Georgy Georgievich Shishkin is a modern Russian artist who developed his own painting technique. Today he is recognized as an outstanding master of pastel painting. The artist's paintings were shown at personal Russian and international exhibitions held in Paris, Cannes, Nice, Monte Carlo, Luxembourg.
His skill is also in demand in the West, but by his own admission, he " always remained a Russian artist with a Russian soul, with faith and memory of his homeland."
Hence the mission voluntarily undertaken by Shishkin to represent Russian art in the West. After all, only being abroad, a truly Russian person, a creator, begins to acutely understand that all of his artistic baggage comes from the impressions that he received in his youth. Perhaps for the painter these were the masterpieces of Andrei Rublev, which he saw in Vladimir during his travels with a sketchbook in provincial Russia.
Next, we will focus on the biography of the artist Shishkin.
Childhood
The future artist was born in 1948 in the family of a musician. His father Georgy Ivanovich Shishkin was a musician, played the violin in the orchestra of the Musical Comedy Theater of the city of Sverdlovsk. Fighting for Stalingrad, he was seriously injured and died some time later after the birth of his son.
In the ancestors of the boy were peasants of the Vyatka province, who at the beginning of the XX century became merchants. Grandmother, Anna Efimovna, nee Kushnina, was musically and creatively gifted. As a girl, she was in a church choir, and later she sang for guests, accompanying herself on the guitar.
From the age of seven, while learning to play the violin, the boy drew a lot. As he himself said later: "Already in those years, I realized that I would be an artist."
For ten years, George Shishkin was admitted to the Art School at the Sverdlovsk Art School. Here, Nikolai Nikolaevich Moos, a famous graphic artist who illustrated children's books, became his teacher. As early as 1935, Kipling's tale of Mowgli was decorated with his drawings. This publication is still being issued with the same wonderful illustrations.
Five years later, George graduated from art school with honors, receiving as a best student a recommendation for continuing education. However, relatives, caring for a reliable future for the boy, insisted that he enroll in a construction college.
Youth
But after studying and two years of work, Shishkin still became a student at the Sverdlovsk Architectural Institute (now this educational institution is called the Ural State Academy of Architecture and Art). From 1969 to 1975, the future artist, along with his friend Henri Kaptikov, who later became a professor, made many trips to small Russian towns, and he, being a connoisseur of Russian architecture, helped George discover the great art of Ancient Russia.
Since 1974, the young artist Georgy Shishkin - a participant in national professional exhibitions. In 1981, he first exhibited his work as an independent master.
First exhibitions
At the same time, Shishkin had an internship at the Moscow Stroganov Higher Industrial Art School. He worked hard and gradually gained fame. In 1985, the Union of Artists of the USSR accepted him into its ranks.
During the 80s, Shishkin managed to take part in several dozen screenings of paintings in Moscow and other cities of Russia, and in 1989 he held his first foreign exhibition in West Germany.
Four years later, another one took place - this time in France. At first it was Paris, two years later Versailles and Cannes. At the last of them four canvases of the master were purchased. Three works related to the series under the general title “Russian Dreams”, experts called the expression of the new Russian style.
An expert on art, a former adviser to Margaret Thatcher, Baron Robert Alistair McAlpine devoted an article published in one of London's magazines to Shishkin’s work. "The artist who caught the mystery of Russia" - so he called this master.
Achievements
Brushes by Georgi Georgievich Shishkin belong to a series of portraits of such illustrious creative personalities as Innokenty Smoktunovsky, Gerard Depardieu, Inna Churikova, Elena Gogoleva, Yuri Yakovlev, Boris Shtokolov and others.
Prince of Monaco Albert II and President of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Abu Dhabi Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, posed for Shishkin.
In the 1990-2000s, the artist created a series of paintings dedicated to the Bolshoi Theater and outstanding soloists - Chaliapin, Nuriev, Nizhinsky, Lifar, as well as Diaghilev himself and his Russian Ballet.
Georgy Georgievich participated in numerous cultural projects. In particular, while still a student at an architectural institute, he developed lantern models of the City Historical Square. Later he decorated the interior of the local Museum of Opera and Ballet Theater, painted the facade of the Church of All Saints, in which he was once baptized.
The artist Shishkin is a participant in various philatelic projects (for example, "Postage Stamps of the Principality of Monaco", etc.). For his work in the field of philately and for his contribution to its development, he became a corresponding member of the National Academy of Philately of Russia (December 2011), and in 2013 he was awarded the Faberge Medal.
Today, the works of George Shishkin belong to a number of museums and collections of private collectors in many countries of the world. They adorn, for example, the palace of the Prince of Monaco, a collection of paintings by the English Queen Elizabeth II, are in the collection of the singer Luciano Pavarotti, Lord Alistair Macelpine, Guy Haytenz, Prince Nikita Lobanov-Rostovsky and many others.
Originality of work
In any description of the artist’s painting Shishkin it will be noted more than once that these works seem translucent, and they are unusually connected with abstract spots and clear lines, bright strokes of impressionism and Russian spirituality of images.
Since the 80s, conducting experiments in various types of art techniques, the artist Shishkin prefers pastel painting. Gradually, his own original method is being developed, in which the basis for the pastel is prepared in such a way that the picture does not crumble. This allows the wizard to create canvases of large formats.
Speaking about his approach to painting in an interview with the Parisian magazine Russian Thought, the artist noted:
I tried to form, find my picturesque language. The ways in which I work with pastels have not yet been met by other artists. I get a different surface, which makes it possible to make layering and maintain the transparency of the layers of the pastel, which is usually used as a coating material. This technique allows me to write pastels in large formats.
Art critics call Shishkin’s creative method “instinctive” and “deeply sensitive.” These words, as a rule, accompany the description of the artist Shishkin. At the same time, his method also traces the clear achievement of specific thematic goals.
Creativity as a dialogue
In 1993, in the foyer of the Bolshoi Theater, Shishkin's canvas was exhibited, dedicated to the outstanding Russian opera singer, soloist of the Bolshoi and Mariinsky Theaters Fedor Chaliapin. On the same day, an anniversary concert of his memory was held, which was attended by descendants of Chaliapin.
According to many, the portrait painted by Shishkin came out as if it were painted by a contemporary of the singer who saw Chaliapin during his lifetime.
"Refined portrait painter" called the master for his work with images of contemporaries. But he also has another secret: turning to his subconscious, the master manages to see and feel the person through memories and documentary evidence that have come down to our time.
This is how portraits were created dedicated to the geniuses of Russian culture of the past: Chaliapin, Pushkin, Tsvetaeva, soloists of the Russian ballet Diaghilev.
In a mental appeal to the heroes of history, the national Russian heritage, paintings by the artist Shishkin for the famous series "Russian Dreams" were also written. These canvases are "Waiting", "Anna Yaroslavna", "City of Kitezh", "Evening Ringing", "Geese-Swans", "Time of Troubles".