Vladimir Ovchinnikov

Alla Rosenfeld and Norton T. Dodge, eds., From Gulag to Glasnost: Nonconformist Art from the Soviet Union, New York and London: Thames and Hudson and Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University, 1995, p. 108
Regina Khidekel, "Traditionalist Rebels: Nonconformist Art in Leningrad," in Forbidden Art: The Postwar Russian Avant-Garde, New York: Distributed Art Publishers, 1998, pp. 129-147

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com , an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This painting is un-reinforced and is stretched on its original stretcher. The paint layer is clean, varnished and there appear to be not retouches. Very faint stretcher marks have developed yet in general this painting is in lovely condition and should be hung as is.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Vladimir Ovchinnikov was a leading member of the Leningrad unofficial art movement beginning in the 1960s. He was involved in many of the movement's landmark events, including the Exhibition of Workmen Artists held at the Hermitage Museum in 1964, which was open for only two days before being closed by the KGB.

Ovchinnikov never received formal art training, although he worked as an assistant stage designer at the Kirov Theater in Leningrad. In the mid-1970s, Ovchinnikov participated in the first officially-sanctioned exhibition of nonconformist art in Leningrad. He was a member of the St. Petersburg Group of Painters, led by Mikhail Chemiakin.

Ovchinnikov's scenes are drawn from the life of the Leningrad suburbs. His distinctive, simplified, naïve style employs full-bodied tubular figures, resembling toys made out of polished wooden blocks. Since his figures display no emotion, the artist's intentions are conveyed through gesture, the careful deployment of figures and objects, and artful theatrical spotlighting.