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It is not a
coincidence that Alexander Pogrebinsky became the artist he is
today. He was born into an artistic family; both his parents
were distinguished artists of the Socialist Realist school of
painting in the Soviet Union.
The history of Socialist Realist
Painting is the tale of an extraordinary movement in the art of
our century. It entailed the sponsorship of realistic painting
on a scale unmatched anywhere in the world and engaged for
decades the talents of thousands of artists across a vast,
multiracial empire. It emphasized the social role of art; it
insisted on the superiority of content over form; it required a
wholesome return to traditional skills and regarded the history
of European art from the Renaissance onwards as a living source
of inspiration. It was directly and deliberately opposed to the
solipsism, formalism and yearning after a tabula rasa of
the modern movement; and it provided the only full-blooded and
thoroughly conceived alternative to it. (Bown, Socialist
Realist Painting, 1998).
Peter Nikolayevich Pogrebinsky
(1911 - 2002) and his wife Liubov Romanovna Solona (1914 - 1990)
were both skilled artists of Kiev and graduates of the Kiev
Institute of Art, now known as the Kiev Academy of Arts.
Both were involved in the cultural life of the city.
Pogrebinsky is living and working
in the United States. He was born
in Kiev. From birth Alexander found himself in a world of
brushes, paints, and colors. His interests in drawing and
sculpture where clearly visible since childhood. The young
Pogrebinsky could spend the whole day sculpting all kinds of
figures out of clay.
In 1958
Pogrebinsky entered a special French school, where all subjects
where taught in the French language. And in 1963 Pogrebinsky
passed all the entrance exams and entered the only high school
for the arts in the whole of Ukraine. This kind of school
existed only in Kiev, Moscow, and St. Petersburg. Along with
the regular curriculum of the school, it also offered intense
courses in the fine arts, and prepared the young students for
the future as professional artists. The first four years where
dedicated to watercolor, drawing, sculpture, and composition.
Again, Pogrebinsky proved his amazing talent in sculpting.
Thus his teachers advised Pogrebinsky to pursue sculpture as his
artistic career. The final three years of his education at
the school were dedicated to the study of oil painting, drawing,
and composition. Pogrebinsky, as other students, used live
models for his studies.
It was around
this time in school that Pogrebinsky became interested in the
ancient art of Yoga.
Through Yoga
he became fascinated by the ancient philosophies and religions
of ancient India. And later the study of German philosophy,
and world philosophy in general.
He wished to
read many books in their original language. This influenced
Pogrebinsky to study foreign languages. In 1970 Pogrebinsky
entered a three year course in foreign languages. And in 1971,
at the age of 20, he received a degree in French. His fluency
and degree earned him the right to teach and translate in the
Soviet Union. |
