Martynov, Vasily

1888 - 1971

Vasili Martynov was born in the Meryushevo area of the Nizhegorodskoi Region (near modern day Nizhni-Novgorod) of Russia in 1888.Martynov was a well-known painter and set designer in Russia primarily known for his landscapes and murals. He painted a large mural dedicated to shipbuilding at the Sormovskogo Factory.  

Martynov first began exhibiting his works in 1911. He was an original member of the AKhRR (Association of Artists of Revolutionary Russia) formed in Moscow in 1922 to promote "politically-engaged realism in art." The AKhRR was the largest artists’ organization of its time with a central studio in Moscow and over forty branches throughout various cities including Nizhni-Novgorod (then called Gorki.) In May 1928 the AKhRR was renamed the AKhR (Association of Artists of the Revolution.) Martynov participated in the AKhR’s one exhibition in Moscow in 1929. In April of 1932, the AKhR was dissolved by decree of the Central Committee to make way for the formation of the modern Artists’ Unions. Martynov "officially" joined the new Moscow Artists’ Union in 1935. His first true Union exhibition in which he participated in was in 1941. Over twenty years later, Martynov, also, became a member of the newly-formed Artists’ Union of the USSR. He was honored with one-man exhibits in Gorki in 1955, 1956, 1971 and 1978 (posthumously.) His paintings are in the permanent collections of several Russian museums—primarily that of the Nizhni-Novgorod State Art Museum. 

According to the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, Nizhniy-Novgorod State Art Museum, "The artist’s creative heritage lies in the remarkable traditions of the Russian Theater Style of the late 19th - early 20th Century. It is the theater style art, with its intense color palette, that allowed the painter to establish his own manner in easel painting with the special lighting character in his landscapes. It was in his landscapes that the artist had his most remarkable achievements."

Martynov is listed in Matthew Bown’s, A Dictionary of Twentieth Century Russian and Soviet Painters, 1900-1980s. 

Gallery Russia purchased its works by Martynov directly from the artist’s family through consultation with the Nizhni-Novgorod State Art Museum.