Alexey Shilov is a well-known Russian artist who mainly works on portraits. He has repeatedly received prizes and was awarded several orders for services to the fatherland. The artist's works can be seen in his personal gallery, which is located near the Kremlin. Shilov's paintings were presented not only in Russia, but also in France, Portugal, Canada and Japan.
Shilov's childhood
The artist was born in the fall of 1943 in the capital of Russia. His childhood was difficult, as he grew up in the post-war period, in addition, at the age of 15, Shilov lost his father. While studying at night school, the boy was forced to work as a loader in order to help his family financially. In parallel with his studies and work, he was engaged in the art studio of the House of Pioneers.
Immediately after receiving the certificate, the young man, without hesitation, decided to enter the Moscow Art Institute named after Surikov. After successfully passing the entrance exams, the young man was enrolled in the faculty of painting. Shilov was a very gifted and capable student, so even in his student years he began to exhibit his work at exhibitions of young artists.
Carier start
After graduating from the institute, Shilov's work could increasingly be seen at exhibitions, including overseas galleries. Most often, the artist worked on portraits, and the heroes of his works were people of different ages, gender, social status. The artist paid much attention to touching images of old people. His first work in this genre was "The Old Tailor".
As a thesis, the graduate presented to the commission a series of portraits of famous cosmonauts, for which in 1977 he received the Lenin Komsomol Prize.
In 1976, Shilov was offered to become a member of the Union of Artists of the USSR, and 2 years later, individual exhibitions of the painter were organized in Moscow. In 1985 the young artist was awarded the title of People's Artist of the USSR. In the creative biography of Shilov there are more than 15 orders, several awards and medals.
In 1997, the artist became a member of the Russian Academy of Arts, and 2 years later - a member of the Council for Culture and Art under the President of the Russian Federation. Since 2012, the artist has been on the lists of confidants of the presidential candidate Vladimir Putin.
Shilov's work
Among the huge number of the artist's works, one can see landscapes, graphic and genre paintings, still lifes and portraits. The focus should be on paintings depicting elderly people, for example, "The Old Tailor", "My Grandmother", "Forgotten", "The Fate of a Violinist".
A separate place in the artist's work is given to portraits of famous people, including diplomats, artists, politicians, and writers. At the exhibitions, visitors can see a portrait of Yuri Luzhkov, writer Mikhalkov, ballerina Semenyak. In addition, from his student years, Shilov began to replenish his collection of paintings with portraits of church ministers.
Among the artist's still lifes, you can see objects that are inseparable from our life, for example, books, flowers, dishes. Painting in the genre of landscape is represented by paintings "Golden Autumn", "Thaw", "Silence" and others.
Shilov family
The man was married twice. In his first marriage, he had a son who followed in his father's footsteps and became a landscape painter. Shilov lived with his second wife, Anna Yalpakh, for 10 years. In marriage, they had a daughter, who died of sarcoma at the age of 16. A year after the girl's death, the young people divorced. In 1997, Shilov began to live with Yulia Volchenkova, in the same year their daughter Ekaterina was born. The artist's relationship with Julia did not work out; he does not communicate with his daughter to this day.
Currently, Shilov continues to replenish the exposition of his own gallery. In addition, he is actively involved in political activities.
