The exhibition “Painting of Observations”, dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the People’s Artist of the Russian Federation Pavel Nikonov, is open in the exhibition halls of the Russian Academy of Arts from September 1 to 27. It unites about 100 works created over the past 20 years.
Nikonov is one of the main artists of the “thaw” era, belonging to the galaxy of masters, whose names in the 1960s were associated with the renewal of the pictorial language, which laid the foundation for the “harsh style”. “The curators propose to comprehend the work of the master not only and not so much as a witness and participant of the era, but as an acting artist who is in constant development and author’s search,” the Academy of Arts notes.
In recent years there has been a desire to move away from the vector of thought, where the artist’s painting is inextricably linked with the” harsh style “and the acquired symbolic status of some of his early paintings. Art criticism and the professional community immediately noted Nikonov, who revised his own approach to painting and developed the theme of village life since the early 1970s. For a wider audience, unfortunately, this period, which has already been half a century of constant search and work, remains invisible.
Pavel Nikonov was born on May 30, 1930 in Moscow. He survived the war with his family in evacuation in the Urals. In 1956 he graduated from the Moscow State Art Institute. Surikov. Participant of cultural events of the “thaw”, the exhibition “30 years of the Moscow Union of Artists” in 1962-1963 in the Manege, where his painting “Geologists” became one of the main targets of criticism.
The era of the 1960s became a powerful impetus for Nikonov to develop his own visual language. He was a member of the “Nine” group. By the end of the 1970s, the village theme became one of the main themes in the artist’s works. In 1998-2006 he headed the easel painting workshop at the Moscow State Academic Art Institute. Surikov. Laureate of the State Prize of the Russian Federation, holder of the Order of Honor. Awarded a gold medal at the All-Union Art Exhibition of 1957-1958 for the painting “October”, the Order “For Service to Art” of the Russian Academy of Arts. The artist’s works are presented in the Tretyakov Gallery, the Russian Museum and other museums.
Press service of the Russian Academy of Arts