The People’s Artist of the USSR, the first president of the Academy of Arts of the USSR, the winner of four state Stalin Prizes, and Doctor of Arts Alexander Mikhailovich Gerasimov belongs to the generation of painters, whose life and career reflected the main periods of Russian and Soviet art culture of the 20th century.
The artist spent his childhood and youth in the town of Kozlov (now Michurinsk, Tambov Oblast), and he did a lot to develop the cultural life of Michurinsk for the rest of his life.
Gerasimov’s paintings and graphic works are housed in major museums and shown at Soviet art exhibitions in Russia and abroad. The works received numerous prestigious awards at the World Fairs in Paris and Brussels. The unique collection of Alexander Gerasimov’s paintings, consisting of 159 works, is housed in the Tambov Art Gallery and its branch — the estate museum, dedicated to the artist. Despite the latter’s penchant for portraits and monumental painting, landscapes occupied a special place in his work. Alexander Mikhailovich used to say, “My love for painting was nourished by the fragrance of my native fields and steppes.” These words can well be used as a motto for the artist’s entire career.
No matter when or where, Alexander Gerasimov always stayed true to himself — he was a painter with an infinite zest for life and devotion to socialist realism art, whose legacy has become an integral part of the multinational culture in Russia.
The artist spent his childhood and youth in the town of Kozlov (now Michurinsk, Tambov Oblast), and he did a lot to develop the cultural life of Michurinsk for the rest of his life.
Gerasimov’s paintings and graphic works are housed in major museums and shown at Soviet art exhibitions in Russia and abroad. The works received numerous prestigious awards at the World Fairs in Paris and Brussels. The unique collection of Alexander Gerasimov’s paintings, consisting of 159 works, is housed in the Tambov Art Gallery and its branch — the estate museum, dedicated to the artist. Despite the latter’s penchant for portraits and monumental painting, landscapes occupied a special place in his work. Alexander Mikhailovich used to say, “My love for painting was nourished by the fragrance of my native fields and steppes.” These words can well be used as a motto for the artist’s entire career.
No matter when or where, Alexander Gerasimov always stayed true to himself — he was a painter with an infinite zest for life and devotion to socialist realism art, whose legacy has become an integral part of the multinational culture in Russia.
Exhibits are marked with AR stickers for identification purposes.