There are more than a thousand people in the Belarusian Union of Artists. Whose work should you pay special attention to? We asked art critic Nadezhda Usova and exhibition curator Anna Karpenko to choose five contemporary domestic artists which every Belarusian should know.
“Each art critic has not 5, but 25 favorite artists,” says Nadezhda Usova. In choosing the five, she excluded her artist friends ("I'm partial to them"), as well as the younger generation experimenting with form.
— I do not undertake to evaluate, because, as it seems to me, this takes time. The generation of 30-year-olds is capable of creating masterpieces (Theodore Gericault wrote “The Raft of the Medusa” at 28!), Perhaps contemporaries should know them. But chickens are counted in the fall... In my opinion, this five should include mature artists who have something to say, whose works, in my opinion, should get into the museums of Belarus. Therefore, the approach is exclusively subjective: an artistic phenomenon.
Who? Alexander Solovyov, painter, theater designer
“The patriarch of the Belarusian avant-garde”, at the height of the Soviet stagnation, turned to abstractionism and created original color meditations.
Why? Unique personality, patriarch of the Belarusian avant-garde, real phenomenon, has not yet been fully evaluated, although he received both honorary titles and the Francysk Skaryna medal. He is 91 years old. Former partisan, front-line soldier, graduated from the Mukhinsky School, the Theater and Art Institute in Minsk.
Alexander Solovyov, "White Harmony". Source: news.vitebsk.cc 
Alexander Solovyov, "Still Life". Source: news.vitebsk.cc
In 1965 Soloviev arrived in Vitebsk, where long years worked as a production designer, later as the chief designer of the Yakub Kolas Theater. Once this team went on tour to Moscow and its scenery, as once the work of Lev Bakst, was given a standing ovation immediately after the curtain went up. In the 1970s, at the height of the Soviet stagnation, he turned to abstractionism and began to make things striking in their philosophical imagery and color saturation - a kind of color meditation - and exhibit them. In the late 1970s, of course, apart from insults and swearing, I did not hear anything in my address. Exhibitions were closed, and he was surprised: what undermining of ideology is found in his canvas-spaces?
Despite everything, his audience was found. And not 50 years after his death, as the artist himself believed, but even during his lifetime. In 2016, he donated dozens of his works to the National Art Museum in Minsk, which were shown there in a solo exhibition. I think that soon his works will be an adornment and a dream of any museum.
Lyudmila Kalmaeva, painter and graphic artist
Why? For originality of thinking and amazing craftsmanship, creative diversity. It has an inexhaustible force of vitality, originality, an amazing flair for modernity, a natural Europeanness. And not because she has been living in Holland for many years (her late husband is Dutch). Lyudmila Kalmaeva, in my opinion, is also a phenomenon Belarusian artist freely molded into one form or another. Increasingly, she appears and holds exhibitions in Minsk.
Fantasy painting by Lyudmila Kalmaeva. Source: kalmaeva.weebly.com 
Graphics by Ludmila Kalmaeva. Source: kalmaeva.weebly.com 
From the Plenty to go on series. Source: kalmaeva.weebly.com 
From the Plenty to go on series. Source: kalmaeva.weebly.com
Her theatrical posters of the 1980s became classics that influenced Belarusian posters in the second half of the 20th century. Many of them entered the apartments of the intelligentsia and students, they were a fashionable semantic interior decoration. She then grabbed some codes of Belarusianness, managed to designate them figuratively. Kalmaeva is a generator of crazy ideas. She is always interesting, unpredictable, and as an observant blogger, and as an analyst, and as a teacher, and as a realistic portrait painter, and as a graphic artist. From the scandalous "toilet series" - artistic banter, which they did not dare to exhibit in Belarus (but the Chinese willingly bought it), to the amazing "nude" series of nudes. Usually we get used to the fact that an artist has been working in one direction for many years, he can be recognized by his handwriting. She breaks the usual ideas and always surprises. Lyudmila Kalmaeva has a clear position, a special look. It both falls in love, and surprises, and delights, and commands respect.
Who? Andrey Vorobyov, sculptor
Why? Andrei Vorobyov attracted attention for a long time. You might think that this is the reincarnation of his own teacher - Vladimir Zhbanov - in the Mogilev urban environment (the sculptor lives in Mogilev. - Approx. TUT.BY). But this is absolutely not true.
I like that he is an inventor, a dreamer, a patriot of his city, he cares for his native Mogilev. And he's different. On the one hand, he can creatively approach the official order - he is the author of the famous monument - "Shklov Cucumber" - and the monumental "Mogilev Lions" on the bridge across the Dnieper. On the other hand, he has chamber philosophical sculptures with original fluid plasticity that make one think about the meanings of life.
