Alexander Alekseevich Varentsov

About museum

Alexander Alekseevich Varentsov – Honored Artist of Russia, a member of the Union of Artists of Russia, and a full member of the Petrov Academy of Sciences and Arts.  He was born on July 2, 1949, in the settlement of Vypolzovo, Kalinin Oblast, and has lived in Veliky Novgorod since the age of six. In 1971 he graduated from the Art and Graphic Faculty of the Leningrad State Pedagogical Institute named after A. I. Herzen with the specialty 'artist-teacher'.

In 1973, at Varentsov's initiative, the first children's art school in the Novgorod region was established, of which he was director and teacher for 19 years. From 1972 to 1984 he was an active member of the youth section of the Novgorod organization of the Union of Artists of the RSFSR. From 1984 to 1988 he headed the commission for work with young artists. In 1989 he became a member of the Union of Artists of Russia, and from 1991 to 1992 he served as chairman of the Novgorod organization of the Union of Artists of Russia. From 1994 to 1996 he was an associate professor at the Yaroslav the Wise Novgorod State University. He was twice elected as a deputy to the City Council of People's Deputies, where he worked on cultural matters. He is the author of curricula for art education for children and youth. In 2000 Varentsov was awarded the honorary title 'Honored Artist of Russia'. 

In 2014, together with his wife, the artist and art historian S. V. Akifeyeva, Alexander Alekseevich began renovating the burned premises of the All-Russian Society of the Blind, where in 2015 the first private art museum in the Novgorod region opened — the private institution 'Workshop-Museum of Realistic Painting of Alexander Varentsov'. Some awards include: the silver medal of the Academy of Arts of Russia (2007), the honorary badge of the Union of Artists of Russia 'Spirituality, Traditions, Mastery' (2008), the jubilee medal 'In Memory of the 1150th Anniversary of Veliky Novgorod' (2010), and others.