Nikolai Ponomarov

Nikolai Ponomarov
1918-1997

Nikolai Afanasevich Ponomarev was born February 4 (17), 1918, on the day that ended the use of the old Russian calendar. He was born in Shakhty, the Rostov-on-Don Province. Ponomarev studied at the Art School of Rostov-on-the-Don from 1934 to 1939. He then studied at the Moscow Art Institute from 1940 to 1946. He went on to graduate school at the Surikov Institute from 1947 to 1949. He studied under the professors V.V. Pochitailo and G.G. Ryashki as well as M. Rodionov, G. Goroshchenko, Istomin, Osmerkin, Pavlinov, Moor, and Radlov. While studying at the Surikov, Ponomarev worked as an assistant in the graphic arts studio of Cheremnykh. He also taught briefly at the Surikov Institute. He began his professional career as a restorer when he was sent to Dresden to take part in the salvation of pieces from the famous gallery. Ponomarev traveled extensively to paint series of works in places such as North Vietnam, India, Egypt, Japan, and Bulgaria as well as in his native Russia.

Exhibitions partial list

Awards:(partial list)

•"Cyril and Methodius" Award, 1973
•Again received Order of Workers' Red Banner award, 1978
•Awarded Order of Workers' Red Banner, 1971
•Awarded the Stalin Prize, 1951
•Awarded the medal "Valiant Work" in conjunction with the 100th anniversary of Lenin's birth, 1970
•Chairman of the USSR Union of Artists, 1973-80's
•Elected to the Supreme Soviet
•First Secretary of the USSR Artists Union, 1971-73
•Gold Medal from the Ministry of Culture, 1957
•Honored Contributor to Soviet Art: on the board of directors for the Artists' Guild, 1963
•International Dawing Award in Reykjavik, 1982
•International Prize in Honor of G. Neru for his series, "In India", 1972
•People's Artist of Russia, 1968
•USSR State Prize for his series the "Donbass Miners", 1951

Exhibitions:(partial list)

1947, 1949, 1950, 1951, & 1952 , All-Union Art Exhibition, Moscow

1957, North Vietnam series exhibitions

1961, National Art Exhibition of 1961 featured the series In India

1978, Retrospective exhibition of Ponomarev's work in Japan

Collections:(partial list)

Belarus State Art Museum
Fishermen's Camp, from the series North Vietnam, 1957, paper, gouache, pastel, 55 x 80 cm

Kiev Museum of Russian Art
Going to the Bazaar, from the series North Vietnam, 1957, paper, gouache, pastels, 55 x 76 cm
Planting Rice, from the series North Vietnam, 1957, paper, gouache, pastel, 52 x 74 cm

Odessa State Museum
On the Red River, from the series North Vietnam, 1957, paper, gouache, pastel, 75 x 52.5 cm

Russian State Museum
Shift Change, from the series Miners , 1959, paper, gouache, 40.3 x 70.3 cm
A Day Off, From the series Miners, 1959, paper, gouache, 82x59
Water Supply on the Rice Fields, from the series Madras Indian Album, 1959-1962, paper, gouache, pastels, 51.3 x 30 cm
The Artist Rathan Mitra, Indian Album, 1959-62, paper, Indian Ink, pen, 51 x 36.3 cm
Bombay, from the series Fisherwomen, Indian Album, 1959-1962, paper, watercolor, gouache, 29.5 x 41.9 cm

Soviet Ministry of Culture
Old Arab, from the series OAR. Roads to Asuana, 1966-1967, paper, monotype, 58 x 43 cm