"Shklov cucumber". Photo: Anzhelika Vasilevskaya, TUT.BY This sculptor is ironic, grotesque, intriguing. He tries to get away from pathos, although there are such works. It's always interesting to watch him. Andrey Vorobyov is the author of incredible phantasmagoric ideas and projects. For example, I wanted to build a tunnel near the Maslenikov Art Museum. On the one hand, an adult can enter the tunnel, but he will not be able to go through it, because on the other hand, the entrance to the tunnel is in the form of the body of a child. Vorobyov's conceptual objects claim to be the highlight of the city, an example artistic formation urban environment, including tourism.
Who? Vyacheslav Pavlovets, watercolorist
Works in the technique of watercolor, which "by laconism and emotional spontaneity can be compared with Japanese." Creates original Belarusian watercolor haiku.
Why? A tuning fork of absolute taste and skill in modern Belarusian watercolors. He succeeded in formulating belarusian landscape, turning it into a pure aesthetic phenomenon. Vyacheslav Pavlovets is a very modest person, he works as an art editor in the Mastatstva magazine. Under him, the magazine acquired a stylish European look.
With this loading, he manages to create landscapes of amazing Belarusian mood and character in watercolor technique, which can be compared with Japanese ones in terms of laconicism and emotional spontaneity. This is a kind of Belarusian haiku. In these watercolors, we can hear the melody of our country from a side from which it has not yet been considered. They are absolutely harmonious and absolutely Belarusian. Pavlovets, one might say, glorified and elevated the Belarusian sunless “gray day” to a poetic metaphor. His works touch the soul. This, I dare say, is the purest poetry in watercolor.
"Wood". From the archives of the National Museum of Art Now watercolor in our country, unlike in Europe, is unpopular: few people understand and appreciate the sophistication of this technique. Many born graphic artists change themselves, go into painting, which is better in demand on the art market. Vyacheslav Pavlovets is one of the keepers of the tradition, several masters who keep high level Belarusian watercolor school.
Pavel Tatarnikov, illustrator
"A unique talent in the field of European book illustration", which is sought and found by publishers from all over the world.
Why? One appearance books with his romantic illustrations makes you want to study Belarusian history. I would very much like to see his illustrations in textbooks on the history of Belarus for lower grades. He is a romantic, a technical virtuoso, and, of course, a meticulous researcher.
These qualities brought him fame and prestigious awards at book competitions both in Belarus and widely in the world: Japanese publishers wanted to fully buy out the rights to the illustrations for the book “The Princess in underworld”, a Taiwanese publisher invited him (a Belarusian!) to design a book of the Chinese epic “Heavenly Emperor and Ten Suns”, according to his illustrations, puppet show The "Snow Queen" in Copenhagen, the priests of a small Italian village in the Alps entrusted him with an unusual order - the creation of a book dedicated to the 1700th anniversary of the village. And the artist lived in that village for several days, listened to his memories, searched the archives for what the local landscape and architecture looked like several centuries ago.
"Paranoia". Source: tatarnikov.com 
"Clean streets". Source: tatarnikov.com 
"Garden. 1601". Source: tatarnikov.com
In fact, there are not so many illustrators in the world, and Tatarnikov is one of the best. It is found and searched by publishers around the world. Now he can choose what interests him. It's great that he teaches in Minsk, an assistant professor at the Academy of Arts. There is someone to learn the skill and, most importantly, the attitude to business.
Exhibition curator Anna Karpenko warns that her opinion will most likely not coincide with the mainstream, "but in the context of modernity, it is very important to know the names of these artists."
Who? Zhanna Gladko
She was able to show how personal trauma shows the distribution of power both within the family and at the level of society.
Why? Zhanna makes big, serious projects. Works with acute social and gender issues. Unfortunately, she has not yet had a personal exhibition in Belarus.
Love her absolutely amazing project, very personal, related to own history relationship with the father. It has an interesting strategy. On the one hand, the artist exposes painful, intimate themes associated, for example, with the episode when her father took apart her favorite piano, which is very important for Zhanna. Of course, this was traumatic for her.
Zhanna Gladko, series “Not Alain Delon”, the series includes self-portraits of the artist in the form of Alain Delon, group exhibition QAI / by, gallery of contemporary art “Ў”, Minsk, 2016 
Zhanna Gladko, a series of self-portraits, XXY group exhibition, Ў Contemporary Art Gallery, Minsk, 2014 
On the other hand, through personal stories, the history of her family, the artist shows important gender ties at the social level: how classical patriarchal relations are distributed in society, when the father - such a Freudian figure - not only manages material processes, controls the flow of money in the family, but also has important symbolic status. Without interfering in Zhanna's life, by his actions he indirectly affects her worldview. This is a story about how personal trauma shows the distribution of power both within the family and at the level of society.
Who? Masha Svyatogor
Why? Masha works in an interesting photo collage technique. Works with both personal history and family archives.
Not so long ago, Masha had personal exhibition in the TsEKh, which was called "Kurasoushchyna - my love." This is an excellent example of how one of the districts of Minsk, and not the most prestigious one, can become an object of aesthetic attraction. She also has a series of amazing collages from which she makes an ironic art history project. She removes the model and exposes her faces from famous classical paintings.
