Alexander Deyneka

Alexander Deyneka was a Soviet Russian painter, graphic artist and sculptor, regarded as one of the most important Russian modernist figurative painters of the first half of the 20th century. His Collective Farmer on a Bicycle (1935) has been described as exemplifying the socialist realist style. Deyneka was born in Kursk and studied at Kharkov Art College (pupil of Alexander Lubimov) and at VKhUTEMAS. He was a founding member of groups such as OST and Oktyabr, and his work gained wide exposure in major exhibitions. His paintings and drawings (the earliest are often monochrome due to the shortage of art supplies) depict genre scenes as well as labour and often sports. ¹ Deyneka later began painting monumental works, such as The Defense of Petrograd in 1928, which remains his most iconic painting, and The Battle of Sevastopol in 1942, The Outskirts of Moscow. November 1941 and The Shot-Down Ace. His mosaics are a feature of Mayakovskaya metro station in Moscow. He is in the highest category "1A - a world famous artist" in "United Art Rating". ¹ Deyneka died in 1969 in Moscow, Russian Federation, of a heart attack. He was buried in the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow. His paintings are now displayed in various museums and galleries, such as the Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the State Russian Museum. He is considered one of the most original and influential Russian realist painters and poets of the 20th century. ¹