Mikhail Kupriyanov

Graphic artist, painter, caricaturist, poster designer, illustrator, theatrical designer. Born in the family of Vasily Kupriyanov in the small town of Tetyushi on the River Volga between Simbirsk (renamed Ulyanovsk in 1924) and Kazan (1903). Studied at the Central Art Studios in Tashkent (1920–21) and under Nikolai Kupreyanov and Pyotr Miturich at the VKhUTEMAS/VKhUTEIN in Moscow (1921–29). Member of the Kukryniksy (1924). Designed the sets and costumes for a performance of Vladimir Mayakovsky’s play The Bedbug at the Vysevolod Meyerhold Theatre in Moscow (1929). Drew anti-Nazi posters and propaganda leaflets during the Second World War (1941–45). Winner of the Stalin Prize (1942, 1947, 1949, 1950, 1951), Lenin Prize (1965), State Prize of the USSR (1975) and Ilya Repin State Prize of the RSFSR (1982). Full member of the Academy of Arts of the USSR (1947). People’s Artist of the USSR (1958). Died in Moscow and buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery (1991). Contributed to exhibitions (from 1929), including Travelling Exhibition of Works of Painting, Drawing and Graphic Art by Moscow Artists in Kharkiv (1932) and Times of Change: Art in the Soviet Union (1960–85) at the Russian Museum in St Petersburg (2006).