"Portrait of a wife with flowers and fruits", 1838
Khrutsky is considered the founder of Russian still life. At the age of seventeen, he, the son of a Uniate priest, a student of a religious lyceum, went alone to St. Petersburg to paint. And, apparently, not in vain. Khrutsky managed to develop his talent so much that in the twentieth century his still lifes were in almost every home. Not originals, of course, copies - most people couldn't afford real paintings. Khrutsky's work is observed daily and we are with you - the Russian thousandth bill is decorated with a fragment of Khrutsky's painting "Portrait of a Wife with Flowers and Fruits." The artist's most famous painting depicts a young woman at a table filled with fruit baskets, a carafe of water, and a bouquet in a ceramic vase.
Art project "Fragments Tower of Babel»
Laureate State Prize Belarus and the head of the Center for Contemporary Arts Viktor Olshevsky exhibits more often abroad than in Belarus. Victor's works, which are distinguished by deep symbolism and figurativeness, are in galleries and private collections in Belarus, Italy, Germany, Israel, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, USA, France, Turkey and other countries. And his famous project "Fragments of the Tower of Babel" generally managed to travel half the world: New York, Berlin, Budapest, Gdansk ... The project consists of 13 canvases - 13 fragments of the Tower of Babel, which display elements of the cultures of the peoples of the world: Ancient Egypt and China, Iran and Cambodia, Mayan pyramids and Kremlin chimes, Polish Warsaw and Belarusian World.
Marc Chagall (1887-1985) Above the City, 1914
Chagall is often called a Frenchman because they simply cannot believe that such an avant-garde, innovative, emotional and fantastically talented artist could have been born in a small and far from well-known Belarus. A native of Vitebsk literally conquered the world with his unusual landscapes, portraits and genre compositions. It is interesting that almost every stroke on Chagall's canvas or paper is about love. About love for his tender and dear wife and muse Bella. The main feature of the artist is the figures of him and Bella, and sometimes other persons who fly in the paintings, ignoring all the laws of gravity and physics. Of the most famous works of the artist - "Above the city". Little houses, tilted boards, domestic scenes... And lovers, whose flight is not prevented by any prosaic life.
Andrey Smolyak (born in 1954). Project "Revived Pictures", 2010
The artist is a well-known master not only of the brush, but also of shocking. The idea of his popular project “Paintings Alive”, which began three years ago, is the desire to unite famous, talented and honored people of Belarus through the art of painting. The essence of the project is that politicians and artists, poets and businessmen, directors and athletes "try on" the images of the characters in the artist's works. Smolyak's paintings have already included singer Larisa Gribaleva and actress Vera Polyakova, tennis player Maxim Mirny and biathlete Daria Domracheva, People's Artist Anatoly Yarmolenko and many others. The artist's works are today in public and private collections in Belarus, as well as in France, Italy, USA, Belgium, Russia and Holland.
Kazimir Malevich (1879-1935) Black Square, 1915
A great artist, an avant-garde artist who changed the world and predicted the future of architectural buildings, the father of Suprematism, the creator of the theater of futurism, an "artist-philosopher" - something like this you can read about Malevich in any paper or electronic encyclopedia. And one more obligatory addition to all the regalia of the artist is the author of the famous "Black Square". According to the artist himself, he painted the picture for several months. Someone jokes that the artist simply did not have time to finish the painting on time and smeared it with black paint. However, experts in art see a deep philosophical meaning in the picture. Subsequently, Malevich made several copies of the "Black Square" (according to some sources, seven). Malevich also painted the painting "Red Square" in two copies and one "White Square".
Chaim Soutine (1893-1943) "Meat carcass", circa 1923
Tenth child in poverty Jewish family from the small Belarusian village of Smilovichi, Chaim had an irresistible desire to draw since childhood, although this was forbidden to the Jews. Despite the obstacles, he gradually achieved his goal: first he studied at the private school of Jacob Kruger, then he studied in Vilnius for three years. And finally Paris! Years of suffering, fermentation, hunger, disease... It was worth it for the whole world to talk about Soutine, for his expressive, crazy, hurricane-like paintings to be measured at auctions by millions of dollars. For example, at the recent May auction of christie's, his painting "The Little Confectioner" went under the hammer for $ 18 million! And among the happy owners of his works were Isabella Rossellini, the Chaplin family, the publisher Galimard, the descendants of Chagall, Francis Ford Coppola ... Lee not the most famous painting of the artist can be considered the expressive "Meat Carcass", depicted in the twenties of the last century.
When the conversation turns to famous Belarusian artists, it rarely goes beyond a couple of names. And not because there were no more talented masters in our country, we just don’t talk so much about Belarusian art. Globally recognized creators keep in trends, and leaders national art remain in the shadows. I decided to correct this oversight and tell about the wonderful Belarusian artists, who are worth knowing about.
