Bidspirit auction | Aleksandr Deyneka (Russian, 1899 -

Aleksandr Deyneka (Russian, 1899 - 1969) (attributed) - Aleksandr Deyneka (Russian, 1899 - 1969) (attributed), ink on paper, 41 x 28,5 cm. Notes Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Deineka (1899–1969). Born Kursk; studied Kharkov Art College (under Alexander Lubimov) and VKhUTEMAS. Founding member of OST and Oktyabr; rated ”1A – world famous artist” (United Art Rating). Known for genre, labor and sports scenes (early works often monochrome due to material shortages), and monumental paintings including The Defense of Petrograd (1928, his most iconic), The Battle of Sevastopol (1942), The Outskirts of Moscow. November 1941, and The Shot-Down Ace. Also created mosaics for Moscow's Mayakovskaya metro station. By the 1930s, a leading Soviet modernist with major international exposure: USSR representative at the 19th Venice Biennale, 1934 (work bought by Italy's Ministry of Education); exhibited Copenhagen, London, Italy, France; Honorable Mention, 33rd Carnegie International, Pittsburgh. Late 1934: VOKS-selected representative for The Art of Soviet Russia (Philadelphia Museum of Art, Dec 1934–Jan 1935; toured ~24 N. American venues through 1936), alongside Petrov-Vodkin, Shevchenko, Pimenov, Saryan. Exit visa granted just before the Kirov assassination triggered Great Purge travel restrictions. Subsequent European trip (Cherbourg, Paris, Rome) inspired works exploring classical architectural form in a muted brick-red, terracotta, cream and grey palette (cf. Rome. Alleyway, 1935, Kursk State Picture Gallery).