Born in the city of Glazov (Vyatka oblast) in 1893. He died in Moscow in 1984. Painter, graphic artist, teacher, Professor of painting. He studied at the Odessa art school in 1917, then in the School of painting, sculpture and architecture (Moscow) and at the faculty of painting of the state Free art studios in Moscow (Workshop of V. E. Tatlin. 1918-1919). Was close "Jack of diamonds". One of the founding members of the Association "Moscow painters" (1927) which included Grabar, Drevin, Lentulov, Osmerkin, Udaltsova, Falk, etc.
For many years was friends with V. Mayakovsky. (Mayakovsky gave V. Krakovska famous poem "Cloud in trousers" with the inscription "In memory of Mary" (Maria Denisova), with whom they both had met in Odessa. In 1921, together with the artists Lavinski and A. V. Kiselev designed the play "Mystery-bouffe" staged by V. E. Meyerhold's and V. M. Bulatova.
In 1920-years successfully worked in the field of theory and methodology of art education for children and youth and was Chairman of the Commission FROM the Scientific-pedagogical section in the people's Commissariat of Education. Teaching activities began in 1918 (Studio courses). 1920 – Professor of painting at VKhUTEMAS. In 1922-24 G. G. has held senior posts at the Main Department of the VKhUTEMAS, and the workers ' Faculty at the VKhUTEMAS (Board member, head teacher, chair of the two-dimensional color faculty (conc) the Main compartment). In 1924 on the initiative of V. Favorsky, the rector of the higher art, V. Krakowska was awarded the title of Professor.
In 1926, the leadership of the VKhUTEMAS was subjected to violent accusations of the ideological and organisational collapse, in the promotion of "obsolete easel painting". One of the most zealous reformers of the VKhUTEMAS was Osip Brik, at that time held the post of Chairman of the Institute of artistic culture.
Since 1926, after conversion at the VKhUTEMAS Vkhutein (Higher art technical Institute), V. Krakowski became a Professor of painting at the main faculty. However, in 1930, filed a letter of resignation and for several years left Moscow.
In 1925-28 he Krakowski enthusiastically worked as a painter and actively participated in art exhibitions "Society of Moscow painters", "AHRR", etc. It is full of dynamism and tension of the picture received high praise from leading critics in those years, was put on a par with the works of European masters, but at the same time was accused of slant to impressionism, the predilection for "satanismo", "spray shape in the paint", in the pursuit of "pure painting". (See. reviews of J. Tugendhold). Criticism of such property, accusations of formalism, lack of principles and political backwardness tragically affected the creative life of V. Hrabovskoho. Being a man easily vulnerable and yet firm in his beliefs, he did not make any attempt to follow the ideological and formal settings, which was ordered new by the ideologists of Soviet art. V. Grakovski not only left on for a long time teaching, but in the mid 1930-ies burned all his work.
In 1941, V. Grakovski he volunteered in the militia, then, the disease was transferred for military service in the suburbs. Worked in the Windows of TASS. After the war he lived in very difficult material conditions in the 1950s and was a Professor-consultant at the painting through Correspondence Courses of drawing and painting the all-Union House of folk art named after N. To.Krupskaya. Mostly switched to work on the artistic design of exhibitions (Moscow, Kiev, Pavilions, exhibition center, art gallery, personal exhibition, S. Konenkov and E. Belashova, etc.) and became a kind of innovator in color and composite solutions exhibition design.
All subsequent years of his life he wrote little hard, treated his paintings with painful severity, often destroying the half-finished work. Infinitely in love with painting, thoughtful and temperamental artist, a true colorist, possessing amazing restraint and depth of colors in his works, he was never able to regain faith in his talent, which is admired as a great master and his contemporaries: R. Falk, A. Osmerkin, P. Miturich and others V. Krakowski was a member of the Union of artists of the USSR and a member of MOSH. A non-partisan. (From the creative heritage of V. Hrabovskoho, as far as is known his family remained a dozen paintings and several drawings).
(Source: website of the Moscow Union of artists)
