Aleksandr Deyneka

Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Deyneka (; 20 May 1899 – 12 June 1969) was a Soviet painter, graphic artist and sculptor, regarded as one of the most important Russian modernist figurative painters of the first half of the 20th century. His Collective Farmer on a Bicycle has been described as exemplifying the socialist realist style.

Life and career Deyneka was born in Kursk and studied at Kharkov Art College (apprentice of Alexander Lubimov) and at VKhUTEMAS. He was a founding member of groups such as OST and Oktyabr, and his work gained wide exposure in major exhibitions. His paintings and drawings (the earliest are often monochrome due to the shortage of art supplies) depict genre scenes as well as labour and often sports. Deyneka later began painting monumental works, such as The Defense of Petrograd in 1928, which remains his most iconic painting, and The Battle of Sevastopol in 1942, The Outskirts of Moscow. November 1941 and The Shot-Down Ace. His mosaics are a feature of Mayakovskaya metro station in Moscow. He is in the highest category "1A – a world famous artist" in "United Art Rating".

Deyneka is buried in the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow.

Legacy The title from one of Deyneka's works, "Work, Build and Don't Whine", was used as the title for a 2016 exhibition of Socialist Realist art at London's Gallery for Russian Arts and Design. One modern critic, however, suggested that Deyneka's posters are less radical than his fore-bearers like Alexander Rodchenko, and as a result, less interesting.

Honours and awards Hero of Socialist Labour (1969) People's Painter of the USSR (1963) Order of Lenin Order of the Red Banner of Labour Lenin Prize (1964)

Selected works

Three Women's Figures, 1920s The Cabaret, 1921 Перед спуском в шахту, 1924 Football, 1924 After the Rain. Kursk, 1925 Springtime, 1925 The Skiers, 1926 Tennis, 1926 На стройке новых цехов, 1926 Textile Workers , 1927 The Ode to the Spring, 1927 The Defense of Petrograd, 1928, Central Museum of the Defense Forces of the USSR, Moscow Механизируем Донбасс! (poster), 1930 Китай на пути освобождения от империализма (poster), 1930 Надо стать самим специалистами (poster), 1930 Book Cover, 1931 The Interventionists' Mercenary, 1931 On the Balcony, 1931 Crosscountry Race, 1931 A Girl at the Window. Winter, 1931 Mother, 1932 Soccer Game , 1932 The Sleeping Boy With Cornflowers, 1932 Noon, 1932 The Football Player, 1932 Кто кого?, 1932 In the Airs, 1932 The Night Landscape with Horses and Dry Grasses, 1933 Girls Swimming, 1933 Dry Leaves, 1933 Resting Children, 1933 Communists at Interrogation, 1933 Физкультурница / Работать, строить и не ныть! (poster), 1933 Without Work in Berlin, 1933 The Pier, 1933 The Race, 1933 Runners, 1934 Skiers, 1934 Landscape with a Herd, 1934 Goalkeeper, 1934 A Pioneer. Kursk, 1934 Crimean Pioneers, 1934 A Parachuter above the Sea, 1934 Quirinal Place, Rome, 1934 Spanish Stairways, 1934 A Street in Rome Monks, 1935 An Italian motif, 1935 The Park, 1935 The Portrait of S.I.L. with the Straw Hat, 1935 Tuileries, 1935 Quai de la Seine, 1935 Paris. In a Café, 1935 Une parisienne , 1935 Негритянский концерт, 1935 The Boredom, 1935 The Road to Mount-Vernon , 1935 , 1935 A Lunch Break in Donbass, 1935 Первая пятилетка, 1936 The Model, 1936 The Future Pilots, 1937 The Stakhanovites, 1937 Woman in Red, 1939 The Lilacs Nikitka – The First Russian Pilot, 1940 The Left March, 1941 The Outskirts of Moscow. November 1941 Sverdlov Place in December 1941 Evening. The Patriarch Ponds, 1941 A Burned down Village, 1942 Эвакуация колхозного скота Колхозницы роют противотанковые рвы на подступах к Москве Ремонт танков на прифронтовом заводе Танки идут на фронт Наступление началось The Defense of Sebastopol, 1942 The Knocked down Ace, 1943 Nude Woman Sitting, 1943 Under Occupation, 1944 Expanse, 1944 Above the Devastated Berlin, 1944 Berlin. The Day of the Declaration, 1945 A Stadium in Berlin, 1945 Near Kursk. Tuskor' River, 1945 Relay Race (sculpture), 1945 A Boxer (sculpture), 1947 100-meter Race (sculpture), 1947 Relay Race on the Garden Ring, 1947 Donbass, 1947 The Studio Window, 1947 In Sebastopol, 1947 Self-portrait, 1948 The Space of Building Sites under Moscow, 1949 The Skiers (mosaic)], 1950 Football Players (sculpture), 1950 Перед забегом (sculpture), 1951 A Nude Girl, 1951 Дачный поселок Кратово, 1951 In Sebastopol, 1947 On the Skating Rink in Kratovo, 1951 The Snow Maiden, 1954 The Laying Woman with a Ball, 1954 Still Life. Strawberries, 1955 A Nude Model, 1955 Football players (sculpture), 1955 The Tractor Driver, 1956 In Sebastopol, 1956 Near the Sea, 1956–1957 Putting the Shot (sculpture), 1957 Голова парашютиста (mosaic), 1957 A Nice Morning (mosaic)], 1959–1960 Hockey Players (mosaic)], 1959–1960 October Slogans of Peace by the Narvsky Gate, 1960 A Milker (mosaic), 1962 The Red Guardsman (mosaic), 1962 A Villa in Rome, 1965 The Young Designer, 1966 In the South (detail), 1966 Владимир Маяковский в РОСТА Летнее приволье Running Sportswoman (sculpture) The Cat and the Cook