Russian painter. He trained in Moscow, at the Stroganov Institute (1901–7) and the School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (1907–12), under Sergey Ivanov and Konstantin Korovin. His early Post-Impressionist sensitivity for the modelling of form through colour was embodied in expressive portraits of social types (e.g. Front-line Soldier, 1926; Moscow, Tret’yakov Gal.). The austere, almost monochrome Oath of the Siberian Partisans (1933; St Petersburg, Rus. Mus.) contrasts with the optimistic, broadly impressionistic Collective Farm Holiday (1937; Moscow, Tret’yakov Gal.), while the experiences of the war years are expressed in the heroic, emotional Partisan’s Mother (1943–50; Moscow, Tret’yakov Gal.). Gerasimov’s work represents a compromise between Socialist Realist tendentiousness and the quick sensitivity of a painting style full of lyrical sincerity. The latter emerged with particular clarity in the poetic and reflective Mozhaysk Landscapes (1954; Moscow, Tret’yakov Gal. and elsewhere). The artist’s painting style is also used in his book illustrations, such as those for Maksim Gorky’s Delo Artamonovykh (The Artamonov case, 1939–54; Moscow, Tret’yakov Gal. and other collections). Gerasimov also proved an experienced teacher. He taught at the Surikov Institute of Art in Moscow (1936–50) and at the Moscow Artistic-Industrial High School (1950–64). He was an able and sensitive administrator, holding the position of first secretary of the Board of the Union of Artists of the USSR in the years of thaw between 1958 and 1964, and won a reputation as a genuine liberal.
M. N. Sokolov
From Grove Art Online
© 2009 Oxford University Press