Victor Popkov - Soviet artist: biography, paintings. Popkov Viktor Efimovich (1932-1974)

Victor Popkov is an artist-painter and graphic artist, the author of talented original works, many of which are represented in the Tretyakov Gallery. As a child, after experiencing a terrible war, in his paintings he passed on the harsh reality and inner courage, which he observed in difficult years for the country. He forced spectators to sympathize with their heroes and admire them, empathize and admire.

Childhood

Popkov Viktor Efimovich (1932 - 1974) was born in Moscow, in the family of peasants. Father and mother, from an early age accustomed to hard work, moved from place to place in search of work.

Victor Popkov was the second child in a large family of four children. The news of his father's death in the war came when the future painter was nine years old, and his youngest brother was several months old. Mother, at the request of her beloved husband, devoted herself to children, never marrying. But she put the kids on their feet, gave everyone proper education.

The Popkovs family was friendly, but poor. The children loved the mother and, seeing her hard work, tried to listen in everything and not upset. Realizing that they are united by indestructible blood ties, the children grew together almost without quarrels and disagreements, always ready to come to the rescue each other and provide the necessary support.

Mother, Stepanida Ivanovna, adored her children and tried to educate them in austerity, but tenderness.

Such a seemingly happy childhood, was overshadowed by several more tragedies (besides the death of his father and constant need).

The death of a younger brother, Tolya's common favorite, left an indelible mark on Viktor Popkov's soul. He could not even attend the funeral of the baby.

The second bright unforgettable shock happened a little later, when Vitya was attacked by an ox and threw him to the ground. The boy managed to escape thanks to timely help arrived.

But, despite all the sorrows, Victor Popkov grew up a kind and friendly child, generous and sociable.

The first steps on the creative path

At school the boy was distinguished by special diligence and zeal. From a small age, he developed a desire to create on paper. Vita liked to follow the manifestation of the picture at the then "swindlers" (translated pictures), for which he spent all his pocket money, as well as watching the work of her neighbor, an artist who painted watercolor, but whose name, unfortunately, we do not know.

Stepanida Ivanovna, who first saw in her son's impulses to work with a brush, began to encourage the child's desire to create. She took him to an art school and helped to enter the Moscow graphic school, sincerely praised him, inspired her to creative feats and gave thoughtful advice.

And the boy wrote everywhere and everything. His early sketches covered a variety of subjects and events - these were trees, and houses, and people.

Teachers of the art workshop also considered talent in a gifted student and paid him extra attention. By short sketches from the artist's personal album, the beginning artist could be seen that the training in the art studio went to his benefit: the amateur sketches replaced meaningful quality works, mainly landscapes and still lifes.

Formation of creativity

In 1852, Victor entered the Surikov Institute in the Faculty of Graphics. And although this did not correspond to the wishes of the young man (he wanted to study at the department of painting), nevertheless this state of things favorably affected his further creative activity. The knowledge and skills acquired in the graphic faculty were reflected in his not repeated refined manner of the painter.

Now Popkov Viktor Efimovich, whose biography and creativity have actively revived with admission to a higher educational institution, is beginning to energetically create. He works in difficult, seemingly unfavorable conditions: in a small barrack, where he lives with five more people - a mother, a younger sister and an older brother with his wife and child. Tightness, poverty, malnutrition are the then companions of the master.

Sometimes I had to write in an unheated corridor, in different boots, only eating a piece of bread with bacon. But this did not affect the creative process. Victor Popkov worked selflessly, talently, confidently, regularly. His magnificent talent was noticed almost instantly, the gifted student was awarded at first a heightened, and a little later - Stalin scholarship, which he gave almost to a penny for the needs of his relatives.

Travels

Since 1956 Victor Popkov has been making long creative trips around the country, searching for original material for works and expressive angles. He visited the delightful, grandiose production buildings, realized the whole colossal scale of the work, fixed a lot of ordinary, routine plots, which later "poetized" and glorified. Unlike their fellow students who were looking for picturesque bright places and images, the beginning artist focused his vision on prosaic mediocre compositions. It's a concrete worker pouring water into the solution, or two workers against the backdrop of the huge wheels of the locomotive.

