The artist Vladimir Ilyukhin was born in 1923. The Great Patriotic War interrupted his studies at the Leningrad Art School: after graduating from the Tambov Artillery School, the young man was drafted into the Red Army. During the war, Vladimir Ilyukhin was wounded, took part in the liberation of Prague and the Battle of Berlin. He received the medal “For Battle Merit” and the Order of the Red Star among others. After the end of his service, he decided to devote himself to art.
Vladimir Ilyukhin’s paintings on historical topics and portraits of contemporaries made him quite famous. He depicted veterans of the Great Patriotic War, peasants, as well as fellow countrymen and artists. All these images are full of dignity and heroism and represent a plethora of various professions and characters.
In the 1963 portrait, the artist portrayed the Mordovian poet Nikolai Lazarevich Irkaev, who was published under the pseudonym Nikul Erkai. He started his career as a journalist, but it was his literary works — novels and short stories, plays, fairy tales and poems — that brought him All-Union fame. The writer devoted a lot of time to translation: he translated works of Russian and foreign classics into the Erzya language.
Vladimir Ilyukhin was attracted by the outstanding and multifaceted personality of Nikul Erkai, as both a creative worker and a public figure. The portrait is distinguished by accurate observations and a clear composition. Like other works of the painter, the portrait demonstrated the inner dynamism of the image that otherwise appears static.
On the one hand, the viewer is presented with an image of a specific person with individual traits, features of appearance and character. Vladimir Ilyukhin chose a characteristic pose, hand position, and facial expression for the portrayed. On the other hand, the portrait can be interpreted as a generalized image of a Soviet cultural figure, writer and poet.
The image of the Soviet intellectual is complemented by the objects depicted in the painting. The typewriter and drafts on the desk to the right of the poet, the shelves with numerous books behind him — all these details indicate the intellectual work of the portrait’s sitter.
Vladimir Ilyukhin’s paintings on historical topics and portraits of contemporaries made him quite famous. He depicted veterans of the Great Patriotic War, peasants, as well as fellow countrymen and artists. All these images are full of dignity and heroism and represent a plethora of various professions and characters.
In the 1963 portrait, the artist portrayed the Mordovian poet Nikolai Lazarevich Irkaev, who was published under the pseudonym Nikul Erkai. He started his career as a journalist, but it was his literary works — novels and short stories, plays, fairy tales and poems — that brought him All-Union fame. The writer devoted a lot of time to translation: he translated works of Russian and foreign classics into the Erzya language.
Vladimir Ilyukhin was attracted by the outstanding and multifaceted personality of Nikul Erkai, as both a creative worker and a public figure. The portrait is distinguished by accurate observations and a clear composition. Like other works of the painter, the portrait demonstrated the inner dynamism of the image that otherwise appears static.
On the one hand, the viewer is presented with an image of a specific person with individual traits, features of appearance and character. Vladimir Ilyukhin chose a characteristic pose, hand position, and facial expression for the portrayed. On the other hand, the portrait can be interpreted as a generalized image of a Soviet cultural figure, writer and poet.
The image of the Soviet intellectual is complemented by the objects depicted in the painting. The typewriter and drafts on the desk to the right of the poet, the shelves with numerous books behind him — all these details indicate the intellectual work of the portrait’s sitter.
