Mikhail Roginsky (1931 – 2004) is an outstanding Russian artist, one of the leaders of Moscow non-conformist art, and the creator of the modern national visual method, with its laconic means and inner expressiveness.

Acknowledged by few in the 1960s, Roginsky turned to be one of the most important figures of Moscow art scene.

Mikhail Roginsky is famous for his genre paintings imbued with deep existential feelings. His works embody the return to the 60s: they depict people with blurred faces and slightly distorted proportions, a bit clumsy people, but having both feet on the ground. Roginsky’s paintings are nostalgic, and they make one reflect on the destiny of mankind rather than the destiny of art.

In his paintings the artist restored to the world the feeling of some higher righteousness and appropriateness, even though the constant subject matter of his works was the oppressive reality of Soviet commonness which evoked no sentimentality or nostalgia in the artist.

Mikhail Roginsky was born on August 14, 1931 in Moscow. He graduated from scenography department of Moscow Art College "In Memory of 1905" and worked as an artist in provincial theatres from 1953 to 1959 at the same time painting for himself. In 1960 he returned to Moscow.

The creative development of Roginsky divides into several major periods, with the border between the first two falling on 1968. First his painting manner tends to more and more of simplification and focus on common objects of every day life, such as a primus stove, a match box, etc. Finally the artist arrives at perceiving the canvass as an utterly utilitarian plane. Thus instead of painting a picture Roginsky turns one of his canvasses into a door relief, absolutely imitating its real prototype.

After balancing for some time at this border line of art Roginsky returns to traditional manner of painting. The second period is marked with undisguised retrospectiveness and genre painting: still-lives, landscapes, and interior scenes. This period lasted till the artist’s immigration in 1978.

While living in Paris Roginsky became stille more aware of the significance of the previous period of his life; all his creation became the experiencing of impressions of childhood and youth, over and over again. Paris added only acquaintance with Western culture of painting, and the world art in general.

In Paris Roginsky changed his pictorial system once again: he resorted to cardboard as the basic material on which he quite nominally, with loose strokes depicted household objects. These kettles, boots, trousers were like shadows of those ‘first period’ things which were so naturalistic that seemed to be falling out of his paintings. Living in the far-away Paris Roginsky still painted Soviet aunties in overcoats of thick cloth and primus heaters. Overseas the primus heaters looked incomprehensible, while in Russia they were too common to be wanted.

Paris hosted five personal exhibitions of Roginsky, and over 15 exhibitions with his participations. His works were displayed in Russia as well. Now the artist’s works are kept in museums and private collections in France, the USA and Russia.

Roginsky worked very hard, nothing but his work interested him. This work was stopped only by a fatal illness.

‘I made myself recreate the reality proceeding from my understanding of it’, - the artists said.

Mikhail Roginsky died on July 5, 2004 in Paris.

The photos of paintings taken from nonkonformist.narod.ru and popoffart.com.

Vera Ivanova and Mikhail Manykin

Sources:
    museum.rsuh.ru
    newsru.com
    azbuka.gif.ru
    megakm.ru
    2004.novayagazeta.ru
    rusmuseum.ru
    supernew.ej.ru