Bidspirit auction | Popkov V.E.

Popkov V.E. - With a pitchfork. To the painting ”Noon”.. Year:  1966 Technique:  Pencil on paper. Size:  28,5х41. Popkov Viktor Efimovich (1932, Moscow - 1974, Moscow).  Laureate of the USSR State Prize in 1975 for the series of paintings “Reflections on Life”. One of the most prominent representatives of the “severe style” of the 1960s. He studied at the Moscow State Graphic School (1948-1952), then at the Moscow State Art Institute. V.I. Surikov in the workshop of E.A. Kibrik (1948-1952). After graduation, he traveled a lot around the country: for the construction of the Irkutsk hydroelectric power station (1956), for the construction of the Abakan-Tayshet railway (1959), for the construction of the Bratsk hydroelectric power station (“Builders of the Bratsk hydroelectric power station”), to the virgin lands, in the Russian north (the cycle “Mezen Widows”). He worked in a special genre of dramatic painting-metaphor. At the World Biennale of Young Artists in Paris in 1961, he received the Grand Prix for his paintings “Two” and “The Brigade Resting.” The artists held personal exhibitions in 1976 in Moscow and Leningrad. Popkov regularly exhibited at exhibitions in the USSR and abroad. The artist’s works are in the State Tretyakov Gallery, the State Russian Museum, and in many regional museums.