Victor created vigorously, briskly, as if he feared not to be in time, trying to keep on paper every episode of hard labor. Student exhibition of sketches, conducted in one of the trips to the Irkutsk HPP, was full of many accurate talented works by Viti Popkov.

In his paintings, the "severe style" prevailed, reflected in the conciseness of the details, the realism of the images, the dryness of the shades.

It was thanks to creative trips to construction sites Popkov Viktor Efimovich was able to become a national artist, depicting on his canvases of ordinary workers, laborers during his heavy monotonous occupation.

"Builders of the Bratsk Hydro Power Plant"

After a trip to the construction of a hydroelectric station in Bratsk in 1960, a remarkable original painting "The Builders of Bratsk" appeared. The young artist for a long time thought through every detail of the canvas - background, color, arrangement of images, camera angle.

It's not for nothing that the background of the picture is black, it focuses attention on the drawn figures, and not on events or incidents. For the artist, it was the main thing to properly present your heroes and show their strength, courage, self-confidence. Builders of Bratsk are dusty, tired of work people, but they are beautiful in their diligence and harsh, restrained energy.

It is noteworthy that in the original form the workers with tattoos on their hands were depicted on the canvas, since the majority of the workers at the Bratsk hydroelectric station were prisoners. But, realizing that in this form the management can not release the picture to the exhibition, Viktor Efimovich removes camp tattoos.

Ever since, the artist has become famous. He was loved by the people, critics admitted. And Viktor Popkov, whose paintings the Tretyakov Gallery buys and prints an editorial, continues to work fruitfully and delight the public with new original works, living modestly and tightly, almost poorly.

The flowering of creativity

"Working theme", reflected in other picturesque paintings of the artist, was not the only one that Popkov Victor Efimovich addressed during his creative inspiration.

To replace the "Brigade rests," "Bridge in Arkhangelsk" come moral and psychological plots of simple human relations. Popkov combines different artistic styles, experiments with color effects. These are dramatic worldly episodes, found in the canvases of "Quarrel", "Divorce", "Family of Swamps", "Two".

"Mezensky widows"

An incredible glory brought Popkov his cycle "Mezenskiye Vdovy" (late 1960s - early 1970s), in which he reflected on each canvas the individual character and tragic fate of a woman. Each work strikes its realistic identity and squat picturesqueness. And although the pictures "Waiting", "Old Age", "One" are full of tragic pain and oppressive melancholy, yet they are necessary for mankind in order to awaken in him humanity and kindness towards post-war women's grief and loneliness.

The theme of historical events occupied a significant place in the artist's work. His exposing "Chekist" and "Bell in the Door" denounced the era of unexplained bloody repression, and "The Overcoat of the Father" and others conveyed an irresistible aching sadness to those who would never return from the front line.

The tragic death

Working on historical and poetical themes, Victor Popkov begins his legendary painting "Autumn Rain", where he portrayed the great Pushkin against the background of the weeping element. Work on the canvas the artist came to the Pushkin Mountains.

November 12, while on business in the capital, Victor Efimovich with friends approaches the parked Volga to ask the driver to drive them. But the car was cash-collecting. Because of the recent sensational robbery, the guards who received the order to fire in case of danger opened fire. The artist was mortally wounded.

At his funeral, next to the lifeless body, there was an unfinished painting "Autumn Rain."

Personal life

Popkov Victor Efimovich was married to his classmate at the graphic school of Clara - a talented artist, a real friend of life. With it, they went through poverty and deprivation, lived in the same apartment with mother-in-law and father-in-law, worked in the same room, brought up their son together.

Klara Ivanovna was very bright and courageous person, she devotedly loved her husband, helped him during his depression and despondency, gave practical advice.

In addition to such wonderful spiritual qualities, the woman possessed a bright talent and skill. She became a popular popular master of children's books, worked with the publishing house "Kid", took an active part in allied and international exhibitions.