MILASHEVSKY Vladimir Alekseevich

1893 (Saratov) — 1976 (Moscow)

Painter, graphic artist, scene-designer

Vladimir Milashevksy spent his childhood in Saratov and Kharkov. He studied at Bogolyubov Drawing School in Saratov under the guidance of V. V. Konovalov (1906–1907), at the school-studio of A. N. Grot and E. A. Shteinberg in Kharkov (1911–1913). In 1913 Milashevsky entered the faculty of architecture at the Higher Art Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (VKhU) under the Imperial Academy of Arts (IAKh); he studied under the guidance of N. A. Bruni, I. I. Tvorozhnikov, G. R. Zaleman, A. V. Makovsky, but he did not finished the course. Milashevsky studied at the New Art workshop under M. V. Dobuzhinsky, E. E. Lanceray and A. E. Yakovlev in 1915–1916.

The artist lived in St. Petersburg — Petrograd (1913–1924), in Moscow (since 1924). Milashevsky participated in activity of Petrograd House of Arts in late 1910s — early 1920s. The painter was engaged in easel painting and graphic art; he often worked in watercolour and Indian ink. He painted portraits, landscapes, still lifes and genre compositions.

Since early 1920s the artist worked a lot in book graphic art, created design of ex-libris. Milashevsky worked for the children’s magazine Vorobey (“The Sparrow”) in 1921–1922. Milashevsky created a series of illustrations for the books What is the Theatre by N. N. Evreinov (1921), The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club by Charles Dickens (1933), Kara-Bugaz by K. G. Paustovsky (1933), The Village of Stepanchikovo by F. M. Dostoyevsky (1935), Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert (1947). He also illustrated the books by A. S. Pushkin, I. A. Krylov, P. P. Yershov, A. P. Chekhov, Honoré de Balzac, and E. T. A. Hoffmann. Milashevsky collaborated with the publishing houses Academia and Molodaya Gvardia (“Young Guard”), the State Publishing House of Children’s Literature (Detgiz), and the State Publishing House (GIZ).

Since 1921 Milashevsky took part in exhibitions of art. He showed his works at the exhibitions of the society Mir Iskusstva (“World of Art”; 1922), the Exhibition of works by Petrograd artists of all art movements. 1919–1923 (1923), the Exhibition of Russian Ex-libris in Petrograd — Leningrad (1926), the exhibition Russian Ex-libris in Kazan (1923), the exhibition of the society Four Arts (1926), the exhibition Russian Drawing for 10 years of October Revolution in Moscow (1927) and many others. Milashevsky also participated in many international exhibitions and exhibitions of Russian art abroad, in particular the travelling exhibition of Russian art in the USA (1924–1925), in Amsterdam and Winterthur (both — 1929), London (1930), Zurich (1931), Königsberg (1932); the International exhibition Art of the Book in Leipzig (1927). The painter was one of the founders of the group Trinadtsat (“Thirteen”) in 1929–1931.

In 1978 the retrospective exhibition of works by the artist was held in Moscow.

Milashevsky wrote memoirs Yesterday, the Day Before Yesterday... (Moscow, 1989).

Vladimir Milashevksy is one of the greatest masters of easel and book graphic art of the first half of the 20th century. His works are characterized by dynamic and emotional sketch, and detailed drawing.

Works by Vladimir Milashevksy are in many museum collections, including the State Tretyakov Gallery, the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, the Alexander Pushkin Museum in Moscow, the State Literary Museum and others.