User:Smoliakov

NIKOLAI SMOLIAKOV
Nikolai Nikolaevich Smoliakov (Russian: Николай Николаевич Смоляков)(January 13, 1937 - August, 1999) was a painter, graphic artist, designer and illustrator.

Life and work
Nikolai Nikolaevich Smoliakov was born in Naro-Forminsk, near Moscow, in 1937. During World War II, the town of Naro-Forminsk was captured by the Nazis, and Nikolai and his family were placed in a barn along with the other people - mostly women and children. The barn was ordered burned down with them all inside. The mothers and children begged for their lives. The Nazi soldiers decided at the last moment not to set the barn on fire, and left. Nikolai with his young mother and young brother to return to their home. Nikolai always remembered this scene. It had a very strong impact on his emotional outlook.

Nikolai’s father left home to fight against the Nazis in World War II, leaving behind his wife and two children. He was killed during the war.

After the end of the war, Russians made the Nazi prisoners rebuild the town of Naro-Fominsk. One of the buildings they were rebuilding was a school. One day, Nikolai wandered into this school and saw that one prisoner was painting a mural on the wall. He was fascinated by the painting he saw there. He was only 8 years old.

Smoliakov joined the art classes offered at the local Boys and Girls Center, where the teacher immediately noticed his exceptional abilities. He told Smoliakov’s mother, who was a textile worker, barely able to make ends meet, about her son’s talent, and he offered to take her son to Moscow’s famous art school for gifted young artists. Smoliakov was just 13 years old at the time but, he agreed to apply to the Surikoff Art Academy. With no money, no transportation, but just the hope of youth and his art talent to recommend him, he left home.

The board members of the Surikoff Art Academy were so impressed by Niikolai’s artwork that he was allowed admission. Nikolai was accepted in 1951 into the famous Surikoff’s Middle School Academy of Arts for talented young artists in Moscow, Russia. Across the street from the Academy was the Museum of Fine Arts – Tretiakoffski Gallery, where Nikolai spent endless hour, studying and just enjoying the varied works and forms of art.

In 1957, Nikolai graduated from the Surikoff Art Academy with honors. Most of his classmates, with their connections, moved on to various prestigious art universities. However, despite his great accomplishments at the Academy, Nikolai had no such help. He would have to find another way. He was determined to continue his education, and after much effort was accepted by the Moscow State University of Printing Arts.

The training at that university was highly structured. This did not allow for much of the artistic freedom that Nikolai would have liked. He was fortunate, however, to have a teacher and mentor at the university. His name was Ely Belutin.

Although the university’s concepts might have been structured, Belutin’s teaching was not. He taught Smoliakov to find his own inner sight that would let him see more than his own eyes were made to do. Under Belutin’s instruction, Nikolai discovered more than he ever had before. His artwork went into areas he had never before imagined. He learned that he had no limits, at least not inside himself. Nikolai Smoliakov’s art continued to impress his teachers. In 1962 he graduated from the university, again with highest honors.

Immediately after his graduation, the young Smoliakov was invited by his teacher, Ely Belutin, to participate in an art exhibit at the Manege Gallery in Moscow. This is the largest, and one of the most prestigious, art galleries in Russia. It was a great honor for such a young artist to be invited to exhibit his art there.

The critics who came to the exhibition were full of praise for the newcomer. Many of the highly respected names of the Russian art world were saying that here was a new chapter in Russian art-history. Unfortunately, the President of the Soviet Union, Khrushchev, who visited the exhibit, did not like what he saw. He ordered the art confiscated. What ultimately became of the artworks that were taken has never been determined. However, about ten years later, on September 15, 1974, a similar exhibition was held. This exhibit was not officially sanctioned by the government and was held in a vacant lot in Belyayevo forest. It featured modern art works by many of the top artists of the time. However, the official Soviet government stance was that these were images created of western influences and improper for public viewing. The police moved in on the exhibit with bulldozers and water canons and destroyed most of the art work. As a result, the exhibit became known as the Bulldozer Exhibit. Smoliakov's art exhibits were destroyed with the others and this discouraged him from public exhibitions for many years after.

In the years that followed, Smolikov continued to paint, but exhibited very little. Publicly, only his artwork for various magazines and for the government was widely seen. His name became known through magazines, but magazines only allowed for a limited artistic expression.

For several years he continued in this way, moving between his public and private art. Then, in 1965, he was offered the position of chief artist for Soviet Life Magazine. Soviet Life Magazine was to become a major part of his life for the next 30 years, until the fall of the Soviet Union.

In 1969, a new publication was proposed: a magazine called Soviet Journalist. This was to be a showcase publication. It was a magazine intended to impress all who saw it, throughout the world. All artists were invited to submit their ideas for the new look of this magazine. Hundreds of artists presented work. After several levels of elimination by a ten-member panel, Nikolai Smoliakov’s ideas were selected as the best by a unanimous vote. In addition, the panel recommended that Smoliakov should leave Soviet Life Magazine to become the editor of Soviet Journalist. However, Nikolai Smoliakov agreed to become the editor of Soviet Journalist only upon the condition that he would remain the chief artist for Soviet Life Magazine.

Working on both magazines simultaneously kept Smoliakov very busy, and he was still rarely able to exhibit his paintings.

In the late 1980’s, President of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, began to loosen the restrictions on artistic expression. Smoliakov began exploring new areas of art, and also began to view some of his old work in new ways. His creative energy seemed to swell.

In 1990 Nikolai Smoliakov’s old friend and teacher, Ely Belutin, received permission to exhibit some of the finest Russian contemporary art at the Rose Art Museum near Boston, in the United States. He invited Smoliakov to participate in this exhibit.

The excitement of this time brought out the best in Nikolai Smoliakov. It was everything he had always dreamed of, and he took full advantage of it. Unfortunately, this time would be all too brief for him.

Just before his death in 1999, Nikolai Smoliakov had what would be his largest and best attended showing for his artwork outside of Russia. This was in Cyprus, and it was expected to be the beginning of several other tours of his paintings. He was preparing a show of his artwork in Phoenix, Arizona followed by one in Miami, Florida, but unfortunately the tour was not to be.

Nikolai Smoliakov died in Moscow in 1999 in his art studio, from heart failure. His funeral was attended by over a thousand people: mostly members of the Moscow art world. All wanted to show their respect to the man and his art.

External links and references
Nikolai Smoliakov Website []

Smoliakov Biography  []

"Red Roof" []

"Flood on River Po" []

"Venice" []