Arkady Rylov

Arkady Alexandrovich Rylov ( _ru. Аркадий Александрович Рылов; OldStyleDate|29 January|1870|17 January - June 22 1939) was a Russian and Soviet Symbolist painter.

Biography

Rylov was born in the village Istobenskoye, Vyatka gubernia. He was brought in the family of his stepfather, a notary (Rylov's father had a psychiatric illness). He moved to Saint Petersburg and studied at the Technical Design School of Baron Schtiglitz (1888-1891), then at the Imperial Academy of Arts under Arkhip Kuindzhi (1894-1897).

Rylov was a member of the Mir iskusstva movement and its spin-off Union of Russian Artists also a member of the Association of Artists of the Revolutionary Russia. He was a chairman of the "Kuindzhi Society".

He started as a historical painter (his graduation work in the Imperial Academy of Arts was "Assault of Pechenegs on a Slav village" but became a predominately landscape painter. Still many of his paintings have some allusions with Russian history.

Many of his landscapes painted after the October Revolution were seen as symbols of the revolutionary Freedom. At that time he also painted some typical Socialist Realism compositions like "Lenin in Razliv". He taught in the Academy of Arts. In his studio he created almost a small nature reserve. There lived squirrels, rabbits, monkey Manka and many wild birds (without cages) and two anthills. According to Mikhail Nesterov wild animals and birds loved Rylov and often came to his studio.

Works

Rylov's most renowned works are the of 1918 showing wild geese flying in the sky over a sea with some sailing ship in the bottom.

References

* [http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/Exhibitions/Horizons/En/bio-484.html Rylov at Virtual Museum Canada]
* [http://staratel.com/pictures/ruspaint/532.htm Rylov at "Staratel" art gallery]
* [http://www.krugosvet.ru/articles/93/1009356/1009356a1.htm Biography]