Dynasty: Exhibition of Alexander Taratynov in the Russian Academy of Arts

The Russian Academy of Arts presents over 50 works of sculpture, painting, graphic art, photographs created by representatives of the Taratynov dynasty of artists. The Honored Artist of Russia, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Arts Alexander Taratynov is a recognized master of easel and monumental sculpture.

The artist’s works have been exhibited in many European countries and adorn squares and parks in Netherlands, Belgium, Montenegro, Latvia, Germany and many Russian cities: a statue of D’Artagnan in Maastricht, monument to the Grand Duchess Anna Pavlovna in Hague, Alexander Pushkin in Latvia and Montenegro, Vladimir Vysotsky in Novosibirsk and others.

In 1981 Alexander Taratynov graduated from V. Surikov Moscow State Academy Art Institute where he majored in sculpture under the noted Soviet sculptor Lev Kerbel. The traditions of the Russian realistic school are coupled in Alexander Taratynov’s works with characteristic searches in contemporary art. He has been much influenced by the aesthetics of postmodernism.

Alexander Taratynov is world known for his 3D sculptural interpretations of masterpieces of the world painting. His sculptural composition “Night Watch” (Rembrandt), created in association with Michael Dronov, consisting of 22 bronze figures in real size has been installed in Amsterdam. The unique series was continued in Taratynov’s sculptural realizations of Pieter Bruegel’s “Blind Men”, Albrecht Durer’s “Knight, Death and Devil”, Gustav Klimt’s “The Kiss”, Henry Matisse’s “The Dance”, Ivan Kramskoy’s “The Unknown Woman” .

The main feature of Alexander Taratynov’s monuments is an invitation to a dialogue. The artist has been constantly experimenting with materials that sometimes results in elements of the kinetic sculpture clearly seen in his monument to P. Dubrovin in Daugavpils (Latvia).

The founder of the Taratynov dynasty is his father – People’s Artist of the Russian Federation, sculptor Michael V. Taratynov (1927-2008), whose favorite theme - a female beauty found its reflection in marble, wood and bronze. Alexander Taratynov’s mother Seren N. Yumankova (12930-1965) was a talented painter with an extraordinary feeling of color expressed in her nudes, still lifes, and portraits.

Canvases by Alexander Taratynov’s wife – Catherine are an evident example of contemporary abstract art. She is a graduate of the Moscow State Academy Art Lyceum and the Academy of Fine Arts in Amsterdam. The color for the artist is the main means of expression. Her abstract paintings reveal a sharp associative thinking, richness of fantasy and perfect mastership of color. On display at the Russian Academy of Arts is also her experimental project “Still Lifes in Sculpture”.

The third generation of the family is the son Phillip who presents at the show his photographs and daughters – Glafira and Agafia whose bright and multicolored pastels are distinguished by expressivity and keen perception.

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