Vitaliy
Mikhailovich Volovich

Honored Artist of the RSFSR (1973), laureate of the Prize to them. G.S. Mosina (1995), winner of the prize of the Governor of the Sverdlovsk Region for outstanding achievements in the field of literature and art (1999), the first corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Arts in the Urals (2007).

Born in 1928 in Spassk in the Far East.

In 1932 he moved to Sverdlovsk. He was brought up in a writing environment, but a passion for drawing lived in him since childhood. In 1943 he entered the Sverdlovsk Art School at the painting department. His teachers are A.A. Zhukov and O.D. Korovin, who, as an experienced book graphic artist, had a strong influence on V. Volovich. Of great importance for the artist was communication in his youth with the painter S.A. Mikhailov.

After graduating from college in 1948, V. Volovich devoted himself to the book. He illustrated the "Pantry of the Sun" by M. Prishvin, the "Malachite Box" by P.P. Bazhov, legends and tales of the peoples of the world, etc.

Since 1952, participates in art exhibitions, since 1956 - member of the Union of Artists of the USSR. At the All-Russian, All-Union and international reviews of art books V. Volovich repeatedly awarded medals and diplomas. He worked in the techniques of linocut, etching, lithography, now prefers watercolor, gouache, tempera.

In the 60s. the artist creates illustrations for “The Song of the Falcon” and “The Song of the Petrel” by Gorky - a typical example of a severe style; illustrations for R. Stevenson’s ballad Heather Honey (1965). The characters of Shakespeare’s tragedies “Othello” and “Richard III” (1968) are perceived in the interpretation of V. Volovich as symbols of human passions and suffering. Along with literature, the source of inspiration for him was the theater. The tragedy of V. Volovich’s worldview grew from year to year. Inexorable rock chasing a man becomes the main theme of illustrations for Icelandic and Irish sagas (1968), where people are represented in outer space woven into a tight ball with sinister chimeras. The theme of the struggle between good and evil is central to the artist’s work.

In the 70-80s. the artist works on cycles of easel work: “Circus”, “Medieval Mysteries”, “Women and Monsters”, “My Workshop”, which, like illustrations in book graphics, are based on historical parallels and allegories. During these years, the artist performs illustrations for a number of classical works: “The Roman of Tristan and Isolde” by J. Bedier, the Goethe tragedy “Egmont”, the “Word of Igor's regiment”, the tragedy of Aeschylus “Oresteia”, etc.

V. Volovich traveled a lot and painted from nature, the landscapes of Yekaterinburg are especially interesting. He seemed to rediscover the city of his childhood. In ancient brick constructions, in their awkward eclecticism, the outlines of medieval castles and donjons are manifested, the emerging associations are accented by unexpected angles, decorative color combinations. The artist brings sharpness and tension to the perception of Yekaterinburg: this is a dramatic story about the life of the old city, a thing of the past, but continuing to defend its identity. In 2006, the album “V. Volovich: Old Yekaterinburg. Chusovaya. Tavatuy. Volyn "(watercolor, drawing, tempera) (in 2 volumes).

The works of V. Volovich are stored in many public and private collections in Russia and abroad: in the State Tretyakov Gallery and in the State Museum of Fine Arts. A. Pushkin in Moscow, in the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg, in the museums of Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Tagil, Irbit, Perm, Chelyabinsk, Magnitogorsk, Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk, Saratov, in the Prague National Gallery, in the Moravian Gallery in Brno, in Museum of Modern Art in Cologne, in the Museum of I.V. Goethe in Weimar and others.

Editions: V. Volovich. "Old Yekaterinburg." “Chusovaya. Tavatuy. Volyn ".