Ivan Khrutsky(1810-1885) - known for his still lifes and group portraits, worked in line with the Russian academic school. Born in the Vitebsk region in the family of a Greek Catholic priest. He received his secondary art education in Polotsk. At the age of 17 he moved to St. Petersburg, where he took lessons in English painting George Doe while simultaneously working on Imperial Academy arts.
The most famous canvas of the artist is “Portrait of an unknown woman with flowers and fruits” (1838), a fragment of which is depicted on a bill of 1000 rubles in 2000
After the death of his father, Khrutsky was forced to leave cultural capital, because without main support left his mother and five younger brothers and sisters. The artist takes the boys to St. Petersburg, where he continues to work hard, earning a living by painting portraits. And then he returns to his native places and buys land near Polotsk, where he builds a house according to his project and lays out a garden. If you get acquainted with further events in the life of the painter, we can conclude that many secrets of his biography have not been revealed.
Ivan Khrutsky. "Portrait of a boy in a straw hat" Leon Bakst(1866-1924) - artist, set designer, illustrator and designer, one of the legislators of European fashion for the exotic, a member of the famous association "World of Art". At one time he made a real sensation in France. And he was born in Grodno, in an Orthodox Jewish family. After graduating from the gymnasium, he left for St. Petersburg, was a volunteer at the Academy of Arts. In his free time, he worked part-time creating book illustrations. Then a whole string of events awaited Bakst: art exhibitions, life in Paris, communication with like-minded people, teaching painting to the children of Grand Duke Vladimir, marriage to the daughter of the founder of the famous Tretyakov Gallery and the associated adoption of another faith, divorce and return to Judaism ...
Leon Bakst. "Ancient Horror" (1908). One of the most famous paintings artist Since 1910, Bakst has been living in Paris, where he reveals his talent in creating theatrical scenery.
Sketch for Sergei Diaghilev's ballet "Scheherazade" (1910) 
Costume design for the Firebird for the ballet The Firebird (1922). One of the few works of the artist returned to his homeland, to Belarus
Yazep Drozdovich(1888-1954) - one of the most unusual Belarusian masters of the twentieth century. Born in poverty noble family on the farm Punki Glubokoe district. He studied at the Vilna Drawing School under the professor of painting Ivan Trutnev. He served in the army, worked as an art teacher in the capital's women's gymnasium, as an illustrator actively collaborated with magazines and newspapers. He painted carpets, collected folk songs and processed vocabulary for dictionaries vernacular. He published a popular book on astronomy "Heavenly Flight", painted a graphic series of paintings on a space theme.
Yazep Drozdovich ""Saturnian" landscape" (1931) The above facts give the right to assert that Yazep Drozdovich was a comprehensively developed personality. Nowadays, he is compared with Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Mikalojus Ciurlionis and even Leonardo da Vinci. However, unusual and multifaceted talent the artist was not understood by his contemporaries. He died at the age of 65 in dire need.
Witold Byalynitsky-Birulya(1872-1957) - landscape painter late XIX- the first half of the XX century, a representative of the lyrical direction. A native of Mogilev region. Born into a family of a small tenant. The boy's father worked in the Dnieper shipping company and often took him on a voyage along the Dnieper, Pripyat and Sozh. Byalynitsky-Birulya studied at first in the Kiev cadet corps, and then moved to the Kyiv drawing school. Later he entered the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. In Moscow, he met Isaac Levitan, worked in his workshop. Under the influence of teachers, he became interested in landscape.
Vitold Byalynitsky-Birulya. "Winter Dream" (1911) The artist gradually gained popularity, demonstrating his paintings at various exhibitions, receiving high titles and awards. The master spent most of his life in a small estate in the Tver province called "The Seagull", which he himself rebuilt. The Belarusian writer Viktor Karamazov wrote the story "Kryzh on the earth and on the sky" dedicated to the life and creative path of the painter.
Vitold Byalynitsky-Birulya. "Early Spring" (1913) Vitaly Tsvirko(1913-1993) - Belarusian painter and teacher, laureate of the State Prize of the BSSR. Born in the Gomel region in a family of rural teachers. The father of the future artist in many ways contributed to the formation artistic taste his son: the walls of the house of the Tsvirko family were hung with reproductions of works by such Russian artists as Vasily Perov, Ilya Repin, Ivan Kramskoy. When they moved to Minsk, Vitaly Tsvirko's drawings were noticed by school teachers, who began to give him private lessons. Special impact on development creative personality artist, by the way, rendered Belarusian writer, poet and playwright Kondrat Krapiva.
Vitaly Tsvirko. "Winter Landscape" (1976) In 1929, the future artist entered the Vitebsk Art College, after which he lived and worked in Minsk. A colossal success at an exhibition in Moscow leads him to the Moscow Art Institute named after Surikov, where he studies with famous masters of the Russian landscape. In 1944, Tsvirko returned to Minsk and actively engaged in creativity and teaching.
