Painter, graphic artist. Vladimir Yakovlev was born into an artistic family - his grandfather M.Yakovlev was an artist too. He didn’t get a professional art education, but in the 50s he worked as retoucher in “The Iskusstvo” (Art) publishing house in Moscow and later attended the lessons of the famous Non-artist V.Ya. Sitnikov. His contact with artists belonging to the “Other Art” group formed his artistic principles. The international exhibitions that were organized within the framework of the 1957 International Youth Festival provided a decisive impulse for him to concentrate on painting. In the late 50s Yakovlev tried his hand at Abstract art but his style proved to be at its best in small Figurative compositions painted mainly in gouache. His subjects are simple: flowers and people, sometimes animals and landscapes. However, what impresses most of all is the emotions expressed by the colour pattern and sharp contrasts makig it possible to convey lyric and dramatic elements in one image. Yakovlev’s “primitive” art did not mean that he was not skilled in academic painting. Rather it reflects his wish to expose the spiritual pivot of an object and turn it into a sign. The artist’s mental ill health reinforced his artistic vision. It was as if Yakovlev was physically incompatible with the oppressive Soviet regime. From 1945 onwards he spent long periods in mental clinics and after his mother’s death in 1983 moved into a neurological boarding house. Also he was rapidly losing his eyesight, which was partly restored in the 90s. Paradoxically, he created his best works when he was almost blind. Yakovlev’s work was a unique example of genuine art stemming from outsider status.
born 1934 1998
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