Birthday of Boris Ugarov, one of the greatest masters of Russian realistic art

Boris Ugarov, a painter, PhD in Art History, teacher, professor, President of the Academy of Arts of the USSR (1983-1991), was born in Petrograd on February 6, 1922.

Boris Ugarov went to a secondary school from 1930 to spring 1941. As a pupil he attended classes at the House of Scientists’ art studio (his teachers were A. A. Rylov and M. G. Platunov), and the A. R. Eberling private studio.

Having finished school the future artist joined the volunteer corps and then decided to go to the front. He was an artilleryman, took part in battles on the Leningrad and Volkhov Fronts, in Karelia and in the Far East. In 1944 on the instructions of the command as a member of a group of war artists Boris Ugarov decorated the Victory Museum in Lodeynoye Pole. It was then that he painted pictures Artillery Crossing the Svir River, Artillery in the Mountains and some portraits.

After the war, Boris Ugarov became a student of the Ilya Repin Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (Faculty of Painting). The grounds for admittance were his wartime works. In his third year, he began to work at Igor Grabar’s workshop and was a student of V. M. Oreshnikov and A. A. Mylnikov.

In 1951 Boris Ugarov was awarded the title Artist of Painting for his graduation work Spring in Kolkhoz (‘collective farm’), which he defended with distinction. The painting reflected the main incentives in the artist's work - love for the motherland, nature and people.

After graduation, Boris Ugarov was engaged in a 4-year postgraduate course within the Faculty of Painting under the direction of A. M. Gerasimov. In the meanwhile in 1952 he began teaching at the institute and was admitted to the Leningrad Union of Soviet Artists. The painting Kolkhoz. 1929 was the final work as part of the postgraduate study, which earned him the degree of PhD in Art History in 1954.

The artist’s love for nature and the understanding of its beauty were sustained and deepened by landscape painting. Between 1951 and 1954 Ugarov made trips to Leningrad and Tver Regions, made sketches Melting Snow (1952), Spring Water (1954), Banya (‘steam bath’) (1954), and Street in the Village (1954). Paintings Twilight (1956), Cheremenets Lake (1956), Ferapontov Monastery (1957), Pskov (1960), Winter (1960) were the results of his trips to old Russian cities and towns (Novgorod, Pskov, Staraya Ladoga, etc.) between 1955 and 1960.

The artist portrayed the turning points in the Russian history in his large-scale canvases: The Mines. 1912 (1957); Leningrad Woman. 1941 (1961); October (1964); Mother. 1941 (1965); June 1941 (1975); Revival (1980) etc.

Ugarov devoted much time to portrait painting. Some of his portraits are: Portrait of M. O. Ugarova (1970), Tanya (1971), Portrait of Wife (1974), Portrait of Son (1978)).

In 1971 Boris Ugarov was awarded the title Professor of Painting and Composition. In 1973 he became a corresponding member of the Academy of Arts of the USSR. In 1975 he headed the Leningrad branch of the Union of Artists of the USSR.

In 1977 Boris Ugarov was elected rector of the Ilya Repin Institute. In 1978 he became a full member of the Academy of Arts of the USSR. In 1982 the master was awarded the title People's Artist of the USSR. In 1983 Boris Ugarov was elected President of the Academy of Arts of the USSR and held this post until 1991.

Boris Ugarov died on August 2, 1991 and was buried at the Volkovo Cemetery in Leningrad.

The artist’s works are housed in the State Russian Museum, the State Tretyakov Gallery, the Research Museum of the Russian Academy of Arts, and in museums and private collections in Russia, Finland, China, Japan, Great Britain, France and other countries.

Lit.: Борис Сергеевич Угаров : каталог выставки : живопись, графика. М., 1980; Борис Сергеевич Угаров : каталог выставки. Л., 1972.

Based on the Presidential Library’s materials:

Леняшин В. А. Борис Сергеевич Угаров : [альбом]. Л., 1984;

Справка о зачислении в ряды Октябрьской добровольческой дивизии Угарова Б. С. Л., 1941.