Vitaly Tsvirko. "Indian Summer" (1980) Mikhail Savitsky(1922-2010) is a cult figure in Belarusian art. Born in the village of Zvenyachi, Tolochin district, Vitebsk region. The youth of the future People's Artist of Belarus coincided with the bloody events of the Great Patriotic War. At the age of 20, he participated in the battles for Sevastopol, went through several concentration camps - these events had a powerful influence on Savitsky's worldview, which was later reflected in his work. He received an art education after demobilization: he graduated from the Minsk Art College in 1951, then studied at the Moscow art institute named after V. I. Surikov. Lived and worked in Minsk. He was the first in the country to be awarded the Order of Francysk Skaryna (in 1997).
Savitsky is the creator of the unique series of paintings "Numbers on the Heart", dedicated to the prisoners of concentration camps. "The Curse of Fascism" (1979) - one of the paintings in this series) 
Mikhail Savitsky. "Partisan Madonna" (1978). One of famous works masters Many works by Mikhail Savitsky received world fame. At the center of the artist's work were both historical and contemporary themes. He revealed them publicistically, with expression. In 2012, the Art Gallery of Mikhail Savitsky was opened in Minsk, with the exposition of which Aducar advises you to familiarize yourself.
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Modern Belarusian painting is an extraordinary, interesting phenomenon and, of course, has its fans. The last ones will definitely want to visit the 12+ exhibition, which opened in the building of the National Library.
The exposition arrived in Minsk from the hot expanses of Abu Dhabi, where the residents of the UAE could feel modern realities Belarusian culture. The exhibition got its name from the number of artists whose work the audience can see. A total of thirty-five works made in various techniques and different genres. There are also beautiful landscapes among them, and paintings based on folk tales, expression and riot of color are replaced by decorativeness and expressiveness.
However, for connoisseurs of art, the exhibition can become a landmark: walking between the hung paintings, you can clearly see all the innovations that have appeared in Belarusian painting for last years, evaluate how traditions smoothly intertwine with newfangled trends and try to trace the development of this art form.
- Modern Belarusian artists
People's Artist Republic of Belarus Alexander Mikhailovich Kishchenko was born in 1933 in Russia, studied in Ukraine, creative way he is inextricably linked with Belarus, lived in Minsk.
Zhilin Evgeny Ilyich
Born on March 20, 1939 in Gomel ( Byelorussian SSR). Father - Ilya Zhilin. Mother - Alevtina Zhilina.
In 1961-1966 he studied at the Minsk Art College.
In 1966-1971 he studied at the Belarusian State Theater and Art Institute. Zhilin's teachers were People's Artist Mikhail Savitsky, Anatoly Baranovsky, People's Artist Vitaly Tsvirko.
In early 1972, the artist took part in the Republican exhibition in Minsk for the first time, but real success and fame came only after his third exhibition, also held in Minsk in 1977. At this exhibition, his watercolor work"Dawn", "Morning in the Village", "Portrait of an Unknown Woman", at the same time the artist began his cycle of landscapes "Belarusian Polesie".
At the same time, he continued his active work on the illustration of books. Special interest present his illustrations for children's books.
Since 1974 he has been a member of the Belarusian Union of Artists.
Since 1978 Zhilin's works have been presented at the Belarusian State Art Museum.
In 1996-1999, for quite a long time, he worked and held exhibitions in Germany at personal exhibitions dedicated, among other things, to the Chernobyl tragedy.
In Minsk, personal exhibitions were held in the largest Belarusian museums and exhibition halls in 1983, 1989, 1994, 1999 and 2004.
In 1993 he participated in the creation creative association"Verasen" and for a long time was its chairman.
He took part in the organization of charity exhibitions in favor of children - victims of the Chernobyl disaster in a number of European countries.
Zhilin's early works can generally be attributed to realism. Among them are such works made in the technique of watercolor, as a cycle of landscapes "Belarusian Polissya", a series of lithographs "Landscapes of Minsk", other landscapes and still lifes.
Since 1989, the artist's work has gradually turned towards a style that is close to expressionism, and the content side can be described as "romantic fantasies". This includes such things as "The Queen's Dream" (oil on canvas 1994), "When Men Gave Flowers" (oil on canvas 1994), "Fortune Teller" (oil on canvas 1994).
Nevertheless, his work cannot be attributed to any particular style. If a realistic vision is typical for still lifes, landscapes made in watercolor, then in oil painting the artist uses a broader way of conveying his feelings and sensations. The oil technique is characterized by creative experiments carried out by the artist.
