Leonid Markov

Leonid Markov
1926-2002

Leonid Markov was born in 1926 in Kharkov, Ukraine. He was orphaned by WWII at the age of 16 and left to care for his 14 year old sister. After the war he worked in a shoe factory to support himself and his sister. Because of his work ethic and abilities, he was soon offered a promotion, which he declined because he wanted to leave time for painting. After Moving to Moscow, he took a job in another shoe factory. While working at the factory he also enrolled in art school at All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions (a program which at that time was similar to that of the Surikov Institute). He immediately was advanced one year ahead. He studied under S.N. Musatov, D.M. Osipov, G.G. Ryazhskii, P.P. Sokolov-Skalya as well as K.F. Yuon, G.A. Sretenskii, and B.P. Korotkov. He graduated from the school in 1948. Markov became a professor in the Mansion Institute of Culture and Art where he mentoored and taught many generations of artists, who later became members of the Russian Society of Artists. He had a very close relationship with Sokolov-Skalya and K.G. Dorokhov, whose recommendations gave him a head start in the art world and in the Artists' Guild. Markov had a reputation for being loved by all, close to many, and extremely modest. In an interview about himself he said: "Please, just write as simply as possible, as little as possible. Why show everything? Why is this necessary, really-what for?" After saying this, he proceeded to talk again about his friends' accomplishments. He died in 2002.