Glazunov Ilya Sergeyevich was born in 1930 in Leningrad in a hereditary noble family. Upon his return in 1944 from the Novgorod region, where he was evacuated from besieged Leningrad, after the death of his relatives from hunger, he graduated from the secondary art school, and then the Repin Institute (1957). In 1956, as a student, he received the Grand Prix at the international competition in Prague, in connection with which his first solo exhibition (Moscow, 1957) was organized in the Central
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Glazunov Ilya Sergeyevich was born in 1930 in Leningrad in a hereditary noble family. Upon his return in 1944 from the Novgorod region, where he was evacuated from besieged Leningrad, after the death of his relatives from hunger, he graduated from the secondary art school, and then the Repin Institute (1957). In 1956, as a student, he received the Grand Prix at the international competition in Prague, in connection with which his first solo exhibition (Moscow, 1957) was organized in the Central House of Artists, which marked the beginning of the world fame of the young artist.
His works of the 50-60s, conveying the atmosphere of a big city (Leningrad Spring, The Last Bus, Love, etc.) reflected the harsh truth of the life and feelings of young contemporaries. The image of great Russia on the centuries-long length of its historical path was recreated on widely known canvases in subsequent years (“Russian Song”, “Mr. Veliky Novgorod”, “City of Kitezh”, a series of paintings dedicated to the Battle of Kulikovo).
The pinnacle of artistic and philosophical understanding of Russia’s place in the context of world history was his triptych “Mystery of the twentieth century”, “Eternal Russia” and “The Great Experiment”. The development of the same theme continued in the monumental composition “Russia, Wake up” (1995) and other works of the 90s.
In the 1960s-70s, Ilya Glazunov creates a cycle of illustrations for the works of Russian classics: Blok, Kuprin, Nekrasov, Melnikov-Pechersky, Leskov, started in student time with illustrations for Dostoevsky’s novel “Idiot”.
I. Glazunov gained worldwide fame as an unsurpassed master of portraiture. He created a gallery of images of compatriots and “stars” of world culture, prominent statesmen and public figures (D. Lollobrigida, F. Fellini, L. Visconti, W. K. Kekkonen, Indira Gandhi, kings of Sweden, Laos, Spain, the Pope of Rome). Special evidence of the “world responsiveness” of the artist’s work was his series of paintings and graphic works created during trips to Vietnam and Laos, Chile and Nicaragua, as well as a monumental painting panel commissioned by UNESCO for the headquarters in Paris “Contribution of the peoples of the Soviet Union to world culture and civilization”. Exhibitions of Ilya Glazunov with triumphant success were held in many capital cities of the world.
His work is diverse: he is the author of a number of architectural projects, scenery for theatrical productions (at the Bolshoi Theatre, the Berlin Opera and on other stages).
The social activity of the artist as one of the founders of the All-Russian Society for the Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments, the creator of the All-Union Museum of Decorative, Applied and Folk Art (1981) and, finally, the Russian Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (1987), of which he is the indefinite rector.
Ilya Glazunov - People's Artist of the USSR (1980), honorary member of the oldest European Royal Academies of Fine Arts of Madrid and Barcelona (1979-1980), winner of the D. Nehru Prize (1973), holder of the Order of Vishnu (Laos) and the Order of St. Michael (Portugal).