Valentin Mikhaylovich Khodov was born in 1942, in the city of Yuzha. He attended the Palekh Artistic School from 1957-1962 under many of the masters of the time. After his graduation, he joined the Palekh Artistic-Industrial Workshops as a painter, but then joined the Navy and served as a sailor in the Northern Fleet from 1962-1966. He returned to Palekh and began painting, and started participating in regional, republican and All-Union exhibitions. In 1971, he joined the Union of Artists of the USSR.
Khodov has received many awards and honors, including from the Council of Ministers, Ministry of Culture and Union of Artists of the RSFSR, and the Academy of Fine Arts and Union of Artists of the USSR. In 1974 he received the Silver Medal of the Academy of Fine Arts of the USSR, and in 1978, received the "Lenin Comsomol's" award. He was bestowed with the honorary title of "Merited Artist of the RSFSR" in 1985.
In addition to miniature painting, Khodov was also involved in a variety of other projects. From 1970-1971 he worked as a scene-painter in the concert program "Choreographic Miniatures" of L. Yakobson's Leningrad Ballet Company. From 1971-1972, he did wall-painting for "Pushkin's Fairy Tales" in the "Ruslan" cinema hall in the city of Pushkin. In 1974, he did more frescoes for the "Calico Festival" in the Palace of Textile Workers in the Ivanovo city. From 1979-1981 Khodov crafted a mural laquer panel for the Moscow State Children Musical Theater. Aside from painting, he was a member of the "Yuniy Khudozhnik" (Young Painter) magazine editorial board in 1978, and was the Chairman of the Palekh branch of the Union of Artists of the RSFSR in 1986. Valentin passed away in the village of Palekh in 1988.
The themes of Khodov's miniature paintings included folklore, literature, history, and genre scenes. Some of his major works include "The Wind of the Revolution", "Vasili Busalayev", "The Vetche Republic", "Along the Kazanka River", "Russians", "Buffoons", and "The Legend of Piotr and Fevronia". These and others are now held in various museums, including the State Museum of Palekh Art, the All-Russia Museum of Decorative and Applied Art, the Plyos State Historico-Architectural and Art Museum-Preserve, the Ivanovo Regional Art Museum, and the Art Foundation of Russia.
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