Vladimir Afanasyevich Ovchinnikov

Painter, sculptor, and set designer; a leading figure in Leningrad’s "unofficial art" movement and an Honored Artist of the Russian Federation (2005). He had no formal art education. He worked as a rigger at the Hermitage and as an assistant scenic painter at the Kirov Theatre. From 1964 onwards, he participated in exhibitions in Russia, the USA, France, Germany, and Japan. He was one of the organizers of the famous exhibitions of unofficial artists held at the Gaza and Nevsky Palaces of Culture in 1974 and 1975. His works are held in the collections of the State Hermitage Museum, the State Russian Museum, the State Tretyakov Gallery, the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), the Rutgers Museum (New Jersey), the Beijing Art Museum, and the Marie-Thérèse Cochin Gallery (Paris), as well as in private collections in Russia and abroad.