Shemelev Leonid Dmitrievich
Born February 5, 1923 in Vitebsk. In 1941-1947. served in the ranks of the Great Patriotic War Soviet army. After the end of the war, he entered the Minsk Art School, then the Belarusian State Theater and Art Institute, after which he received a diploma in the specialty "artist-painter". In 1959-1966. taught drawing, painting and composition at the Minsk Art College, then until May 1974 he worked as a teacher-artist at the Republican boarding school for music and fine arts. From July 1977 to August 1979 he was deputy chairman of the board of the Union of Artists of the BSSR, then until November 1984 he was secretary of the board of the Union of Artists of the BSSR. In 1997 received honorary title"Honored Artist of the BSSR", in 1983 - "People's Artist of the BSSR". In 1976 awarded the order Patriotic War II degree, in 1985 - the Order of the Patriotic War I degree. In 1993 and 2001 he was awarded the medal and order of Francysk Skaryna.
For 50 years creative activity the artist was interested and inspired by the most different topics, plots and images: past and present, history and modernity, motherland and man on this earth, the heroism and unceasing pain of the Great Patriotic War, the drama of fratricidal civil war, the bright faces of the great Russians and Belarusians, captured in the images of A. Pushkin and S. Rakhmaninov, V. Mulyavin and V. Korotkevich, I. Repin and M. Bogdanovich, Y. Kupala and Y. Kolas, G. Sviridov and E. Aladova , V. Tsvirko and M. Gusovsky.
Canvases by L.D. Schemelev, starting with his famous painting"My Birth", which was highly appreciated at the All-Union Exhibition of 1967 in Moscow, is recognized in any exhibition, since the artist's works are not just a reflection of some facts, phenomena, but a reasoning about what he saw, experienced, designed to reveal the inner essence of objects and phenomena . The works of L.D. Shmelev are in major museums Belarus, Russia and other countries.
In 2003, the inscribed City Art Gallery of works by L.D. Schemelev was opened, as a gift to which the artist donated 60 paintings.
Vladimir Gusakovsky
Has been painting since 1983.
Studied at the restoration department of Minsk art school, but a special emphasis in the learning process is private lessons from famous teachers, followers of the school of V. Favorsky.
1992 - personal exhibition in Paris - France
1994 - personal exhibition in Germany, Bonn, Berlin
1995 - 1998 - personal exhibition in Belarus, Minsk
1999 - personal exhibition in Russian Federation, Moscow, exhibition hall "On Kashirka".
His works are in private collections in many countries around the world.
Kostova Irina Konstantinovna
1996-2002 student of the department of monumental and decorative painting of the Belarusian Art Academy. Student of V. Zinkevich, V. Olshevsky, A. Baranovsky.
2002 received a diploma.
Graduation work - "Love Story". Levkas, tempera. Size 200 x 300 cm.
Since 2004 a member of the Youth Union of Artists.
2003-2005 work in the Creative Workshops of M. A. Savitsky.
During her studies, she took part in student collective exhibitions.
Painting in the cafe "Gabrovo"
painting in high school № 11.
A cycle of icons for the Exarchate of Belarus.
Works are in the Museum Modern Art» Minsk. "Houses of Culture and Technology" in Warsaw, in the embassies of India, Israel, China, Lithuania, as well as in private collections in Belarus, Russia, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Norway, USA, Czech Republic, Israel, India, China, Canada.
Petr Lukyanenko
One of contemporary artists Belarus, working in the field easel painting. The artist's work is distinguished by the versatility of themes and genres, as well as a variety of techniques and manner of performance.
In publicistic paintings, the artist reflects important socio-economic and political aspects of a particular historical period. The journalistic works of the 1980s illustrate the profound opposition between official ideology and real life. They talk about dramatic moments Soviet history and encourage them to remember these lessons forever.
In his later journalistic works, the artist comprehends the dramatic changes that have taken place in post-Soviet countries since the early 1990s. The habitual way of life of millions of people, which existed for decades and seemed unshakable, collapsed in an instant. Ideals and values were rethought. Something has changed, but something has remained the same under new signs.
Conceptual paintings touch on more universal issues relevant throughout various historical eras. In laconic characters philosophical works the artist expresses his vision of the fundamental concepts of our world.
In other conceptual works, he creates his own imaginary worlds. They encourage viewers to think about the relationship between a man and a woman, beauty, art and many other components of human life.
Petr Lukyanenko also works in the genres of portrait, landscape and still life. The artist sensitively captures the beauty of the surrounding world and shows it to the viewer. In this case, it is not necessary to create a copy of what you see on the canvas. The main thing is to convey the feelings that arose during perception.
The artist himself considers any classification of fine art to be a convention. In his work, he does not seek to meet the requirements of any style or direction of painting, but expresses his thoughts with the most appropriate visual means.
AT old days when the artist set up his easel somewhere in the corner to paint a picture of the market square, he was looked at as a stranger with curiosity, fear and, perhaps, surprise. After all, an outsider could only contemplate the object, but not manipulate it. With the exception of those situations when the artist literally, that is, physically, stood in someone's way, he did not mix with the life around him. People did not have the feeling that they were being spied on or followed, unless, of course, at that moment they happened to be on the bench in front of the artist; after all, it was obvious to everyone that the artist was not interested in current events, but in something completely different. Only the momentary is personal, and the artist directly observed that in this moment was not, because it was always there. Painting has never exposed anyone." (The article can be read on the "old" "Photoskop")
This thought must always be remembered, especially all "photo-base artists" must realize this. A photograph subjected to this or that manipulation no longer works as a photograph, as a mirror of the real ...
