"Viktor Popkov". Book to 80-летию Masters
ARTinvestment.RU   12 апреля 2012

In may she published the book doctor of arts, PP Kozorezenko-мл., dedicated to the classics of Russian art of the second half of the twentieth century, the true scale of creativity which becomes clear only with the passage of years

In May published a book Doctor of Arts, PP Kozorezenko-ml. "Viktor Popkov».

in March 2012 marked the 80th anniversary of the birth of Victor Popkov . When I started working on a book dedicated to this date, and dedicated to the artist, the main problem seemed that Popkov - figure in the history of Russian art is not just a well-known, and, one might say, a textbook. Popkov Creativity is not just art history became a subject of research. A magnificent artist, a classic of Soviet realist school of painting, reference books and encyclopedias say about him as the author terms "left Moscow Union of Artists," called one of the founders of the severe style. Popkov present work in the major exhibitions and the Tretyakov Gallery State Russian Museum. In recent years, the name of Victor Popkov sounded loudly on the international art market, auction prices for his best work close to a million dollars, the artist became part of the largest private collections.

B. E. POPKOV Spring Depot. 1958 Oil on canvas. 168 x 245 Private Collection

B. E. POPKOV Three artists. 1962-1963 Oil on canvas. 160 x 225 Private Collection

As I received for publication in a book of images of works Popkov metropolitan and regional museums and private collections from closed, as received material from archives and personal photographs, I strongly felt that contact with the legacy of the artist, the true scale of the works which still remains undervalued.

multifaceted talent of Victor Popkov manifested in powerful paintings of the period of severe style, and in fine graphic works, for a long time remained in the shadow of master paintings. In "Still Life with a patchwork quilt," Popkov masterfully combines the most accurate sketch of the household and, simultaneously, the philosophical understanding of an era, the patchwork coverlet which intertwined the fate of the artist. How bold and diverse artistic search was Popkov, clearly shows the unexpected temporal coincidence: Distinguishing "Winter drinking," and the abstract expressionist compositions (still unknown to the general public, and waiting for their researchers) created by the artist almost in parallel, in the early 1970s.

In . E. POPKOV series "Winter Zolotitsa." 1965 Linocut. 30 x 42 In the bottom right corner of the inscription, Vladimir Shtranihu Private Collection

B. E. POPKOV Still Life with a patchwork quilt. 1968-1969 Oil on canvas. 150 x 185 Private Collection

and creative, and human destiny Victor Popkov was woven from the contradictions inherent in individuals who are often truly remarkable. The artist was active in public life, was a committee for the award of the Lenin and State prizes, his works took on the Tretyakov Gallery, but never by anyone Popkov is not reckoned to a number of semi-official sponsors, creating a front version of Soviet reality. In 1966 he received an honorary diploma Popkov Biennale of Young Artists in Paris for three films ("Noon", "The team is resting," "Two"), his works have participated in many international exhibitions. Nevertheless, the recognized colleagues, the public and critics, the home of Victor Popkov, when life was not "popular" or "deserved". There have been awarding diplomas for the Union of Artists "Best of the Year" - but not the official title. Only a year after his death, in 1975, Viktor Popkov was awarded the USSR State Prize. Even an incredible set of circumstances that led to the death of the artist, contrary to the established official image Popkov - a successful, energetic, completely harmonized with the existing world order: the reality was much more complicated and tragic.

work on materials collected for a forthcoming book, has brought an understanding of the paradoxical situation of artistic heritage and, more broadly, with the perception of the importance of Victor Popkov for Russian culture. When life Popkov was one of the most powerful, influential (and in the artistic and universal significance of the word) the figures of his generation, a master that influenced the value systems of many artists. It may seem that over the decades since his death, the perception of creativity Victor Popkov has been narrowed to the severe style Impersonation. But all his work, his quest - poetry in the landscape, distinctiveness and lyricism in the portrait, civic and philosophical generalizations in the case of large-scale canvases, experiments with abstraction - not to limit creativity Popkov frames in one direction. His legacy is a modern, decades, it is a source of fruitful ideas in the picturesque Russian culture. As the universe vast heavenly bodies, though unseen view of the observer, his presence alter the gravitational field and the orbit of comets, as great artists, at the time of leaving in the shade, remain constant in its significance and its influence on the work of artists of the next generation.

B. E. POPKOV composition. 1973 Gouache on paper. 43 x 29 Private Collection

B. E. POPKOV Winter drinking. 1973 Oil on canvas. 100 x 110 Private Collection

Uneasy research, search paintings in museums and private collections, interviews with relatives and friends of Victor Popkov - all this gave a wealth of material for the book. However, the material would have remained in the game, and the book - the manuscript, if not a happy confluence of circumstances.

Study of Victor Popkov creativity led me to a meeting with Andrei Vasilyevich Filatov, patron and collector , in a meeting which I found works fine Popkov. I am glad that I can now say that only through the support of Andrei Vasilievich, thanks to his love of Russian art and Russian culture, the book is devoted to Viktor Popkov, saw the light. The energy and enthusiasm of our contemporaries have made this project possible, and in the year the 80th anniversary of Popkov rediscovered for us the great artist, his beautiful and tragic fate.

Today we are living in the XXI century, it is understood the true significance of creativity Victor Popkov. In 2005/2006 in New York, the Guggenheim Museum, hosted an exhibition RUSSIA!, Timed to coincide with the anniversary of the 60th session of UN General Assembly, and united in its exposition of the most outstanding works created in Russia for nine centuries. There, among the masterpieces of Andrei Rublev, Borovikovsky, Repin, Kandinsky and Deineka designed to impersonate the Russian art in the context of the art world, is rightly taken the place of Victor Popkov.

P. P. Kozorezenko ml.