User:Vasmax32/sandbox/Yuri Kugach

Yuri Kugach (born March 21, 1917) is a prominent Russian realist painter. His wife, Olga Grigoryevna Svetlichnaya, son, Mikhail Kugach, and nephew, Nikita Fedosov, are also all prominent Russian realist painters.

Training
Kugach began his studies art studies in 1931 at the "1905" Moscow Art School. In 1936 Yuri moved on to study at the Moscow Art Institute, known today as the Surikov Moscow State Academy Art Institute. Once in attendance at the Institute, Kugach skipped directly to the second year and studied under the highly revered Igor Grabar and Sergey Vasilyevich Gerasimov. Kugach graduated from the Institute in 1942.

Work
Kugach taught at the Surikov Moscow State Academy Art Institute from 1948 to 1951. After teaching at the Surikov, Kugach moved to the countryside of the Tver region of Russia. Numerous famous Russian artists, including Ilya Repin and Isaac Levitan, were known for visiting and painting this beautiful countryside. Scenes of village and family life became the predominant subject of both Kugach's work. Kugach is the founder of the Moscow River School, an art movement of Russian realist painters steeped in the academic tradition.

Awards
Partial list


 * Full member of the Academy of Arts of the USSR
 * Gold medal of the USSR Academy of Arts (1966)
 * People's Artist of the USSR
 * Russia's artist-statesman (1963)
 * Stalin Prize (1940, 1950)
 * Repin State Prize
 * USSR State Prize