Pavel Fyodorovich Sudakov (1914-2010) was a People's Artist of the RSFSR, a Stalin Prize laureate, and a winner of the prestigious Repin State Prize, marking him as one of the most celebrated masters of the Soviet era. A veteran of World War II, Sudakov volunteered for the front with the people's militia before being recalled to lead the art studio of the border troops. His formal education was at the Moscow State Art Institute (the pre-1948 name for the Surikov Institute), where he studied in the workshop of G.G. Ryazhsky, graduating in 1941.
Sudakov was a leading master of historical-revolutionary painting, famous for monumental works like "The Capitulation of the Kwantung Army". However, he was also an exceptionally skilled portraitist and still life painter, as seen in the Lazare Gallery collection. His portrait, "A Cossack Soldier," is a powerful character study, rendered with the confident, realist technique for which he was known. In a completely different genre, his painting "Irises" showcases his skill as a colorist and his ability to find a quiet, lyrical beauty in nature.
The legacy of Pavel Sudakov is that of a top-tier Soviet master whose work received the highest state honors. He traveled on official creative trips to Mexico and Brazil, and his works are held in the permanent collections of the State Tretyakov Gallery and the State Russian Museum. For the collector, owning a painting by Sudakov is to acquire a work of immense historical and artistic importance by a decorated war veteran who was one of the quintessential painters of his time.
