Gleb Savinov, Studio Interior with Black Cat, 1980s, Oil

Gleb SAVINOV (Kharkiv prov., Ua 1915 – St. Petersburg 2000) Gleb Alexandrovich Savinov was born in Ukraine and spent part of his childhood in Saratov. His father, Alexander Ivanovich Savinov (1881–1942), a talented painter, draftsman and teacher, was a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts. In 1922 they moved from Saratov to Petrograd. In 1928-1930 Savinov started working in the studio of his father while still attending school. In 1934, after graduating from high school he enrolled at the painting department of the Leningrad Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, where he studied with, among many others, Alexander Osmerkin. In 1940 Savinov graduated and married his classmate and talented artist Olga Bogaevskaya. This happy family and creative union lasted sixty years. Since that year Gleb Savinov participated in art exhibitions with portraits, historical and genre paintings, landscapes, interior scenes, still lives. He served during the Great War and in 1944 he was admitted to the Leningrad Union of Soviet Artists. In 1945-1947 he taught in the Repin Institute, then from 1949 to 1979 in the Vera Mukhina Institute, where since 1969 he was Professor of Painting. In 1973 Gleb Savinov was awarded the honorary title of the Honored Artist of the RSFSR. Solo exhibitions took place in Russia and abroad. Since 1950s Savinov gained fame and recognition as a master of genre painting, especially everyday life scenes and interiors. Through Savinov’s eyes, apparently banal subjects become unique, everyday moments seem rare, what it is ordinary becomes extraordinary. Savinov finds the beauty in simple and daily things and that’s why he reveals his great ability in representing life especially in “easy” subjects, such as scenes of family life and interiors. Even his en plein air landscapes are so lyrical and harmonious. MUSEUMS Moscow, Tret’jakov Gallery Moscow, The Ministry of Culture Collection Moscow, Central Museum of the Revolution St. Petersburg, Russian State Museum St. Petersburg, History Museum Tblisi, Fine Arts Museum Tambov, Fine Arts Museum Irkutsk, Fine Arts Museum London, National Gallery Manchester, Fine Arts Museum Dresden, National Gallery Bratislava, National Gallery Tokyo, Contemporary Art Gallery Osaka, Soviet Art Gallery Works by Gleb Savinov are permanently dealt by the Pirra Art Gallery and are published in coloured monographs edited by the Gallery.