The Soviet Man — Official and Unofficial. On the Anniversary of Yuri Kosagovsky

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of the creative nature of the artist Yuri Kosagovsky (1941–2023), who manifested himself in a variety of ways in a number of fields: the master worked in painting, graphics, sculpture and small plastic art, jewellery art, literature and poetry, performing and composing art, and even experimented in cinema. In this study, the main focus is on painting, where the artist also developed a special method, ironically referred by him as ‘Rondism’. Within the genre diversity of this master, a perspective has been chosen that allows us to focus on the development of the theme of Man — it is traced in the portraits, still lifes as a world of ‘human things’, and religious subjects. The latter occupy an important place in the painter’s work, expressing a special understanding of religiosity.. This versatility of talent does not always get understanding or acceptance from others, but it makes an interesting phenomenon of the ‘all-artist’ in Russian and other cultures. Yu. Kosagovsky’s creative development is, to a certain extent, symptomatic of the late Soviet and post-Soviet periods in the history of art, when many artists experimented with techniques and textures, as well as worked with whatever materials they could get their hands on in the face of scarcity. This research adds new insights to the understanding of the established dichotomy between ‘official’ and ‘unofficial’ art. Yu. Kosagovsky’s work is examined both through a biographical lens and in the broader context of Soviet and later Russian art. This reveals the development of the author’s personal method, the evolution of which, in turn, expands our understanding of the human image in Russian painting.