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Sergei Arksentevich Kolyada
(1907 – 1996) Soviet period artist

Sergei Kolyada was a highly accomplished portraitist, still life and landscape artist. His series on his hometown of “Old Moscow” has received the greatest acclaim by critics, including renowned Russian art commentator Valentina Azarkovich and art critic Vladimir Kostin The “Old Moscow” series is considered an important historical record and faithful witness of the landscapes of “Old Moscow” that are increasingly disappearing under the tide of modern development. Each of the subjects of Kolyada's works were painstakingly researched using archival records and other sources

Biography
Sergei Kolyada was born in Moscow in 1907. At the age of 18, he was admitted as an apprentice to the studio of famous artist Nikolay Krymov. Krymov’s mastery of impression and light is considered to have had an important influence on Kolyada’s future artistic career.

Kolyada’s apprenticeship was followed by four years of study at the prestigious Superior Institute of Arts and Techniques Vkhutemas-Vhutein under David Shterenberg and Sergey Vasilyevich Gerasimov after which he joined the OST (Society of Easel Painters) for two years prior to its disbandment by the authorities.

The beginning of Kolyada’s career coincided with the establishment of Soviet Socialist realism as the only authorized style of art. As with numerous artists of that time, Kolyada worked not only for the state in an official capacity; but also created a large body of impressive private works, including portraits, still lives and landscapes. Although he was admitted into the Union of Artists and participated in many group exhibitions, during his lifetime he did not gain the prestige of colleagues who fulfilled the Party’s plans for Art depicting “Revolutionary Russia.” He kept his personal and artistic integrity, perhaps at the expense of lost opportunities for advancement. In 1945, a great number of his early paintings (including a number of avant-garde works ) were destroyed in a fire at his parents’ home in suspicious circumstances.

Sergei Kolyada was the co-founder of the Society of Painters of the Moscow region and of the Union of Painters of Russia. After the Second World War, he participated in a few artistic missions in the “Pouchinsky-Gory” region (which inspired Pouchkine) and in the kolkhozes of the Moscow region during the 1950s.

In the 1960s, he started painting the landscapes of “his” old Moscow; a long and patient work which he willingly and passionately continued for over 30 years.

In his last years, Kolyada travelled, painted and exhibited outside the USSR in Australia and France.

He died in his beloved home town of Moscow in 1996 at the age of 89.

Besides a great number of group exhibitions, including at the prestigious Tretyakov Gallery ; Kolyada’s long career is marked by important solo exhibitions in the Krimsky-Val Gallery and the Glinka Museum, as well as the famous Moscow City Hall for the 850th Anniversary of Moscow foundation. Three important Moscow Museums hold a dozen of Kolyada’s works acquired when the artist was still alive: The State Tretyakov Gallery, The Moscow Historical Museum and the Lounatcharsky Museum.

Since his passing, his work has received increasing recognition and interest abroad, with some of his works included in 5 different exhibitions at the Museum of Russian Art in Minneapolis in the United States. His artworks are also held in a number of private collections in the United States, United Kingdom, France, Australia and Russia.

Exhibitions
1947    All-Union Art Exhibition - Artists from the Moscow region

1949    All-Union Art Exhibition - Moscow

1953    All-Union Art Exhibition – Moscow

1959    All-Union Art Exhibition "Portrait Painters" - Moscow

1966    Exhibition of works: "In memory of Moscow's Defenders". (Dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the defeat of Fascist troops near Moscow) 1968    All-Union Art Exhibition - Artists from the Moscow area:  "My region of Moscow"

1977    All-Union Art Exhibition: " The Self-Portrait in the Soviet and Russian Art" Tretiakov Gallery - Moscow

1980    Solo exhibition - Glinka Museum- Moscow

1980    All-Union Art Exhibition: “Moscow in the Soviet and Russian Art”, Tretiakov Gallery - Moscow

1985    Solo exhibition for his 75th birthday "My Moscow".

1990    Solo exhibition - Stoliarski School of Music – Brisbane, Australia

1991    Solo exhibition - Russian Club – Brisbane, Australia

1992    Solo exhibition – Etretat, France

1994    Retrospective exhibition "Central House of the Artist” - Krimsky-val, Moscow; Paris; Etretat; Moscow

1997    Group exhibition at the "White House - Moscow" for the 850th anniversary of the foundation of Moscow

1999    Solo exhibition - St Pierre des Corps - Tours, France

2003    Solo exhibition - St Hilaire de Riez, France

2006    Group exhibition – “Museum of Russian Art”, USA - Russian Realism: Art of the 20th Century

2007    (January 8 - April 21) Group exhibition – “Museum of Russian Art”, USA - Colors of a Russian Winter

2007    (April 30 - September 1) Group Exhibition - "Museum of Russian Art", USA - Soviet Bread Basket

2007    (February 19 - May 5)  Group Exhibition - "Museum of Russian Art", USA - The Milkmaids and Friends

2008    Group exhibition – “Museum of Russian Art”, USA - Russian Impressionism: On the Edge of Soviet Art