The artist Mikhail Mikhailovich Shemyakin was born in Moscow in 1908. His father, Mikhail Fyodorovich Shemyakin, was a prominent figure in Russian fine art — a famous artist and teacher, a student of Valentin Alexandrovich Serov, a member of the Society for Traveling Art Exhibitions, and one of the first Russian Impressionists. Mikhail Shemyakin’s maternal grandfather was Ivan Voytekhovich Grzhimali, a violinist and professor at the Moscow Conservatory.

In 1928, Mikhail Shemyakin graduated from the Workers’ School of Arts at Moscow State University. Between 1933 and 1939, he studied at the School of Graphic Arts at Moscow Polygraphic Institute.

In 1928, the artist began actively exhibiting his works. In the 1930s, he illustrated books and painted watercolors and oils. In 1944, Mikhail Shemyakin was admitted to the Moscow Union of Soviet Artists. Solo exhibitions of his works were held in Moscow in 1972, 1975, and 1984.

In his art, Mikhail Shemyakin focused on exploring the artistic image of a modern person, finding delight in and admiring the beauty of the world and the poetry of nature. His favorite genres were still life, portrait, landscape, and genre painting. Mikhail Shemyakin created a series of portraits of musicians, including the composer Alexander Fyodorovich Goedike, the conductor Konstantin Konstantinovich Ivanov, the pianist Victor Karpovich Merzhanov, and the violinist Liana Alexandrovna Isakadze.

Apart from fine arts, Mikhail Shemyakin was fascinated with astronomy. He worked as head of the telescope construction department at the All-Union Astronomical and Geodesical Society of the Academy of Sciences. He published several scientific papers on the study of the Moon.

The still life “Lilac” was painted in 1954. The artist depicted a large bouquet of blooming lilacs. The bouquet stands in a clay jug and is illuminated by dim sunlight. The colored reflections of the flowers are seen on the wooden table. The table stands between two windows decorated with light white curtains in a village house. The still life is filled with light, warmth, happiness, and joy of life.