Yuri Mikhailovich Neprintsev (Russian: Ю́рий Миха́йлович Непри́нцев; August 15, 1909 – October 20, 1996) was a Soviet and Russian painter, graphic artist, art teacher, professor of the Repin Institute of Arts, and a member of the Academy of Arts of the USSR. He is regarded by art historian Sergei V. Ivanov as one of the brightest representatives of the Leningrad School of Painting,[1] most famous for his genre and battle paintings.
Biography
Yuri Neprintsev came from nobility. His father, Mikhail Nikolayevich Neprintsev was an architect, a Honored Art Worker of Science and Technology of the Georgian SSR (1946).
In 1926, Neprintsev went to Leningrad to continue his education. In the years 1926–1930, he studied of Prof. Vasily Savinsky private art studio. In 1929, Neprintsev began to work as designer and graphic artist in the palace-museums of Leningrad and the Pushkin town. In the years 1932–1934, he worked as illustrator for magazines and publishing houses of Leningrad.
Starting in 1928, Neprintsev participated in Art Exhibitions. He painted portraits, genre and historical compositions, and landscapes. Yuri Neprintsev worked in oil painting, pencil drawings, watercolors and book illustration. Solo exhibitions by Neprintsev were in 1959 (Moscow, Leningrad, Sverdlovsk, Gorky, and Saratov), and in 1989 (Leningrad).
After graduation, Neprintsev continued his education in postgraduate institute under leadership of Prof. Rudolf Frentz and Prof. Boris Ioganson. At the same time he taught at the Department of the Drawing.
In 1941, Neprintsev voluntarily joined the Red Army. He fought in the Second World War, serving in the Baltic Fleet and being demobilized in 1946.
In the postwar years, Neprintsev created a series of paintings devoted to the heroic struggle of the Soviet people against Nazi Germany: "The Last Grenade" (1948), "Lisa Chaikina" (1949), "The Rest After Battle" (1951), "The Story of the Father" (1955).
The outstanding work of art by Yuri Neprintsev was painting "The Rest After Battle". It by means of painting skillfully expressed the idea of the spiritual unity of the people in wartime. The painting entered the golden fund of Soviet art, as one of the best embodiment of the image of Soviet man.
The original version of painting "The Rest After Battle" was given for Mao Zedong. In 1953 the second version was painted by Neprintsev for the Kremlin. In 1955 he painted the third version for the Tretyakov Gallery.
In 1953, Neprintsev was elected Corresponding Member of Academy of Arts of the USSR, and in 1970 he was elected member of the Academy of Arts of the USSR.
He died in Saint Petersburg at the age of 87. His paintings are in State Russian Museum, State Treryakov Gallery, in the numerous Art museums and private collections in Russia, France, England, USA, China, Ukraine, Italy, Japan, and other countries.
^Anniversary Directory graduates of Saint Petersburg State Academic Institute of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture named after Ilya Repin, Russian Academy of Arts. 1915 - 2005. - Saint Petersburg: Pervotsvet Publishing House, 2007. p.48.
^Directory of members of the Leningrad branch of Union of Artists of Russian Federation. - Leningrad: Khudozhnik RSFSR, 1987. - p. 91.
Bibliography
Directory of members of the Leningrad branch of Union of Artists of Russian Federation. - Leningrad: Khudozhnik RSFSR, 1987. - p. 91.