Nikolai Baskakov ,russian баска́ков н 1918 - 1993

Lenin's Order at the Kirov Factory", which earned him membership of the Leningrad Union of Soviet Artists . ^{[ 7 ]}

In the 1950s and 1960s, Baskakov also produced the following paintings: "On a floating fish factory^{" [ 8 ]} (1954), "One winter" (1955), "Masha"^{[ 9 ]} (1956), "A letter"^{[ 10 ]} (1957), "On the river"^{[ 11 ]} (1958), "Grandmother and granddaughter"^{[ 12 ]}, "A schoolteacher", "Summer" ^{[ 13 ]} (all 1960), "Workers in a pigsty" , "Chefs on the farm"^{[ 14 ]} (both 1961), "Plasterers"^{[ 15 ]} (1964), and others. Notable among these are paintings evoking the dramatic events of the war. Baskakov creates images imbued with domestic drama, among them the paintings Music^{[ 16 ]} (1957), During the War^{[ 17 ]} (1967), On Russian soil^{[ 18 ]} (1968), A victory (1974), and Conversation with his son and Victory day (both 1980). ^{[ 19 ]}

In 1956, Baskakov produced the painting Lenin at Gorki [ ^20], in which Lenin is depicted sitting on a chair on a summer's day in the garden. This approach is echoed in the large genre canvas Lenin in the Kremlin^{[ 21 ][ 22 ][ 23 ]} (1960). Later, Baskakov created the paintings Lenin on Vacation (1970) and New Year's Party in Gorki^{[ 24 ]} (1972).

Baskakov also made a name for himself as a portrait painter. Among his best-known works in this genre are Guitarist^{[ 25 ]} (1949), Portrait of a Mother (1955), Portrait of a Tractor Driver (1956), Portrait of a Fisherman (1959), The Son of a Shepherd (1962), Young Girl at the Willows (1967), and an important series of portraits of Kirov factory workers, made between 1960 and 1980, including Schoolgirl , Hunter Grisha Eriomin^{[ 26 ]} (both 1971), Grandmother with her grandchildren^{[ 27 ]} (1972), The guy from Dudinka and old Nganasanka^{[ 28 ]} (both 1973), Fadeev worker with pupils^{[ 29 ]}, Collective farm guard Mitrich^{[ 30 ]} (both 1975), Portrait of an old Uzbek woman^{[ 31 ]} (1977), Sisters (1979), Portrait of a Welder^{[ 32 ]} (1980), Portrait of Vasily Shukhin^{[ 33 ]} and Portrait of the Artist (both 1984), A group portrait of Kirov factory workers (1985) and A portrait of the poet Nikolai Rubtsov (1988).

Baskakov was best known for his impressive portraits of contemporaries painted in a realistic style. ^{[ 34 ]}

The West discovered Baskakov's art in 1989, when his portraits and genre paintings were first shown in Paris at the Leningrad School artists' auction. Subsequently, many of his works were acquired by private American collections. ^{[ 35 ]}

In 1991, the Petersburg publishing house "Khudozhnik RSFSR" published a monograph by V. Kirillov devoted to the work of Nikolai Baskakov. ^{[ 36 ]} Baskakov was elected a full member of Peter the Great's Academy of Sciences and Arts. ^{[ 37 ]} From 1989 to 1992, his paintings were exhibited in France at auctions of Russian paintings organized by the Leningrad School^{[ 38 ]} and other galleries. ^{[ 39 ]}

Baskakov died on October 14, 1993 in St. Petersburg , aged 76. His paintings are in the Russian State Museum and in art museums and private collections in Russia, ^{[ 40 ]} Japan, the USA, ^{[ 41 ]} Germany, England, France, ^{[ 42 ]} and other countries.