"Autographs of war" - the work of the national artist Gennady Dobrov in the Russian Academy of Arts

MOSCOW. In the exhibition hall of the Russian Academy of Arts on August 7, an exhibition of the People’s Artist of the Russian Federation Gennady Dobrov opened. In his work, Gennady Dobrov constantly turned to universal topics. The heightened sense of empathy that arose in childhood, when many disabled people who lost their health in the war, earned their living on the streets. Someone played harmonies in the markets, someone just asked for alms.

When Dobrov was a student at the Surikov Institute, the teacher E. A. Kibrik told him about the war invalids, taken away from human eyes, to the island of Valaam. Later, the artist came to Valaam and painted portraits of its inhabitants in a shelter for the disabled. These portraits marked the beginning of a series of graphic works called the “Autographs of War”. Gennady Dobrov devoted more than seven years to the creation of this series, having traveled over the past twenty years over twenty boarding schools where he found the heroes of his drawings.

In his desire to always be among important events, Dobrov was, in a way, a reporter. Only in Afghanistan, the artist visited five times. When a new “hot spot” appeared on the map of the country - Chechnya, Dobrov could not ignore the events taking place there. The result of these trips was about three hundred works. Among them were large portraits made in pencil, as well as many quick sketches.

The path to recognition with Gennady Dobrov was not easy - his first personal exhibition took place when he was about fifty years old. It was already the end of 1986, it would seem that freedom of expression began, but the exhibition was open for just one day. Only yielding to the reaction of the public, the time of the display of Dobrov’s works was extended for another two days.

“Autographs of war” by Gennady Dobrov can be seen on August 25th.

Ludmila Trautmane © Gallerix.ru