1899, Strelna near St Petersburg — 1961, Moscow

Painter, graphic artist, monumentalist, theatrical and cinema artist; painted revolutionary historical, battle and genre paintings, portraits, landscapes and still lifes. Studied at Ilya Mashko’s art studio in Moscow (1914–1918); State Free Art Studios / VKhUTEMAS (1920–1922). Contributed to exhibitions (from 1921). Taught at the Moscow Institute of Decorative and Applied Arts (1948–1951); Moscow Teaching Institute (1952–1953); Vasily Surikov State Institute of Art in Moscow (1953–1962). Professor (1949). Part of the team of artists that created the Storming of Perekop panorama and diorama series (1935–1938). Headed the group of artists that created The First Cavalry at the Rear of Wrangel’s Army diorama (1936–1937). Head of the Okna TASS political poster studio (1941–1946). Headed the team that recreated The Siege of Seva stopol (1854–1855) panorama by Franz Roubaud (1946–1949). Honoured Artist of the RSFSR (1944), People’s Artist of the RSFSR (1959), full member of the USSR Academy of Arts (1949). Winner of the Stalin Prize (1942, 1949).