Geliy Mikhailovich Korzhev, artist: biography and creativity

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The path of an artist is a difficult and indirect road. Sometimes you need years of painful search, a lot of work to improve your skills, choose your own style, your images, your plots. The creative path of Helium Korzhev was difficult. Striving for conciseness and expressiveness, he excludes everything, as he believes, is superfluous, and his characters occupy the entire space of the picture. What did the artist want to express with his works, what are they about? We will talk about this in the article.

Biography of Helium Korzhev

On July 7, 1925, a boy was born in Moscow to the family of a park architect and a teacher. He was given the name Helium, which means "sunny". Two more girls were later born in the Korzhev family. From an early age, the boy grew up in an atmosphere of art. The talent for drawing appeared in Helium in childhood. Korzhev came to the art studio as soon as he was eleven years old. It was the class of A. P. Sergeeva, a student of V. A. Serov. Korzhev was admitted to the newly opened professional secondary schoolthird class in 1939.

Having learned about the beginning of the war, Geliy Korzhev, together with his comrades, goes to field exercises near Smolensk, enrolling in sniper courses. However, he did not go to war, as it was decided to evacuate the school with teachers to Bashkiria. The school was located in the village of Voskresenskoye. Having been evacuated until 1944 and returning to Moscow with the school, Geliy wrote in his diaries that being in the countryside and direct contact with nature enabled the future artist to realize that beauty lies in people and the nature surrounding the children. This determined the further development of the school itself and gave direction to many students in their work.

Studying at the institute

In 1944 school ended. The final exams of the pupils of the school was an exhibition of their works made in the evacuation. As a result, the selection committee of the Moscow State Art Institute accepted all the graduates of the school for the first year without entrance exams. Korzhev had excellent teachers, such as S. V. Gerasimov and V. V. Pochitalov. Korzhev combined his studies at the institute with work at the Pushkin Museum, where he helped sort out the rescued paintings from the Dresden Gallery.

In 1946, Geliy Mikhailovich started a family with Kira Vladimirovna Bakhteeva, a student of the acting department of GITIS. Two daughters were born in the family.

Working as a teacher

After receiving higher education and the title of artist, Geliy Korzhev was invited in 1951 by his teacher, S. V. Gerasimov, to the Stroganov School to engage in teaching activities in junior courses. As Korzhev wrote in his diaries, when you teach others, you learn yourself. While teaching, he organizes exhibitions in Moscow and takes part in them himself. The paintings of Helium Korzhev were received favorably by the public. In 1952, the artist tries himself as an illustrator. It is his illustrations that accompany the tale "About the Malchish-Kibalchish".

The painting "During the war"

In 1954, the first finished painting by Gely Mikhailovich "In the days of the war" was released. She was in the exposition of the Exhibition Hall of the Union of Artists of the USSR. The painting was highly appreciated by both artists and visitors to the exhibition. S. V. Gerasimov noted that the artist has established himself and has mastered the skill of a strong drawing.

According to his recommendation, Korzhev is accepted into the Moscow Union of Artists (MA) without the required candidate experience. The painting "In the days of the war" in 1955 is exhibited in the Tretyakov Gallery. As a member of the Union of Artists, Geliy Korzhev is actively involved in organizing annual exhibitions at the Moscow Union of Artists. Such exhibitions were necessary for young novice artists, since it was from them that the artists got their start in life.

Themes of the post-war years

The generation of artists of the post-war years matured. The war could not but amend such a concept as "socialist realism". More truth appeared in the works of artists. Gradually wavepraise leaves the painting of those years, and people, their life, their way of life become the central place in the work of artists of the Korzhev generation. Geliy Mikhailovich participates in exhibitions with his paintings "Left" and "Arrived from the construction site". At the same time, he did not stop working on the paintings "Morning" and "Typist", which were released in 1957 at regular exhibitions in Moscow. These paintings were exhibited throughout the year at several other exhibitions in the capital.

First triptych

In addition to exhibitions in the Soviet Union, Korzhev takes an active part in creative business trips from the Union of Artists in Italy, and then in Syria and Lebanon. At the same time, he was elected a member of the Board of the Ministry of Agriculture. In 1958, the first of the paintings of the triptych "Communists" conceived by the artist is exhibited at the next Moscow exhibition. This is the International. By 1960, work on the triptych was completed. This painting gains great fame and brings its author an award - the Gold Medal of the USSR Academy of Arts.

Work on the planned two more paintings is coming to an end. These are "Lovers" and "Artist". His painting "Lovers" was highly acclaimed. The press noted that Korzhev in his picture showed a deep mood, and, as always, remained true to his view of human destinies.

Creativity of the 60s and 90s

In the 60s, Korzhev worked in Moscow as the head of the creative studio of the Academy of Arts and as part of creativebusiness trips visits France and Great Britain. In the 70s he visited Italy and Spain with exhibitions held in the cities of these countries. In 1972, Korzhev Geliy Mikhailovich was awarded the honorary title "People's Artist of the RSFSR". Being from 1968 to 1976 the chairman of the Union of Artists of the RSFSR, Korzhev gathered a team of young artists with new ideas and methods for the development of art. New names appear at exhibitions. 1979 brought Korzhev a new title - "People's Artist of the USSR". "It is difficult to combine social work, organizing exhibitions and teaching activities with creative work," Korzhev wrote in his diaries.

In 1986, he completed his teaching career. In the same year, in the spring, the artist's mother passed away, and in the winter, his father. Geliy Mikhailovich went deep into work on the cycle of paintings of the "Biblical" series. In 1991, the artist refuses to be elected president of the USSR Academy of Arts. He believes that it is necessary to deal with the main business of his life - the creation of paintings. Young people have enough energy to combine several works in themselves, but the time comes when you need to leave what brings spiritual satisfaction, and this is the activity at the canvas in your workshop.

Last paintings of the artist

After the collapse of the communist regime, Geliy Mikhailovich works in his workshop, creating new canvases, participating in exhibitions. This continues for 21 years until his death. Over the years have been written and presented to the public:

• Cycle "Oh DonQuixote".
• "Household" series was replenished with paintings "Get up, Ivan!" and "The Lodger".
• The work of the "Bible" series has been completed.

The artist's paintings continue to participate in exhibitions at home and abroad. The artist shares his thoughts that a lot of paintings were created that went to foreign collections, some of the traces are lost. But Geliy Mikhailovich believed that somewhere they live and continue to serve people. The last paintings of the artist were "Prophet", "Last Hours on Earth" and "Winner". In 2012, on August 27, Geliy Mikhailovich Korzhev's heart stopped.

Geliy Mikhailovich is buried at the Alekseevsky cemetery in Moscow. The authors of the tombstone are daughter Irina and grandson Ivan Korzheva.