KANEVSKY Aminadav Moiseevich

March 29, 1898 (Yelisavetgrad, Kherson province) — June 14, 1976 (Moscow)

Graphic artist

Aminadav Kanevsky was born to a large family. Since 1909 he lived in Yekaterinoslav.  When he was 12, Kanevsky began to work as photographer assistant, toy handicraftsman assistant, and auxiliary worker on the Yekaterinoslav factory. At the same time he studied drawing by himself.

In 1917 he was called up for military service and demobilized in the same year. In 1920 he joined to the Red Army as volunteer. In 1921 Kanevsky was sent to the Higher State Artistic and Technical Workshops (VKhUTEMAS) for professional art education. At first he studied at the workers faculty (Rabfak). From 1924 till 1930 he studied at the faculty of graphic arts, under the guidance of A. M. Rodchenko, V. A. Favorsky, N. N. Kupreyanov, P. Y. Pavlinov, and D. S. Moor.

Kanevsky lived in Moscow. He was engaged in easel, book and magazine graphic art. He painted portraits, landscapes and genre sketches. He worked in watercolor, charcoal and Indian ink. Since 1924 he published his satirical drawings in the magazines Pechatnik (“Typographer”), Bezbozhnik u Stanka (“Atheist at the Machine”), Pioneer, Dayesh (“Let there be”), Prozhektor (“Searchlight”), Iskusstvo v Massi (“Art into the Masses”), Druzhnye Rebyata (“The Comrade Boys”), Krokodil (“Crocodile”), in the newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda (“Komsomol Truth”, Komsomol is Communist Union of  Youth) and others.  

In 1930 Kanevsky graduated from the Higher Art Technical Institute (VKhUTEIN), and then he founded the group of poster artists with his classmates. He created illustrations for many children’s books such as Devushka-revushka (“Cry-baby girl”) by A. L. and P. S. Barto (1935); Grandfather’s granddaughter (1954), Lena with a bouquet (1968) by A. L. Barto; Uncle Styopa (1936), Fables (1946), Clouds (1964) by S. V. Mikhalkov; Chudo-derevo (“Miracle Tree”, 1943), Moydodyr (“Wash-‘em-Clean, 1950), Tarakanishche (“The Monster Cockroach”, 1953) by K. I. Chukovsky; The Cat’s House (1955), What an Absent-Minded Man (1956), Waxie-Daxie (1960) by S. Y. Marshak; Vitya Maleev at School and at Home (1970), Jolly Family (1973) by N. N. Nosov and others. He illustrated works by I. A. Krylov, A. S. Pushkin, N. V. Gogol, M.Y. Saltykov-Shchedrin, A. P. Chekhov, A.N. Tolstoy and V. V. Mayakovsky.

Aminadav Kanevsky was a member of the Association of the artists of Revolutionary Russia (AKhRR). He participated in the exhibitions Poster at the service of the five-year plan in Moscow (1932), Artists of the RSFSR for 15 years in Moscow and in Leningrad (1932–1934) and others. In 1962 he was elected a corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Arts. In 1966 he was awarded the title of the People’s Artist of the RSFSR. Since 1973 Kanevsky was a full member of the USSR Academy of Arts, with the title of the People’s Artist of the USSR. He was also awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labour.

Works by Aminadav Kanevsky are in many museum collections, including the State Tretyakov Gallery, the State Russian Museum, the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, the State Literature Museum (GLM) and others.