The collection of the Irbit State Museum of Fine Arts features the color lithograph “Portrait of Anna Akhmatova” by Anatoly Davydov.
Anatoly Zakharovich Davydov (1923–2009) was a Soviet graphic artist and painter, an Honored Artist of the Russian Federation. Between 1948 and 1954, Anatoly Davydov studied at the School of Graphics of the Ilya Repin Leningrad Institute of Painting and Architecture. His teachers included Alexey Pakhomov, Mikhail Taranov, and Alexander Vasilyev. Anatoly Davydov worked in easel graphics and painting, specializing in portraits and landscapes. He gained widespread recognition as a portraitist. An important part of his oeuvre is formed by portraits — lithographs, etchings, and paintings — of literary personalities. His works are characterized by precise characterization of models and skilled draftsmanship. In his paintings, Anatoly Davydov depicted both his contemporaries — close friends, prominent artists, writers, and poets — and historical figures. These portraits always attracted a lot of attention and were widely admired. They have been acquired by many museums, including the Literary Museum at the Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkin House), the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Pushkin Literary Museum, and the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts.
Anna Akhmatova was one of the most significant representatives of 20th-century Russian poetry. Her work is characterized by loyalty to the fundamental moral principles, imitation of the classical style, a deep understanding of the human soul and psychology, and interpretation of the catastrophes and tragedies of her era. Anna Akhmatova was a beautiful, sensitive, and graceful woman. She was admired and idolized. Men aspired to have her hand in marriage. A talented woman with a difficult fate, Anna Akhmatova won the admiration of millions around the world and became a symbol of love poetry of the early 20th century. She made an invaluable contribution to Russian literature. There are numerous portraits of Anna Akhmatova by renowned artists such as Amedeo Modigliani, Zinaida Serebryakova, Nathan Altman, Yury Annenkov, Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin, and many others.
