Sergey Vasilyevich Gerasimov (; – 20 April 1964) was a Soviet and Russian painter. Gerasimov was a student of artist Konstantin Korovin, and as a young artist he later went on to join the Makovets group. His early

watercolor Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (Commonwealth English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin 'water'), is a painting metho ...

s are considered masterpieces and show a tendency toward

modernism Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

that is less pronounced in his later work. In the 1920s and 1930s, he taught at the state art school Vkhutemas, and designed posters and painted works sympathetic to the new

Communist government A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state in which the totality of the power belongs to a party adhering to some form of Marxism–Leninism, a branch of the communist ideology. Marxism–Leninism was ...

in a style later known as Socialist realism. Despite this he was known throughout the Russian art world to be a liberal thinker whose paintings showed the influences of

Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

and other modern movements. Under

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

these tendencies placed him in aesthetic opposition to his nemesis (and ironic namesake) Aleksandr Gerasimov. During the

Stalin era Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

, Sergey Gerasimov was demoted from his position of director of the Russian Artists' Union and replaced by Aleksandr Gerasimov. During the period of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Sergey Gerasimov, along with most of the faculty and student body of the Surikov Art Institute were moved from Moscow to the ancient caravan city of

Samarkand Samarkand ( ; Uzbek language, Uzbek and Tajik language, Tajik: Самарқанд / Samarqand, ) is a city in southeastern Uzbekistan and among the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities in Central As ...

. Some of Gerasimov's most famous works were painted during this period and show scenes of the old oriental city of Samarkand. Many of these paintings are on display to this day at the

Tretyakov Gallery The State Tretyakov Gallery (; abbreviated ГТГ, ''GTG'') is an art gallery in Moscow, Russia, which is considered the foremost depository of Russian fine art in the world. The gallery's history starts in 1856 when the Muscovite merchant Pavel ...

in Moscow. With the death of Stalin and the rise of

Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and the Premier of the Soviet Union, Chai ...

, Sergey Gerasimov was re-instated as the head of the Russian Artists' Union, a position he held until his death in 1964. Some of Gerasimov's most famous students that he came in contact with and taught at the Surikov Art Institute include; Fedor Z. Zakharov, Vladimir Stozharov, Alexey and Sergey Tkachyov, Yury P. Kugach,

Aleksei Gritsai Aleksei Mikhailovich Gritsai (; 7 March 1914 – 6 May 1998) was a Soviet and Russian artist. From 1924 to 1931 he studied in Leningrad in the studios of S.M. Zaidenberg and from 1932 to 1939 at the Academy of Arts under P. S. Naumov, Vasily Yako ...

Gely Korzhev Geliy Mikhailovich Korzhev-Chuvelyov (; 7 July 1925 – 27 August 2012) was a Soviet and Russian painter. Life He studied at Moscow State Art School from 1939 to 1944 under Vasily Pochitalov, Mikhail Dobroserdov, and Mikhail Barshch. From 1944 ...

, and many other important Soviet artists.

Selected works

File:Vosstanile_krestian.jpg, ''The Peasant Uprising of 1860'' (1951)

External links

Gerasimov, Sergey Vasilyevich
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerasimov, Sergey Vasilyevich 1885 births 1964 deaths 20th-century Russian painters People from Mozhaysk Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Academic staff of Vkhutemas People's Artists of the USSR (visual arts) Recipients of the Lenin Prize Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Genre painters from the Russian Empire Illustrators from the Russian Empire Impressionist painters from the Russian Empire Landscape painters from the Russian Empire Portrait painters from the Russian Empire Soviet painters Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery