Arkady Plastov

Arkady Alexandrovich Plastov (Аркадий Александрович Пластов; born 31 January 1893 in Prislonikha, Simbirsk Governorate; died 12 May 1972 in Prislonikha, Ulyanovsk Oblast) was a Russian socialist realist painter.

Biography
Plastov was born into a family of icon painters in the village Prislonikha in the Russian Governorate of Simbirsk. He attended the sculpture department of the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture beginning in 1914. In 1917, he returned to his native village, where he occupied himself with painting, drawing from nature.

Starting in 1935, he steps introduces his category painting into the public. According to the strict political-artistic doctrine of the time at that time, which only permits the style of socialist realism in all art kinds, Plastov pictures the life in the Soviet Union, the pervasive building up of socialism. His work is characterized by his knowledge of the life in the villages of the Soviet Union, his love for his native land, strong, live pictures and his skills of painting. As the reaction to the events, which moved the population of the Soviet Union at that time, Plastov showed in his pictures, how the village life had changed by the collectivization. As models of the Protagonists of his works Plastov chose characters of his homeland village. The outbreak of World War II inspired new motives for the work of Plastov. He depictured suffering of the Soviet people, work of the women, old people and children on the kolkhoz fields during the war. After the war Plastov kept the motives of the village life.

A characteristic for Plastov's works is painting “Spring” (Весна) from the year 1951. It shows a young naked woman dressing up a girl before a wood hut - a Banya (the Russian counterpart to the Finnish sauna). It snows and in the background there are snow covered pastures. “Spring” is considered as turning point in the Soviet history of art. For the first time since introduction of socialist realism a work of art shows a completely unpolitical everyday life scene in the official area of the Soviet Union. Neither actual as typical for the past statesmanship - which Physis of the Protagonisten of the work idealizes, nor leaves itself a political message, as for instance in Plastov's earlier works that glorified the collectivization.

During his artistic career Arkady Plastov was awarded two Orders of Lenin, he was laureate of the Stalin Prize, (1946), Lenin prize (1966) and he also (in 1972, posthumously) was nominated for the State Prize of the RSFSR named Ilya Repin - for his painting "Balefire in a Field", "Out of the Past" and a series of portraits of his contemporaries.

Museum Collections

 * Plastov's page on the State Tretyakov Gallery portal.
 * Smolensk State Museum-Reserve Смоленский государственный музей-заповедник (Plastov' «Guest from the Front Line» 1944)
 * Plastov Solo Exhibition, 2013. State Russian Museum, St Petersburg / ГРМ, Санкт-Петербург, 04 сентября - 28 октября 2013
 * Tver Regional Art Gallery Тверская областная картинная галерея
 * Perm State Art Gallery Пермская государственная художественная галерея
 * Ekaterinburg Fine Art Museum Екатеринбургский Музей Изобразительных Искусств
 * Chelyabinsk State Fine Art Museum Челябинский государственный музей изобразительных искусств
 * State Art Museum of Nizhny Novgorod Нижегородский государственный художественный музей
 * Samara Art Museum Самарский областной художественный музей
 * Ulyanovsk Regional Art Museum Ульяновский областной художественный музей
 * Volgograd Fine Art Museum Волгоградский музей изобразительных искусств
 * Saratov State Art Museum Cаратовский государственный художественный музей
 * Astrakhan State Art Gallery Астраханская государственная картинная галерея
 * Rostov-on-Don Regional Fine Art Museum Ростовский областной музей изобразительных искусств
 * Kursk State Art Gallery Курская государственная картинная галерея
 * Tula Regional Art Museum Тульский областной художественный музей
 * State Art Museum of Altai Krai, Barnaul Государственный художественный музей Алтайского края (Plastov' «Portrait of the Artist Kiselyov» 1961)
 * Приморская государственная картинная галерея
 * Primorye State Fine Art Gallery, Vladivostok Приморская государственная картинная галерея (Plastov' «Letter» 1971; p. 3)
 * Irkutsk Art Museum Иркутский областной художественный музей (Plastov' «Tractor Drivers' Supper» 1951, up stairs, to the right).

Video Links

 * Film by A. Ignashov, with Plastov's lifetime shooting, on Russian, 35 min.
 * Arkady Plastov and [[Socialist realism|realistic] Russian painting after World War II, on Russian 17 min.]
 * Film depicted the celebration of 120-year Anniversary of A. Plastov and Jubilee Exhibition, Moscow, 2013 on Russian, 59 min.