Pictures Kabakov Ilya. Painter Ilya Kabakov: painting "The Beetle"

The most famous Soviet and Russian artist in the West is Ilya Kabakov. His paintings are now exhibited in many countries, and their cost every year is getting higher. Popularity came to the master after in the late 1980s he emigrated abroad. Prior to this Kabakov lived permanently in the USSR, the main source of his income was the illustration of children's books. Pictures, which subsequently brought fame and fortune, he wrote from his youth, but he could not count on understanding his work in the Land of Soviets.

Childhood and youth

The artist Ilya Kabakov, whose paintings are now acquired by the richest people on the planet, was born in Dnepropetrovsk in 1933. His family was the most usual: his father, Joseph Bentsionovich, worked as a mechanic, and his mother, Bella Yudelevna, as an accountant. When the Great Patriotic War began, the boy's father went to the front, and he was taken to Uzbekistan with his mother (Samarkand). Here, since 1943, he began to study drawing in an art school that functioned with the Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, which was evacuated from Leningrad. Repin. Kabakov studied in Samarkand for 2 years. After the end of the war in 1945, the talented boy was transferred to the secondary art school in Moscow (MSHSh). After graduating from it, he entered the Surikov Institute in the graphic department (he was a student from 1951 to 1957).

Creativity before and after emigration

The young artist worked as an illustrator of books in the publishing house "Detgiz" (later it was renamed "Children's Literature"), collaborated with the magazines "Murzilka", "Funny Pictures", "The Kid". At this time, the first pictures of Kabakov Ilya, written by him in the style of surrealism and abstraction, appear. In the 1960s, he joins the ranks of dissident artists, and his creations go to a foreign exhibition in Aquill, later they were presented in Venice, London, Cologne. In addition to paintings, the author began to actively install installations. Ilya Iosifovich received the first international grant in 1987. A year later, the artist was awarded a scholarship by the Ministry of Culture of France, and in 1989, having received money from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), he left for Berlin and since then has not worked at home .

After emigration, the whole world learned about the artist Ilya Kabakov. Pictures, photos of which can be seen in this publication, caused a real stir among fans of contemporary creativity. The peak of the master's fame was the 1990s: at that time he had dozens of exhibitions in many countries. In Russia, the artist's works began to be actively exhibited in the 2000s. In the West today, the main representative of Soviet and Russian art is precisely Kabakov Ilya Iosifovich. His paintings were presented at the exhibition "Russia", held at the Guggenheim Museum, next to the icons of Andrei Rublev, works by Malevich, Bryullov, Repin. After that, the authority of the artist increased even more.

"Shower"

What attracted the attention of art lovers Kabakov Iliya? To understand this, you need to consider several works of the master, relating to different periods of his life. In 1964, from under the artist's hand came a series of paintings called "Shower." A year later, these drawings were sent to an exhibition in Italy, because of which Ilya Iosifovich had a serious conflict with the Soviet authorities. In the pictures the author depicted a man who, standing under the shower, remains dry. Water, pouring out of the watering can, forms around the person a waterfall, wings, a dome and other intricate figures, but never touches his body. Western critics identified Kabakov Iliya's paintings with a deficit of material resources in the USSR, but the artist himself claimed that he simply painted a man who all his life is waiting for something.

The origin of conceptual creativity

In the early 1970s, the style of "Moscow conceptualism" appeared in Soviet art, one of its founders is the artist Ilya Kabakov. The author's paintings in this period are a parody of bureaucracy that has engulfed all spheres of life of Soviet society. Kabakov's work "Responses of the Experimental Group" (1972) is remarkable, where the entire table surface is covered with a table painted with calligraphic handwriting. In it, every Soviet citizen is not a person with feelings and emotions, but only a surname, first name and patronymic in the column.

Moscow conceptualism found its continuation in the work "Schedule of removal of the trash can" (1980). Here Kabakov, with his characteristic mockery, exposes Soviet life. Bucket removal for people living in a communal apartment, the artist presents not as a daily necessity, but as a total law that can not be broken.

About the man who flown into space from his little room

In the 1980s, Kabakov Ilya Iosifovich was increasingly expressing his discontent with Soviet life. His paintings and installations were already well known abroad and found their recognition there, while in the homeland they knew about the artist only in narrow circles. In 1982-1986 Kabakov worked on the composition "A Man Who Flew into Space from His Room". In the installation, the distinction between the limited possibilities of a small person and his dreams is clearly traced. Having made a primitive aircraft from improvised means, the main character of the composition flew into the unknown, breaking the head of the ceiling of his wretched little room. After the emigration of Kabakov it became clear that in the role of this man the artist portrayed himself, who for good has left the Union.

Kabakov's paintings "The Beetle" and "The Suite Number"

Emigration to the West brought Ilya Iosifovich not only world-wide fame, but also a solid state. In 2007, at the auction Phillips de Pury, his painting "Suite" (1981), sold for almost $ 4 million, made him the most expensive Russian painter of the postwar period. The author wrote his masterpiece on a piece of plywood. On it, Kabakov portrayed a well-lit hotel room with soft armchairs, a coffee table and a TV set. In the foreground of the picture, the artist placed information about excursions by bus along the Black Sea coast. This number, combined with rest on the Black Sea, was the limit of the dreams of a Soviet citizen.

In 2008 Ilya Kabakov again attracted the attention of the world media. The painting "The Beetle", written by him in 1982, was sold under the hammer for a fabulous $ 5.84 million. Thus, the artist set a new record for the value of his works. In the picture, Ilya Iosifovich, a close-up picture of a brilliant beetle, sitting on a green leaf. The lower part of the canvas was decorated with a childish poem about an insect. The meaning of the poem is quite simple: the child has found a brilliant beetle for his collection, but he struggles to free himself. But Kabakov would not be himself if he had not put a deeper meaning into this simple nursery rhyme. The beetle, trying to escape from the hands of the boy, not only struggles for his life, one can feel the obvious principled position of man, the reluctance to be an integral part of a certain collection-system.

Spouses Kabakov

Throughout the world, Kabakov's paintings of Ilya are associated with contemporary Russian painting. Today the artist lives in New York. In 1989 he married. It was Ilya Iosifovich's wife who owes much to her success, because she is engaged in the management of his financial affairs and the organization of exhibitions. In addition, Emilia (wife) is the co-author of many of his masterpieces. In 2012, the joint work of the "Ship of Tolerance" spouses received the title of the best art project of the year and was awarded the Cartier prize.

Like most geniuses, Ilya Kabakov (artist) could not find a confession in his homeland. Pictures (a photo of some of them are presented in the article) in the West were met with enthusiasm by the whole progressive society and provided their author with a worthy place in the list of outstanding painters.