During Soviet times, Chkalov Street in Moscow was called Zemlyanoy Val. Its history began in the 16th century, when an earthen rampart was built under Boris Godunov to protect the city from attacks. Now, the Garden Ring road of the capital runs along its borders.

The artist Porfiry Nikitich Krylov first came to Moscow in 1921. The 19-year-old young man planned to enter the Vkhutemas (Higher Art and Technical Workshops). A year later, he became a student of the painting department of Vkhutemas where he met Mikhail Kupriyanov who worked for the institute’s wall newspaper. They began collaborating together under the common pseudonyms of Kukry or Krykup, which were formed by combining the first syllables of their surnames. When they were joined by Nikolai Sokolov, who signed himself “Niks”, the creative team became known as the Kukryniksy.

For many years, the artists lived on 14/16 Chkalov Street which also served as their workshop, where they sat at a round table and worked on their world-famous cartoons and caricatures. The Soviet test pilot Valery Chkalov, whose name the street bore for more than fifty years, also lived in this house. At the end of the winter of 1955, Porfiry Krylov captured the view on Chkalov Street from his window.

In 1975, the publishing house “Soviet Artist” published a book of Kukryniksy “The Three of Us” in which the artists shared memories of working together and true friendship, that withstood the test of time and fame: