Aleksandr Nikolaevich Volkov

Volkov, Aleksandr Nikolaevich 

Born Aug. 19 (31), 1886, in Fergana; died Dec. 17, 1957, in Tashkent. Soviet painter. People’s Artist of the Uzbek SSR (1946).

Volkov studied in St. Petersburg, first in the workshop of V. E. Makovskii (1908-10) and then with N. K. Rerikh and I. la. Bilibin (1910-12), and at the Kiev Art School (1912-16) with F. G. Krichevskii. Upon graduating in Kiev, he moved to Tashkent. Volkov’s early works, created under the influence of cubism, are characterized by a stylization and geometrization of forms as well as by saturated color, rich in shadings—for example The Pomegranate Chaikhana (1924; Tret’iakov Gallery). His works dating from the late 1920’s and from the 1930’s are marked by decorative colorfulness, close-ups of faces, and typical national characters—for example, Girls With Cotton (1932; Tret’iakov Gallery) and Kolkhoznik (1933; Art Museum of the Peoples of the East, Moscow). Subsequently overcoming stylization more and more, Volkov attempted to reveal human character, as in his numerous self-portraits and other works. He taught at the Tashkent Art School from 1929 to 1946.

REFERENCE

Rakitin, V. “Khudozhestvennye iskaniia Aleksandra Volkova.” Iskusstvo, 1967, no. 7.