Singer Alexander Rybak became the most popular "foreign" Belarusian of the past year. But he is far from the first to glorify his homeland beyond its borders.
In recent years, many Belarusian media cannot resist the temptation to look for distant Belarusian ancestors with all sorts of foreign celebrities. Either there will be a grandmother, or a grandfather, about which the stars themselves do not even suspect. But let's focus on those of our famous compatriots and more or less contemporaries who at least knew where their homeland was.
Flight painter
Jealous Frenchmen with sullen obstinacy hush up that famous artist Marc Chagall is a Belarusian Jew, they really want to get him into undivided property. During a tour of the Grand Opera in Paris, ceiling theater hall which was painted by our world-renowned compatriot, the guide so stubbornly did not recall the Belarusianness of Chagall that the portal browser had to ask a leading question. The guide changed his face and expressively exclaimed: “He left you!” But no matter how much the French want to appropriate our artist, they can’t get away from the fact that the Vitebsk childhood of the master became the main theme of his work throughout his life, not only pictorial, but also literary - the autobiographical book “My Life”. Sadly, albums with reproductions of Marc Chagall's paintings are not published in Belarus, because the French copyright holders are not interested in this. But everyone can visit the Chagall art center in Vitebsk and see the house where he was born and grew up.
Steel Muse Léger
Another Belarusian Nadezhda Khodasevich-Leger, a native of the Belarusian village of Zembin, became a famous French artist and muse of the famous painter and sculptor Fernand Leger. This woman had a huge amount of will and perseverance. Since childhood, she wanted to paint and live in Paris. In the village where she was born, such an idea was perceived only as a kind of madness. Nadia, without the permission of her parents, fled to study painting in Smolensk, from there to Warsaw, where she got married, and already together with her husband went to Paris, to the academy of her idol Fernand Léger, who himself invited them. After a quarrel with her husband, who returned to Warsaw, left without money, with a little daughter in her arms, Nadya Khodasevich began to work as a servant. But at the same time, with her tiny funds, she published a magazine about painting, where the works of Picasso, Le Corbusier, Léger were published ...
During the Second World War active participant French Resistance Khodasevich works as a teacher at the academy during the day, and at night he puts up leaflets around the city. After the war, she helped Russian emigrants by organizing an auction at which paintings by the same Picasso and Léger were exhibited. After the death of the teacher's wife, Nadezhda Khodasevich marries him and adds Leger to his surname, and the most famous people Russia and France. After the death of the master, Nadezhda returned to her first husband, and together they opened a museum in memory of the master, who was donated to France. Khodasevich-Lezher herself became famous in monumental art, her mosaic portraits of contemporaries are exhibited in many galleries around the world. Was an active supporter 
development of Franco-Soviet relations, for which she was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor and the Order of the Legion of Honor of France.
The Greatest Science Fiction
The writer Isaac Asimov, who, together with Arthur Clark and Robert Heinlein, is the top three science fiction writers in the world, was born in the village of Petrovichi, Mogilev Region, and was given the name Isaac Ozimov at birth. His parents, who worked as millers in Belarus, three years after the birth of Isaac, took the future luminary of science fiction to the United States, where, preserving their love for flour, they opened a confectionery shop.
Isaac grew up, acquired the profession of a biochemist and became a unique, multifaceted author of science fiction, in whose works all styles and directions of science and literature were synthesized: detective, humor, astronomy, genetics, chemistry, history. Not to mention the fact that it was Asimov who invented the concepts that only many years later appeared in real life and were named with words he came up with: robots, robotics, positron, psychohistory.
Ether King
The super popular American TV presenter Larry King is also a native of Belarus. His mother Jenny was from Minsk, and his father Eddie Zeiger was from Pinsk (it can be assumed that before emigration their names were Zhenya and Edik). They left for America, where the future screen star was born. Larry King is the recognized king of news journalism and talk shows, which he leads in a rather tough manner. It was King who asked Vladimir Putin the awkward question: “So what happened to the Kursk submarine?” To which the then Russian president replied: “She drowned.”
Larry King is the author of How to Talk to Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere, a practical guide designed to help not only journalists, but also ordinary people who often cannot overcome their indecision. 
Radio amateur and TV professional
An extremely extraordinary, shrewd businessman who was ahead of his time, David Sarnoff, before leaving for New York, was called David Sarnov and lived in the Belarusian village of Uzlyany.