Tretyakov Gallery (Museum)
Waiting for Boats, from the series In India, 1960-61, cardboard, paper, gouache, tempera, 61 x 91 cm
A Creek, from the series Japan, 1974-1976, paper, Indian Ink, pen, 65 x 70 cm
Outside Moscow, Black Pines. From the series Outside Moscow, 1974-1979, paper, Indian Ink, brush, 48 x 70 cm
The River Crossing, from the series North Vietnam, 1957, paper, gouache, pastels,
Fishermen's Children, from the series About the People of Soviet Russia. Fishermen, 1964, paper, gouache, tempera, 81 x 68 cm
To the Depot, from the series About the People of Soviet Russia. Fishermen, 1964, paper, gouache, tempera, 107 x 87 cm
On the Bengali Bay, from the series In India, 1960-1, cardboard, paper, gouache, tempera, 70 x 90 cm
Ira, 1977, Orgalit, tempera, 80 x 100 cm
Portrait of M. Sholokhov , 1986, orgalit, tempera, 130 x 140 cm
Portrait of Natasha, 1987, Orgalit, tempera, 120 x 110 cm
Miners of Hong Kai, from the series North Vietnam, 1957, paper, gouache, pastels, 61 x 84 cm
Portrait of Brigadier Bogaevskii, 1980, orgalit, tempera, 100 x 130 cm
Strikers, from the series In India, 1960-1, cardboard, paper, gouache, tempera, 72 x 60 cm
Bay of Ha-Long, from the series North Vietnam, 1957, paper, gouache, pastels, 75 x 54 cm
Rice Fields, from the series North Vietnam, 1957, paper, gouache, pastels, 59x79
Evening, from the series About the People of Soviet Russia. Fishermen, 1964, paper, gouache, tempera, 80 x 68 cm
Portrait of the Surgeon V. Savelev, MD, Active Member of the Academy of Science of the USSR, Soviet State Prize, 1977, Orgalit, tempera, 100 x 103 cm
By the Well, from the series In India, 1960-1, cardboard, paper, gouache, tempera, 67.5 x 99 cm
Old Fishermen, from the series About the People of Soviet Russia. Fishermen, 1964, paper, gouache, tempera, 70 x 102 cm
The Land by the River Don, At a Crossing , 1982, Orgalit, tempera, 100 x 130 cm
Collies in the Port, from the series In India, 1960-1, cardboard, paper, gouache, tempera, 70 x 90 cm
Evening Song, from the series North Vietnam , 1957, paper, gouache, pastels, 64 x 99 cm
In the Fields, from the series North Vietnam, 1957, paper, gouache, pastel, 80x54 cm
Fishermen, from the series North Vietnam, 1957, paper, gouache, pastel, 49 x 79.5 cm
Morning on the Ganges, Indian Album, 1959-62, paper, watercolor, gouache, 37.5 x 20.5 cm
Fishermen, from the series In India, 1960-1, cardboard, paper, gouache, tempera, 89 x 61 cm
On the Bombay Bank, from the series In India, 1960-1, cardboard, watercolor, gouache, 37.5 x 20.5 cm
Morning on the Ganges, from the series In India, 1960-61, cardboard, paper, gouache, tempera, 62.5 x 91.5 cm
Fisherwoman; Morning, from the series About the People of Soviet Russia. Fishermen, 1964, paper, gouache, tempera, 80 x 60 cm

Books:(partial list)
1998 — Socialist Realist Painting, by Matthew Cullerne Bown — p. 251, A New Uniform, 1952, Oil on Canvas, 23 x 32 in., Lvov Art Gallery

Artist Thoughts:

"For me the series Sails in the Environs of Moscow was not a mere episode. What I did not want to do was to depict minutely the sail, the stay-sail, the rigging connecting them with the boat, the list of the moving yacht and the like. I did not think it was important. I believe an artist should represent it all the way children do it: a sail and nothing else. A sail filled with wind, a boat running full speed - all this may be good in a movie or photograph where the purpose is to convey movement. In a drawing it is something else. As it was put in the poem: 'A solitary sail is looming in the haze...' You may ask: Is it moving or not? What kind of sail is it? But no, it is just looming! So the idea was to ignore the details and render it all as a whole - the sails and the trees. How can you say to a child: draw the wind, draw the air? The wind and the air are here, the crowns of trees and the sails are their symbols. I have excluded the trivia and left only a sail and the crown of a tree."