Vladimir V. Filippov
Stunning New Artist!
One of our most interesting Exhibitions to Date "Russian Landscapes"
December 9, 2011- January 19, 2012
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Vladimir V. Filippov, "Fireweed has Blossomed"15¾'' x 23½'', (40 x 60 cm) 2009, Oil on Board $4,500 |
Russia has a long tradition of the great master painters giving apprenticeship to the best of the next generation thereby keeping the venerated Russian tradition of realism alive. That is the case between the Russian master painter Yuri Petrovich Kugach and his student, Vladimir Viktorovich Filippov. They both live and work in the legendary artistic community of Academic Dacha.
About half way between Moscow and St. Petersburg close to Tver, is the small village of "Akademichka" (or in English, "Academic Dacha"). It is about 10 kilometers off the main road, nestled in the Russian forest and graced by the shimmering Lake Mistino. The village has been the spiritual heart of Russian art since the village was founded in 1884. It has been the seasonal home of many of the great Russian artists over the last century and a half. The Academic Dacha initially served as a country refuge for impoverished or ailing artists from the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg. Overtime, the area increasingly became a favorite with students and professors who came to paint landscapes in the open air. The setting so appealed to artists, that many spent the greater part of their lives there, purchasing small country homes (dachas) nearby. From Repin to Levitan to Kugach and countless other greats, this small village has been painted more and has inspired more great art than any other place in Russia.
Even today, in this idyllic setting, many great artists still call Academic Dacha home. The place has housed the legendary Yuri Petrovich Kugach (who still paints at age 91) since 1951. Over the years, Yuri Petrovich has been a generous mentor to several promising artists. Kugach, who was named one of 'Russia's top twenty artists of the twenty first century' recently introduced us to one of his students. Yuri Petrovich told us that VLADIMIR VIKTOROVICH FILIPPOV was his finest student ever. Kugach told us that Vladimir Viktorovich's soul was imbued with Russia's nature. He said that while you can teach technique, color and composition---an artist's ability to 'feel' the land is unteachable. Kugach said that the instinct of greatness is genetic and that VLADIMIR VIKTOROVICH FILIPPOV has that very rare natural talent.
The Master- Yuri Petrovich Kugach
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Yuri P. Kugach in his studio
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Yuri Kugach is one of the premier 20th century Russian Realist painters. He is known in Russia and around the world for his paintings of the Russian countryside and his amazing skill of depicting space, form and feeling in his paintings. He received the USSR's highest honors for his work, taught at the renowned Surikov Institute of Art in Moscow, and founded the Moscow River School.
Yuri Kugachs' talents were considered so valuable that, during World War Two, the Soviet government evacuated him and ten other artists to Uzbekistan to escape the Nazi onslaught.
In 1951 Yuri moved to the Tver region-renowned for its scenic countryside-to instruct at the House of Artists of Russia. Themes of nature and village life are a powerful and unifying principle in much Russian art. As avant-garde art began to rise in the estimation of critics, to help preserve the realist tradition.
The apprentice- Vladimir Viktorovich Filippov
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| Vladimir V. Filippov |
Vladimir V. Filippov was born in 1956 in Vyshniy Volochek. He spent his childhood in Novoye Kotchische Village, where such famous artists as brothers Sergei & Aleksei Tkachev lived. It was also not far from the Academic Dacha named after the great painter Ilya E. Repin. The Academic Dacha is a well-known Art Academy and artist community in Russia, and that creative atmosphere had a great influence on young Vladimir's creative future. Filippov spent long hours visiting artists in their studios, admiring great artists and their paintings. Since childhood, Vladimir's dream was to become an artist.
But at the beginning, Vladimir's way of life was altered from art. Having graduated from the Railway Collage, he enrolled in the Soviet Army. After his demobilization, he entered the Agricultural Academy. However, he never abandoned his dream to become an artist. Vladimir painted his first water-colored still life from nature in the studio of Nikolai A. Sysoev, who was an honored artist of the Soviet Union. He painted with great vigor under Sysoev's direction. Later on in 1970, he became acquainted with Peter I. Strakhov and Peter's wife Lia A. Ostrovaya, who were famous artists in Leningrad (St. Petersburg). Peter Straknov made great contributions and progress in Vladimir's creative development. Since 1970, Vladimir Filippov has devoted his life, full time to painting. He has been an enduring participant of all the local and regional exhibitions since 1980.
Since 1990, Filippov has trained and worked under the Russian Realist masters Yuri P. Kugach (senior) and his son Mikhail Y. Kugach, who is now head of the Kugach Studio and a full member of the Russian Academy of Arts. Vladimir has also painted in the company of such wonderful artists as Grigory Chainikov and Andrei Zakharov. These artists and close friends have played an important role in Vladimir's development as an artist. Filippov is one of the few artists continuing the great tradition of Russian Realistic Art.
Vladimir Filippov is a member of the Union of Russian Artists since 2003. His paintings are exhibited in the Museums of Mogilev and Bobruisk (Republic of Byelorussia), in the Museum of Harbin (China), in many private art collections in Russia, Check Republic, Yugoslavia, Romania, Finland, Germany, China, and the USA.
Now For Some Fun!
See if you can pick which of the two paintings below is by Yuri P. Kugach and which one is by Vladimir V. Filippov? The answer is at the end of this section.
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| Painting #1 is by ? |
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| Painting #2 is by ? |
A Preview of Works From the Exhibition
Vladimir V. Filippov
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| Vladimir V. Filippov, "Shadows on Snow" 16½'' x 23½'', (42 x 60 cm) 2011, Oil on Board $4,300 |
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| Vladimir V. Filippov, "Puddle in the Road",19¾'' x 23½'', (50 x 60 cm) 2010, Oil on Canvas $4,500 |
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Vladimir V. Filippov, "Last Years Grass", 15¼'' x 19½'', (39 x 49.50 cm) 2009, Oil on Board $3,800 |
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| Vladimir V. Filippov, " Bush of Peonies", 13¾'' x 19¾'', (35 x 50 cm) 2009, Oil on Canvas $3,200 |
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Vladimir V. Filippov, " Road in the Field", 15¾'' x 19¾'', (40 x 50 cm) 2009, Oil on Canvas $4,200 |
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Vladimir Filippov, "Decline", 10½'' x 19¾'', (27 x 50 cm) 1998, Oil on Canvas, $2,900 |
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Vladimir Viktorovich "Spring in the Staroe Kotchishche Village" |
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Vladimir V. Filippov, "Evening Snowdrops", 14¼'' x 19¼'', (36 x 49 cm) 2009, Oil on Board, $3,200 |
Now, the Answer to our Question?
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PTG. #1, Vladimir V. Filippov, "Blossoming Time" |
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| PTG. #2-Yuri P. Kugach, "The Rain Has Passed" 10'' x 16", 1978, Oil on Board $42,000 |
