Exhibition of works by Vladimir Galatenko (1949 - 2021) "Life path"

The Russian Academy of Arts presents an exhibition of works by the Honored Artist of the Russian Federation, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Arts Vladimir Ivanovich Galatenko (1949 - 2021) "Life Path". The exposition will consist of about fifty paintings and graphic works of different years - urban and rural landscapes, compositions dedicated to childhood memories, works from the series "Manor of A.P. Chekhov" Melikhovo "

“Vladimir Galatenko is a typical romantic, inclined not so much to fix various states of nature as to transform and generalize them in his own lyrical experiences. His paintings - thoughtful, complex - can be called "visions". This is a kind of pictorial idealism, immersing us in smoothly and almost imperceptibly flowing colors and shapes, in a light and tone environment… In his best things, he remains a poet of color and light.

V. I. Galatenko was born in 1949 in the Limansky district of the Astrakhan region. In 1972 he graduated from the Astrakhan Art College, in 1983 - the Faculty of Applied Arts of the Moscow Textile Institute named after A. N. Kosygin. He is a participant in more than a hundred Moscow and international exhibitions, the author of the artistic design of the VDNKh pavilions, the opening and closing ceremonies of the XXII Summer Olympic Games. As an illustrator, he collaborated with the magazines Yunost, Selskaya Nov, Moskovsky Zhurnal, was a member of the Editorial Board and chief artist of the international literary almanac Man on Earth, illustrated dozens of Russian and foreign book publications. V. I. Galatenko often traveled, creating numerous extensive cycles of works, distinguished by refined imagination and decorativeness. Landscape images of the Astrakhan region,Karelia, Siberia, Sakhalin, Moscow and the Moscow region, Tbilisi, views of the Western European cities of Gothenburg, Trier, Paris convey the uniqueness of the author’s worldview.

The researchers note that the main achievement of the artist was the creation of the Astrakhan steppe landscape as a type. “I was born in the steppe, at a railway station. In summer, forty degrees of heat is the norm, commonplace. In June, the steppe burned out, became homogeneous, featureless. But in the spring, in April, on Easter - a riot of marvelous herbs in their ingenuous beauty. Fields of tiny white and yellow steppe tulips, scarlet poppies. Wild irises bloom, white-pink bindweeds in the shade of roadsides, in the bushes of wormwood the so-called lamps blaze with multi-colored lights. I wanted to capture this fabulous wealth, escaping before our eyes, characteristic transience. If you don’t draw, they will disappear without a trace,” the artist recalled in an interview with T. Shekhanova.

Visions of flowers - the children of the goddess Flora - occupy an important place in the artist’s work as a visible phenomenon of beauty, mystery and constant renewal of earthly existence. Vladimir Galatenko finds an exquisite balance between the precision of a researcher and the poetry of a painter. The nobility of the artistic language is especially evident in the development of the theme of the Beautiful Lady as the integrity of external and internal perfection.

Of great importance for the artist’s work was the graphic cycle of interiors and landscapes of the museum-estate of A.P. Chekhov "Melikhovo". In these sheets, Galatenko finds a particularly expressive combination of poetic perception and brevity of the plastic solution. The artist goes beyond direct representation. The images of the museum’s exposition, created by him, convey the lively spirit of the Chekhov estate.

In recent years, the artist turned to the events of wartime. The painting “In Memory of My Mother” depicts a simple Russian woman, tired of prosaic, hard, but irreplaceable work on the railway. The canvas, devoid of pathos, is full of harsh heroics, which emphasizes the limited color palette and the conciseness of the drawing. Vladimir Galatenko intended to create a whole series of works about home front workers during the Great Patriotic War.

Feeling the lively beat of life and constant connection with the small and great Motherland, the artist donated part of his work to create a museum and exhibition center in his native village of Yandyki - a branch of the Astrakhan State Art Gallery named after. P. M. Dogadin, collaborated with the All-Russian Public Charitable Foundation of Alexei Fatyanov, with the "National Art Movement of Russia", with the Tyumen Regional Public Charitable Foundation "Revival of Tobolsk", with the Foundation for the Support of Culture, Folk Crafts and Crafts "Return to the Origins" in Nizhny Novgorod areas.

In recognition of his services to the national culture, V. Galatenko was awarded the medal of the Russian Academy of Arts (2019). His name is included in the encyclopedia “Artists of the Children’s Book of the USSR. 1945-1991”, in the European encyclopedia “Artists of all times and peoples” (vol. 57, Munich-Leipzig, 2008). The work of V. I. Galatenko occupies a worthy place in the space of Russian fine art.

The material was prepared on the basis of an article by William Meiland.