Vladimir Pyatnitsky

Painter, graphic artist. Born in the family of Pavel Pyatnitsky in Moscow (1938). Studied chemistry at Moscow State University (1955–57) and art at Moscow Textile Institute (1957–59, expelled for Formalism when designing a café interior). Graduated from Moscow Institute of Polygraphy (1965). Member of the circle of writer Yury Mamleyev. Contributed to a series of “cinema” exhibitions (1960s) and many of the key events of Moscow underground art life, such as the Izmailovo Park exhibition (1974). Developed the traditions of Russian Realist painting, resisting the pressure of the official framework of Socialist Realism. Worked in the realm of figurative Expressionism. Preferred low subjects, depicting scenes from the life of the urban depths. Lent his paintings features of naive art. Died of alcoholism at the age of forty in Moscow (1978). Contributed to exhibitions in Russia (from 1962) and abroad (from 1970), including Second Autumn Viewing of Pictures in the Open Air at Izmailovo Park in Moscow (1974) and Times of Change: Art in the Soviet Union (1960–85) at the Russian Museum in St Petersburg (2006).