very individual understanding of the truthfulness of art, its own artistic program. Whatever critics say about some of his canvases, even after his death, the artist's first solo exhibition gathered thousands of connoisseurs of his art.

In our country, paintings by Alexander Ivanovich Laktionov are kept in the Tretyakov Gallery, the Russian Museum, and also in some regional museums.