Aleksandr Gerasimov

1881 - 1963

Alexander Mikhailovich Gerasimov was a celebrated Russian artist and one of the leading proponents of socialist realism. 

Gerasimov studied at the Moscow School of Painting from 1903-15. ​ He favoured a style which became known as 'Heroic Realism' which featured images of revolutionary figures as larger than life.​ In 1925 he set up a studio, painting images of Vladimir Lenin and other revolutionaries as larger-than-life heroes. 

In 1941 he won the Stalin Prize for “Stalin and Voroshilov in the Kremlin", his best-known painting. He became Joseph Stalin's favourite artist and received another three Stalin Prizes in 1943, 1946 and 1949 and was also appointed the president of the USSR Academy of Arts in 1947. After Stalin's death, Gerasimov lost some of his titles and a number of paintings were removed from museums. His works are still owned by the Tretyakov Gallery, the Russian Museum, and other galleries.