Mikhail Mikhailovich Shemyakin

Mikhail Mikhailovich Shemyakin – a Soviet and American painter and sculptor. Laureate of the State Prize of the Russian Federation (1993), People's Artist of Kabardino-Balkaria, People's Artist of Adygea, and an honorary doctor of several higher education institutions. He was born on May 4, 1943 in Moscow and received his art education at the Secondary Art School at the Repin Leningrad Institute. However, his nonconformity with the norms of Socialist Realism led to his expulsion from the institution. In 1962 Shemyakin held his first exhibition in Leningrad, and in 1967 a solo exhibition in Novosibirsk. In the same year he founded the art group 'Saint Petersburg' and, together with Vladimir Ivanov, developed the theory of 'metaphysical synthetism'.

In 1971 Shemyakin was forced to leave the USSR. Thanks to the help of Dina Vierny he was able to settle in Paris. From 1981 to 2007 he lived in the United States; in 1989 he obtained American citizenship. Since 2007 Shemyakin has lived in France. In 1989 his works began to be exhibited again in the USSR.

Since the 1990s Shemyakin gained wide recognition as a sculptor. His first monument installed in Russia — the monument to Peter I in Saint Petersburg (1991) — was erected at the initiative of Anatoly Sobchak. Among Shemyakin's other well-known works are the monument to Anatoly Sobchak in Saint Petersburg, the monument to Vladimir Vysotsky in Samara, the monument 'Victims of Terror' in Vladikavkaz, and many others.