Isaak Brodsky

Isaak Izrailevich Brodsky (, ; – 14 August 1939) was a Russian painter and draughtsman of Jewish descent, active in St. Petersburg (later Leningrad) during the Silver Age and early Soviet era, best known for his portrayals of Vladimir Lenin and other Soviet leaders, renowned as blueprint examples of the Socialist realist style.

Life and career

Brodsky was born in the village of Sofiyivka near Berdiansk in modern day Ukraine to Yisrael, a Jewish merchant. He studied at Odesa Art Academy and the Imperial Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg. For five years he studied at the Academy under Ilya Repin. In 1916, he joined the Jewish Society for the Encouragement of the Arts. When Brodsky asked Lenin to autograph his painting Lenin, he said: "I am signing to what I don't agree with for the first time".

Brodsky was on good terms with many leading Russian painters, including his mentor, Ilya Repin. He was an avid art collector who donated numerous first-class paintings to museums in his native Ukraine and elsewhere. His art collection included important works by Repin, Vasily Surikov, Valentin Serov, Isaak Levitan, Mikhail Vrubel, and Boris Kustodiev.

Brodsky was an Honoured Worker of the Arts Industry of the RSFSR and a member of the Union of Russian Artists. He was the first painter to be awarded the Order of Lenin. In 1934, he was appointed Director of the All-Russian Academy of Arts. From 1934 to 1939, he was also a head of personal Art workshop in institute, where his pupils included the well-known Soviet painters: Nikolai Timkov, Aleksandr Laktionov, Yuri Neprintsev, Piotr Belousov, Piotr Vasiliev, Mikhail Kozell and others.

Legacy He died in Leningrad in 1939. His memoirs were published posthumously. After his death, in on Arts Square in St. Petersburg was declared a national museum. His art collection is still on exhibit there.

Odesa Fine Arts Museum bore Brodsky's name in 1938-1941.

The Berdyansk Art Museum, founded by Brodsky in 1930, bears Brodsky's name, where the artist gave about 200 paintings by Russian artists from his collection.

Gallery