Aleksei Mikhailovich Gritsai (; 7 March 1914 – 6 May 1998) was a Soviet and Russian artist. From 1924 to 1931 he studied in
Leningrad
Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
in the studios of
S.M. Zaidenberg and from 1932 to 1939 at the
Academy of Arts
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...
under P. S. Naumov, Vasily Yakovlev, and
Isaak Brodsky.
Gritsai became best known as a landscape painter with a deep appreciation for the power of nature to provide inspiration for humanity. He believed that since humans are a part of nature they can find joy and consolation through positive interaction with it. Due to the reduced mobility brought by sickness at the end of his life, he was unable to work directly in nature and had to rely on his memory. Because of this, much of his final work is imbued with the poignancy of reminiscence.
Gritsai was a People's Artist of the USSR (; 1974), an academician of the
USSR Academy of Arts (1964), the laureate of two
Stalin Prizes (1951 and 1952) and one
USSR State Prize
The USSR State Prize () was one of the Soviet Union’s highest civilian honours, awarded from its establishment in September 1966 until the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. It recognised outstanding contributions in the fields of science, mathem ...
(1978).
References
External links
Online Gallery of Gritsay's worksGallery of Gritsai Works
1914 births
1998 deaths
20th-century Russian painters
Full Members of the Russian Academy of Arts
Full Members of the USSR Academy of Arts
Repin Institute of Arts alumni
People's Artists of the USSR (visual arts)
Recipients of the Stalin Prize
Recipients of the Medal "For Courage" (Russia)
Recipients of the Order of Friendship of Peoples
Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour
Recipients of the USSR State Prize
Russian landscape painters
Russian male painters
Russian portrait painters
Soviet painters
Burials at Vagankovo Cemetery
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