Already at the age of 15, the enterprising David owned a newsstand, then his fate developed progressively. At first, Sarnov worked in the company of the famous Italian Marconi, and it was he who, back in 1915, proposed using the radio for entertainment and starting the production of household radios. But then this idea, which subsequently brought in billions, seemed so crazy that its implementation was postponed for decades. While serving as president of Radiocorporation of America, Sarnov gave the green light and provided conditions for the development of another immigrant, Vladimir Zworykin, who invented the kinescope and set the direction for the development of the media business for many years.
The roaring lion of the film industry
The most memorable screensaver of the film company - a roaring lion's head - belongs to the Metro Goldwyn Mayer corporation, which was founded by Lazar Meir, who was born in Minsk. After emigrating, turning into Louis Bart Mayer, he gradually began to realize his American dream by trading in scrap metal. But he loved cinema so much that for the sake of it he betrayed non-ferrous metals and bought a crumbling movie theater in a provincial town. And a few years later he moved his small company to Los Angeles, where, in order to consolidate his success, he lured the first beauty of those times, actress Anita Stewart, from another studio. And then for many years he worked on the lion's share of what would later be called Hollywood. In addition, it was Meyer who founded the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and invented what millions of movie lovers look forward to every year - the Oscars.
Presidents of Israel
The first President of Israel, Chaim Weizmann, was born near Pinsk, in the village of Motol, where he graduated from a cheder. After he entered the Pinsk real school, after which he continued his education in Germany and began his journey to the formation of the state of Israel.
Shimon Peres, the current president of Israel, who took this post in 2007, is also a native of our country: he was born in the village of Vishnevo, Volozhin district, Minsk region. His father was a lumber merchant, his mother was a Russian language teacher and librarian. Love for the culture of the Jewish people was instilled in the future president by his rabbi grandfather. From childhood, Shimon Peres wrote poetry, and did not leave his passion for literature and became a politician. His books were published in Israel and were successful, and one of them was written under a female pseudonym and on behalf of a woman.
Closer to the sky
The famous fighter designer, inventor Pavel Sukhoi was born in the town of Glubokoe, Vitebsk region. His parents were teachers. Pavel Sukhoi graduated from the Gomel gymnasium, went to study in Moscow and went down in history as the general designer of the bureau named after himself. Under the leadership of Sukhoi, a line of combat aircraft "Su" was created.
Cosmonaut Pyotr Klimuk was born in the village of Komarovka, Brest region. Completed three spaceflights as crew chief, passing beyond Earth's orbit in total more than 2.5 months. In the homeland of the astronaut, which turned from Komarovka into Tomashovka during space exploration, it is open, which contains unique exhibits, many of which have been in space with Klimuk.
In addition, about space travel can be read in two books written by Pyotr Klimuk: "Next to the Stars" and "Attack on Weightlessness".
Russian businessmen
The main reformer of the Russian energy system, Anatoly Chubais, was born in the city of Borisov in the family of a retired colonel who worked as a teacher of philosophy. After many high posts, he became the chairman of RAO UES. Main project Chubais - privatization - turned out to be very controversial and was declared a failure. Not surprisingly, nothing worked, but the people were hungry after the communist past and firmly believed in the promises of Chubais, which said that each voucher would eventually cost as much as two cars.
Entrepreneur Andrei Melnichenko was born and raised in Gomel, where his grandmother still lives, whom he visits by private jet. Having started his career with currency trading in the 90s, Melnichenko subsequently became a co-founder of MDM Bank, and then its sole shareholder. Now Andrey Melnichenko is the chairman of the board of directors of Eurochem. His personal fortune before the onset of the crisis was estimated at $10.3 billion. Andrey Melnichenko is married to model Alexandra Nikolic, who is called the most beautiful Serbian woman on the planet.
Sergey Kukura, vice-president of the Lukoil concern, was born in Brest. Very little is known about this businessman, but in 2002 his name thundered in connection with a high-profile abduction: Sergei Kukuru was attacked at a railway crossing by unknown persons dressed as police officers and held for two weeks in an abandoned Belarusian village, demanding $3,000,000 and EUR3 for his release 000 000. Kukura hardly liked such a return to his homeland, but then the kidnappers took the businessman to Bryansk, provided him with money and released him, according to Sergey Kukura, for reasons unknown to him.
Nobel laureates
Academician Zhores Alferov, who was born in Vitebsk and graduated from school in Minsk, received Nobel Prize in physics for the development of semiconductor heterostructures and the creation of fast opto- and microelectronic components. We use Alferov's inventions every day. Without them the work would not be possible. mobile phones and disk drives, the Alferov laser is used even in store “readers” of product barcodes.
Alferov is not the first Belarusian to win the Nobel Prize. In 1971, it was won by economist Simon Kuznets, a native of Pinsk, who coined the terms “gross national product”, “human capital”, and also invented and proved the “Kuznets law” for the economies of developing countries: in the first 10 years of development, inequality in income distribution will increase sharply, then there will be a trend towards equalization. He has done a lot for the modern world economy.
Tatiana Prudinnik
