Nikolai Sokolov - Soviet and Russian cartoonist, graphic artist, painter. The artist was a member of the Kukryniksy group. He is an Academician of the Academy of Arts of the USSR and People's Artist of the USSR, Hero of Socialist Labor, Laureate of Lenin, five Stalin and State Prizes of the USSR.
Each of the famous Kukryniksy community in art had its own path. United under a single pseudonym, three artists came to the capital from different cities, each with their own life baggage. However, there was a lot of things that Mikhail Kupriyanov, Porfiry Krylov and Nikolai Sokolov united. And this is an obsession with art.
Choosing a creative path
In the legendary community, Sokolov was assigned the letter "C". Nikolai Alexandrovich was born on July 8 (21) in 1903 in Tsaritsyn near Moscow. After graduating from elementary school, the boy entered the capital's real school of Voskresensky. Later famous Sergei Obraztsov studied there together with him.
After a fire in the capital in 1919, the family moved to Rybinsk. From an early age, the boy began to paint. The most memorable gift for him was a large box of paints. He enthusiastically recalled every touch with a brush.
There Nikolay got a job as a clerk in the Water Transport Administration. In a new city for him, a talented young man entered the studio of the IZO Proletkult. Students drew from life, went to the Volga for sketches and held exhibitions. The future painter from that time was keenly interested in all public undertakings.
He liked to design demonstrations, ships, clubs. He gladly painted scenery for various performances of amateur performances. Sokolov did not leave without the help of the head of the studio. For him, he painted advertisements, leaflets, posters.
In 1923, the District Committee for Water Resources issued an employee a referral to study in Moscow. At the admission tests at Vkhutemas, an unfamiliar bearded man responded with approval about his examination work. It was Favorsky. The talented applicant was admitted to the graphic faculty.
Since Sokolov was fond of humorous sketches, he liked cartoons and cartoons. During the student days, interest in this direction did not disappear. Not forgetting about belonging to water workers, the young man turned to the editorial office of the newspaper "Na vakhta". The drawings he proposed were approved, cartoons on topical topics have regularly appeared in the publication since that time.
Masterful handwriting
Soon, Nikolai came up with the idea of cartoons on the theme of the construction of the metro that had begun. It was published in "Crocodile" under the signature "Nika". Then the work of the Kukryniksy was barely incipient. In the friendly joint work that took half a century, the work of not a single artist was leveled.
Even the earliest works of Nikolai Alexandrovich give an idea of loyalty to the eye, the ability to capture the most typical features of the model. In this spirit, a portrait of Gorky was made in pencil. His painter did it on June 6, 1928, at a meeting with the workers' correspondents. The sharp turn of the head, the hand with the pipe, the angularity of the figure are correctly conveyed.
Sokolov also aptly managed to capture the most striking features of the figures of Grabar and Favorsky in the forties on the presidium of the meeting. Portrait resemblance is conveyed by the most scanty means. The psychological state, tension, activity of Grabar and the concentration of calm Favorsky are perfectly conveyed.
A sketch of 1948 in a serenely sleeping girl and a guy on a commuter train bench evokes a smile. And caricatures on Prokofiev and Moskvin convey all the author's good laugh. It is not surprising that these sketches became the basis for the famous porcelain figurines created by the Kukryniksy.
Sokolov did not leave painting. His works are landscapes, the main place is occupied by the nature of the Volga regions, filled with the finest poetry and lyricism.
This can be seen on the canvas "Old Bridge", "Spring in Abramtsevo". With pleasure Sokolov painted architectural landscapes. So, on his canvas, the Louvre seems to be drowning in a pinkish-lilac twilight. Almost always, Nikolai Aleksandrovich introduces shores with smooth waters into his work. It could be a pond in Abramtsevo, admiring their own reflections of the arcade of bridges across the Seine.
The magnificent master died on April 17, 2000.
The dynasty continues
In his personal life, the master also took place. He had only one child, a son, Vladimir. He was born in 1940. Subsequently he became an artist. The heir to Nikolai Alexandrovich graduated from the Stroganov School. The artist works in the technique of oil pastels. He creates emotional landscapes, spectacular still lifes.
Sokolov's granddaughter, Anastasia, also chose a creative profession, making her own contribution to the family business. She studied at the Surikov Moscow State Academy of Arts. Anastasia Vladimirovna is a member of the Union of Artists, a participant in exhibitions in Russia and abroad. The works of the heiress of the wonderful master seem to be filled with soft and refined light, silence.
There is a lot of endless meditation in them. Timeless foundations seem to be felt in all creations. The works are distinguished by coloristic sophistication and captivating delicacy.
Another granddaughter of Nikolai Alexandrovich Anna also graduated from the Surikovsky Moscow State Academy of Arts. She not only writes canvases, but is also a designer of high fashion stores. Her creations are in tune with the color scheme, freedom, filled with dynamics.
Every year the creative dynasty of the Sokolovs in the Atrium hall of the capital's hotel Baltschug Kempinski organizes autumn and spring exhibitions of masters characterizing the past century. The tradition continues and has been preserved for more than ten years.
