Where the Motherland is, there were painted paintings by the artist Alexei Alekseevich Bolshakov. His favorite theme was, as he said, "winter". A significant place in his work, in addition to paintings dedicated to the village, was occupied by the military theme. Although fate gave him 92 years of a difficult life, he did not grumble, but always lovingly created what he wanted on canvases.
Biographical information
Alexey Alekseevich Bolshakov was born in 1922 in Petrograd. I have been drawing since I was 4 years old. The fine arts in their home were treated with respect. He studied at the art school at the Academy of Arts in Leningrad. Back in his school years at the exhibition, the teenager was awarded the second prize. A. Bolshakov graduated from one course at the Institute of Painting. At the beginning of the war, he was sent to the front. After the battle, shell-shocked, he was found in a crater. He finished his military career in Germany. Has awards.
After the war A. Bolshakov worked as an artist in the Lithuanian theater. Having moved with his future wife to Velikiye Luki, he worked in creative workshops. He painted pictures both in the homeland of his wife Anna Guryevna - in Runovo, and in the village of Kharino-Bor, where they have lived recently.
Bolshakovskaya "winter"
Most of Bolshakov's canvases are dedicated to the Pskov province. The artist loved most of all to paint winter landscapes or, as he said, "winter". Here are the pictures of the provincial hinterland. A country house in the winter gloom, where a light is burning. Shocks of hay in the autumn in the meadows, powdered with snow. Village huts littered with snow, next to which are self-woven rugs. An old small rickety bathhouse on the banks of the river in winter. Village worries - a horse with a sleigh gets to the stacks covered with snow. Sprinkled forest road in late autumn. The village well is covered with snow. There are two women nearby. Nearby are rocker arms on which buckets of water are carried. The huts are covered with snow. Open gate. Poultry walks in front of the house in winter. A small church on the bank of the river and scattered snow-covered houses. The titles of his paintings: "Snow Powdered", "Winter Symphony", "Morning in Runovo", "Behind the Hay", "Dam in Danger", "Loose Shore", etc. - indicate that the rural nature and life were to him roads and awakened his creative thought.
Unforgotten theme
The theme of war occupies a significant place in the work of the former front-line soldier. On the canvases "Undermining the Savkinsky Bridge", "The Defeat of the Germans at Uschitsy", "At the Bunker", the events of that terrible time are depicted. For the work "Forgotten" A. Bolshakov tried to accuse of high treason. On the canvas is the field where the battle took place. Behind a machine gun in a camouflage coat is the decaying corpse of a soldier. The soldier was never buried.
The works of A. A. Bolshakov are filled with deep spirituality. In them, he kind of invites people to think about their experiences, about the earth, about the people living and living on it.
Bolshakov family
The artist's wife Anna Guryevna is a strong, strong-willed woman. He always felt her support. When he went to Staraya Ladoga to paint sketches, his wife tried to come there twice, but there were no tickets. However, she still got there … on skis. Once there was a fire - the archive and the workshop burned down. Alexey Alekseevich admitted that he started living from scratch three times. First - during the war, then - in Velikiye Luki, the last - in the village of Kharino-Bor.
The Bolshakovs' family went through a strong shock - the death of their son, who became a ceramic artist and already won fame, and two grandchildren. Their adopted daughter Lyudmila Potkina has always been a support for her parents.
When Alexei Alekseevich is asked what was not in his life, he replies that there was everything. Despite the difficult fate, A. Bolshakov remained a simple, frank and friendly person.
Bright memory
One of the earliest works is the post-war still life "Mushrooms". The latest painting "Without words …" was written in 2014.and is dedicated to the memory of his wife: a woman goes on a sleigh in the winter twilight.
On the building of the art school in Velikiye Luki, which bears the name of A. Bolshakov, a commemorative plaque was unveiled. This educational institution has become a second home for him.
Conversation with descendants
A famous, talented and incredibly hardworking person, Aleksey Bolshakov has been creating for 60 years and made a huge contribution to the development of painting. His canvases are a serious, confidential, sincere conversation of a true patriot with descendants.
Life path of A. A. Bolshakov ended at 92 years old - in 2014.
