Vasily Dmitrievich Puzanov-Molev, one of the seminal figures in Kholuy lacquer miniature art, was born on November 17, 1892, into the family of a cobbler. After finishing a four-year elementary school he entered the Kholuy icon-painting school. His teacher was E.A. Zarin. In 1909, after finishing the school with honours, V.D. Puzanov-Molev was sent to the Stroganov Art School in Moscow.
In 1912, V.D. Puzanov-Molev was hired to decorate the St. Theodore Church in Tsarskoe Selo, then a Cathedral in Dragomilov in Moscow, and the state bank in Nizhni Novgorod. Called up into the army he found himself in Warsaw, where he became acquainted with the work of N.N. Kharlamov and his pupils. The Revolution of 1917, followed by the civil War, famine and economic dislocation made it impossible for V.D. Puzanov-Molev to pursue the trade for which he had studied many years. He earned his daily bread working as a whitewash, load handler and cab driver. In 1933, after visiting his friend Nikolai Mikhailovich Parilov, a Palekh artist, and seeing Palekh lacquer miniatures, he returned to Kholuy determined to try his hand at this new kind of art. At about the same time S.A. Mokin and K.V. Kosterin were experimenting with decoration of paper-mache boxes. The year was 1934, when the Kholuy art was formed.
The artist worked at the Kholuy art artel and subsequently at the Kholuy lacquer miniature factory (1934-1961). Taught at the Kholuy Art School in 1943-1955. Merited Artist of the RSFSR. Won award at international exhibitions in Paris (1937), New York (1939) and Brussels (1958). The artist painted on a variety of themes: history, landscapes, fairy-tales and many others. Major works: "Rest" (1935), "Round Dance" (1943), "The Lost Letter" (1944), "The Tale of Tsar saltan" (1947), "Autumn" (1953), "The Volga" (1957), "Afanasi Nikitin in India" (1958).
V.D. Puzanov-Molev's works are sited at these books:
I. Soloviova L. N., 1991, KHOLUY LACQUERED MINIATURES, INTERBOOK, Moscow, ISBN 5-7664-0696-7:
1. Icon "St. Nicholas" (early 20th century, Kholuy Art Museum).
2. Powder-box "Bouquet of Flowers" (1936, Folk Art Museum of the Crafts Research Institute).
3. Box "Landscape" (1944, Folk Art Museum of the Crafts Research Institute).
4. Casket "The Tale of Tsar Saltan" (1953, Folk Art Museum of the Crafts Research Institute).
5. Casket "Afanasi Nikitin in India" (1958, Folk Art Museum of the Crafts Research Institute).
6. V.D. Puzanov-Molev, B.I. Kiselev casket "Volga" (1958, Folk Art Museum of the Crafts Research Institute).
7. V.D. Puzanov-Molev's biography is on pages 37-40/175-178, summary page 234.
II. Kamorin A. A., 1995, LACQUER MINIATURE. KHOLUY. MASTERPIECES OF RUSSIAN FOLK ART, INTERBOOK, Moscow, ISBN 5-7664-1057-3:
1. Icon "St. Nicholas" (early 20th century, Kholuy Art Museum), # 3.
2. Casket "The Tale of Tsar Saltan" (1953, Folk Art Museum of the Crafts Research Institute), # 6.
3. Box "Tsar Ivan the Terrible Receives Ukrainian Envoys" (1954, Folk Art Museum of the Crafts Research Institute), # 8.
4. V.D. Puzanov-Molev, B.I. Kiselev casket "Volga" (1958, Folk Art Museum of the Crafts Research Institute), # 9.
5. Casket "Afanasi Nikitin in India" (1958, Folk Art Museum of the Crafts Research Institute), # 10.
6. Box "Ivan the Terrible Receives Yermark's Envoys" (1958, Folk Art Museum of the Crafts Research Institute), # 11.
7. Box "Boris Godunov" (1959, Folk Art Museum of the Crafts Research Institute), # 12.
III. Guliayev V., 1989, RUSSIAN LACQUERED MINIATURES, AURORA ART PUBLISHERS, Leningrad:
1. Casket "Afanasi Nikitin in India" (1959, Folk Art Museum of the Crafts Research Institute), # 225.
IV. Maria Nekrasova, 1994, RUSSIAN LACQUER MINIATURES. FEDOSKINO, PALEKH, KHOLUY, MSTERA, SOGLASIE, Moscow:
1. Round box "Flowers" (1936, Muiseum of Kholuy), # 221.
2. Box "The Soothsayer Oleg" (1957, Folk Art Museum of the Crafts Research Institute), # 222.
3. Plate "Volga" (1958, Muiseum of Kholuy), # 223.
4. Box "Ivan the Terrible Receives Yermark's Envoys" (1958, Folk Art Museum of the Crafts Research Institute), # 11.
V. Collection of illustrations: KHOLUY. LACQUERED MINIATURES:
1. Box "Landscape" (1944, Folk Art Museum of the Crafts Research Institute).
2. Casket "The Tale of Tsar Saltan" (1953, Folk Art Museum of the Crafts Research Institute).
VI. Starikov V.V., Guznov M.A., 1959, PALEKH ART, IVANOVO PABLISHING:
1. V.D. Puzanov-Molev, B.I. Kiselev casket "Volga" (1957).
2. V.D. Puzanov-Molev's biography, page 23.
VII. Rozova L.K, 1970, THE ART OF KHOLUY LACQUERED MINIATURES, ARTIST OF RSFSR, Leningrad:
1. Powder-case "Volga" (1957, Folk Art Museum of the Crafts Research Institute).
2. Casket "Landscape" (1944, Folk Art Museum of the Crafts Research Institute).
3. V.D. Puzanov-Molev's biography, page 111.
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