Vladimir Vasin

Vladimir Alekseevich Vasin
(1918 - 2006)

Known as a painter of atmosphere, creating works that convey the particular nuance of any situation - whether genre scenes, portraits, landscapes or still lifes, Vladimir Vasin has credited the French Impressionists and particularly August Renoir as having a profound influence on his style. Historians have noted that the Russian impressionist tradition (which was carefully suppressed in communist years) lived through Vasin's artistic work because he managed to keep his non-governmental commission work confidential.

Vladimir Vasin was born in Moscow and very quickly recognized as a gifted child artist. In 1934, at the age of 15 he was enrolled in the Moscow Art School, graduating in 1937 from the classes of Russian masters Giorgi Gorelov, Konstantine Morozov and Sergei Frolov.

Vladimir was a student of the State Institute of Cinema from 1938 until 1943, studying in the department of visual arts in the class of Fyodr Bogorodski. That different perspective on art caused him to develop his highly recognizable color pallete and brush manner that he utilized throughout the rest of his career. Vasin is recognized by scholars as being the artistic heir to the Russian master Nikolai Krimov (early 20th Century) who influenced many Russian artists with his innovative use of tonality.

In 1943, Vasin became a fellow, a docent, and a professor of painting at the State Institute of Cinema where he remained until 1993.

In 1944, Vasin became a member of the Union of Artists of Moscow, and in 1954 he was recognized as an Honored Artist of the Soviet Union.

Vasily's works have been collected worldwide, particularly in France where he is broadly appreciated. In Russia his paintings hang in the collections of the Tretyakov State Gallery in Moscow and the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg. Several of his commissioned theatre works hang in Moscow Theatres including most notably, the Bolshoi Theatre.