Victor Alexandrovich Yolkin (or Yelkin) is currently Kholuy's leading artist. He has recently received an award for his artistic achievements from Boris Yeltsin.
Victor Yolkin was born in Ivanovo. In 1975 he graduated from the Kholuy School of Miniature Painting with excellence. His diploma work was entitled "The Tale of Tsar Saltan". Yolkin worked on his diploma under the supervision of A. N. Kosterin.
Yolkin's own style of painting was greatly influenced by the old master. Yolkin's artwork reveals extreme masculinity and severity of line and harsh color contrasts. He worked on a variety of themes: epic and fairy-tales, historical, and cultural.
A number of Yolkin's works have been purchased by museums for preservation. Among his best knowns works are: "Skomorokhs (Wandering Clowns) at a Fair", "Vasily Buslayev", "Vasilisa Mikulishna", "Sadko", "Svyatogor", "The Tale of the Dead Princess", "Metro" and "Pirosmani" and "Autumn", a landscape composition which is best known by its appearance on the cover of Kholuy's "Large White Catalog".
Yolkin loves to experiment. In the beginning of his career, the artist concentrated on modern themes to which he brought boldness, originality and decorative elegance. The artist was greatly interested in working with pre-Christian, pagan Russian themes. In "Skomorokhs at a Fair" he uses scenes of his home village as background. In the scene Yolkin gives a historically correct panorama of pre-revolutionary Kholuy with its Trinity Cathedral and merchant canopies. These were put up in Kholuy during its famous fairs. Vegetation is portrayed in the manner of popular prints of the times. A combination of red, ochre and turquoise dominates Yolkin's color palette.
Yolkin is known to change his manner of painting by introducing new elements and using new techniques. The artist constantly experiments with new styles. "Kholuy Old and New" shows Yolkin's quest for new venues in his artwork. The artist often implements a technique of painting known as plav. Yolkin has a great sense of humor. One of his best known works is entitled "How a Peasant Fed Two Generals".
Yolkin has many plans, and he is a very busy artist.
Several works are to be produced for Moscow's State Historical Museum and the Kholuy Museum. Merchants from St. Petersburg and Moscow are always at his doorstep, ready to buy anything he paints.
At the time Sunbirds first interviewed the artist (October 1998), he was working on several lacquer boxes entitled "The History of Russia".
Information on V. Yolkin can be found in these books:
I. Soloviova L. N., 1991, KHOLUY LACQUERED MINIATURES, INTERBOOK, Moscow, ISBN 5-7664-0696-7:
1. V. Yolkin's biography: page 228.
2. Box "Pirosmani" (1979, Folk Art Museum), page 136.
3. Box "Kholuy Old and New" (1984, Kholuy Art Museum), page 137.
II. Kamorin A. A., 1995, LACQUER MINIATURE. KHOLUY. MASTERPIECES OF RUSSIAN FOLK ART, INTERBOOK, Moscow, ISBN 5-7664-1057-3:
1. Box "Pirosmani" (1979, Folk Art Museum), # 92.
2. Box "Kholuy Old and New" (1984, Kholuy Art Museum), # 93.
III. RUSSIAN LACQUERS, V/O ROSVNESHTORG, 1989, Moscow, USSR:
1. Casket "Svyatogor", page 71, # 2.
2. Box "Evening", page 73, # 5.
3. Casket "Tale of Dead Princess", page 73, # 7.
4. Box "Morozko", page 77, # 1.
5. Box "Suzdal", page 77, # 5.
6. Box "Tale of Fisherman and Gold Fish", page 79, # 3.
7. Casket "Tale of Fisherman and Gold Fish", page 79, # 9.
IV. Guliayev V., 1989, RUSSIAN LACQUERED MINIATURES, AURORA ART PUBLISHERS, Leningrad:
1. Round box "Autumn" (1979, Folk Art Museum), # 253.
2. Box "The Muzhik Who Kept Two Generals" (1982, Kholuy Art Museum), # 254.
3. Box "Pirosmani" (1979, Folk Art Museum), # 255.
V. Maria Nekrasova, 1994, RUSSIAN LACQUER MINIATURES. FEDOSKINO, PALEKH, KHOLUY, MSTERA, SOGLASIE, Moscow:
1. Box "Alyosha Popovich and Tugarin" (1985, Kholuy Art Museum), # 237.
2. Round box "The guests of Gvidon" (1990, Kholuy Art Museum), # 250.
VI. Collection of illustrations: KHOLUY. LACQUERED MINIATURES:
1. Box "Pirosmani" (1979, Folk Art Museum).
VII. Maxym L., 1997, RUSSIAN LACQUER LEGENDS AND FAIRY TALES, Corners of the World Inc., 855F Conklin Street, Farmingdale, N.Y. 11735, ISBN0 940202-01-8, volume II.
V. Yolkin's name is mentioned in Lucy Maxym's book, on page 79.
Yolkin with his students
|
