Sokolov artist biography

At the age of 54, one of the most famous icon painters of Russia Alexander Sokolov died after a serious illness on February 27 in the year of his life. Can I have a camera with a flash? He is generally joking, not allowing to cross the line, beyond which the conversation about serious things can go to pathos, which often devalues ​​this serious. In - gg. The former Stroganovskoye-now the Moscow State Art and Industry Academy named after S.

participated in the restoration of the Holy Danilov monastery. Participated in the painting of the churches of the Navy. Paraskeva in with. Friday Vladimir region John the Theologian in Moscow, a wooden temple in the village. He taught icon painting in Russia and Japan. Lives and works in Moscow. Married to the artist Maria Vishnyak, four children. Alexander Sokolov let a hundred flowers bloom - I profess the principle of the chairman of the Mao: Let a hundred flowers bloom.

I think it’s not worth choosing, I think: the spirit is breathing where he wants, ”the artist answers the question of which icon -painting manner is closer to him. Real images are found at different times. Just like poor -quality. Once I saw an icon written by Feofan a recluse - this is a nightmare, lack of taste! It affects the contrast between his high spiritual-ascetic experience in literature, in his life, and artistic non-articity in icon painting.

How to write? How to find the way so as not to go only to the "implementation of the I", or - impersonal copying? Still, it somehow introduces to the church. By and large, replication, copying is very bad, because it reduces the level of requirements for the icon and distorts its understanding. And in general, the main trouble of modern church art is the undemanding taste of customers, consumers.

The main thing for them is size, plot. From the icon no one expects it to be divine. Rare real connoisseurs - priests, bishops - can be counted on the fingers, and therefore they cannot have a serious effect on the sad situation. The production of objects of the cult is flourishing, and church art - sacred, spiritual - remains the destiny of marginals. On the other hand, marginal. This is the destiny of those who certainly will not be the "master of life." At the same time, church art is open to everyone, but not everyone needs.

Read books. And trying to do as little things as possible and icons - unconsciously. As my very good friend said, church jeweler Mark Lozinsky: "People live and die without contributing." When I decided that I needed to be baptized, our family friend, philosopher, researcher of ancient philosophy, called me to himself. After a serious conversation, he said: “Well, baptized!

You see, the situation is such that people who come to the church think that they bought a ticket and got on a train, and then you can be calm that you will be taken to the end station. Such an installation is unacceptable. ” Alexander Sokolov Divine Harmony - when did you deliberately deliberately saw the icon? She was then in Lavrushinsky Lane, opposite the Tretyakov Gallery.

I remember my feelings when I entered the hall where Zvenigorodsky was hung by Rublev’s saved: goosebumps. Without any exaltation, which, probably, is not capable of at all, I felt the light emanating from the icon and perceived it precisely as a phenomenon. And shortly before this meeting, I read the Bible - in order - first the Old Testament, then the new one. The Bible, printed on thin papigeric paper, brought the aunt from abroad.

And at 16 - he was baptized. There was, apparently, youthful longing, the need to understand the meaning of life. And in an acute form: if there is no point, then why live? This happened not only with me: something was in an atmosphere, forcing people to look for a way out of completely meaningless reality. Then I met a lot of people of my generation of 52 years old, who at that time came to church.

Baptized, I began to think about the fact that I would have to try to write an icon. But before graduation, I did not have time. Then he went to the army, or rather, to the fleet. In November, he demobilized and immediately married. And in December he wrote the first icon a board for it prepared in the service. It was a list of icons of St. Paraskeva from the Pokrovsky Cathedral in the Rogozhsky cemetery.

The icon has not been preserved, but the second - “do not sob, me, maty” - is stored at our house. I wanted to know more, understand. Before understanding what the icon is, it was still far away. Only in the process of work, after some time, I began to think as iconography internally connected with the life of the Church, with Christian philosophy. And only now my understanding is what an icon is and why it has just begun to form.

The first feeling, when he was just starting, was a young man-dimensional: I thought that by my talent could serve churches and people. And then an understanding appeared completely different, that this is not a ministry of the church and people, but simply a path. Ascetic practice. A person can engage in the formation of his own soul, performing some kind of work.

I do not want to offend anyone, but often people involved in icon painting produce objects of cult.For a noble purpose - to decorate the temple, give people a means of prayer and, which is also worthy, in my opinion, make money for their lives. But ideally, this should all be secondary. And the main goal is the formation of your own soul. If a person is engaged in church art, he tunes in divine harmony.

Alexander Sokolov Teachers - where did you study and from whom? He died ten years ago. For me, as for many icon painters, he was a number one expert in the field of old Russian church art, understood and appreciated it. Moreover, Father Anatoly himself was not an artist. But he so arranged his wooden temple built, by the way, in the year, at the time of persecution of the Church, that for me it is now the standard of the interior of the church.

Many modern icon painters worked there. Including I had such a happy opportunity. Father Anatoly helped me in every possible way, supported. When my wife and I only got married, we had nothing: neither housing, no money, nor work. And Father Anatoly gave me a job - write lists from icons - and necessarily interesting, creative, to think about what you are doing, understand.

In teaching technology, a person, now the deceased, icon painter Boris Andreev, helped me a lot in the time. Aunt introduced me to him, the one that brought me the Bible ... Aunt in general in my life played a big role. She once took me to an art school, and then, when I decided to be baptized, she controlled that everything was consciously and consciously. Although she was still unbaptized then.

Boris Andreev was at the artistic scientific and restoration center named after academician I. Grabar a restorer and semi-properly wrote icons. In those years, there was still an article in the Criminal Code of “Production of Work Objects” for 4 years with confiscation of property remaining from the X, although in practice it was not applied in years. I also started working in the center of Grabar.

First, a month, an agent in supply, and then in the library, the keeper of museum exhibits. He helped organize exhibitions, something like "posters of the first five -year -olds." The main thing was that I had the opportunity to use the library of the Grabar center, where there were many interesting materials, including not even published, in typewritten form, translations of books on medieval art technique, and icon painting.

Adolf Ovchinnikov worked and works in the center of Grabar, which developed a thorough and correct icon painting technology.

At that time, he also paid much attention to the fact that in sacred art all technological processes need to be given a special meaning. I worked in the center of Grabar for a year, then I entered Stroganovka, where I was taught restoration, technology, copying. With gratitude, I recall a wonderful teacher-technologist, monumental artist Alexander Alexandrovich Komarov, the author of a competent textbook on monumental painting.

Two years of study gave me a lot, very much. It was possible to continue to study further, but in the year the Church returned the Holy Danilov Monastery, the famous icon painter Zinon Theodore was sent to the patriarch. And I worked with him for a year in the Holy Danilov Monastery. Alexander Sokolov - if you take teachers in a life, spiritual plan, who will you call?

After his death, we, especially my wife, began to communicate closely with Metropolitan Anthony Surozhsky Blum.