Nikolai Pavlovich Ulianov

Born May 19 (May 1), 1875, in Elets; died May 5, 1949, in Moscow. Soviet painter and graphic artist. Honored Art Worker of the RSFSR (1932); corresponding member of the Academy of Arts of the USSR (1949).

Ul’ianov studied at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture from 1889 to 1901 and at V. A. Serov’s studio from 1899 to 1902. He was a member of the Union of Russian Artists, the World of Art, and the Four Arts. He also participated in exhibits arranged by the magazine Zolotoe runo (“The Golden Fleece”).

Ul’ianov worked as a portraitist, mainly in the genre of historical portraiture. In the 20th century, Ul’ianov, while always maintaining fluidity of line, turned from a somewhat affected style and a certain conventionality of form and color toward a more varied palette and a faithful re-creation of the inner world of the subject and of the drama of historical confrontations. Examples of his work are Lauriston at Kutuzov’s Headquarters (1945, Tret’iakov Gallery, Moscow), K. S. Stanislavsky at Work (1947, Tret’iakov Gallery; State Prize of the USSR, 1948), and the series of paintings and drawings Pushkin in Life (1930’s, Tret’iakov Gallery and Russian Museum, Leningrad). U’lianov did the set designs for M. A. Bulgakov’s Days of the Turbins (staged by the Moscow Academic Art Theater in 1926) and J. Bizet’s Carmen (staged by the K. S. Stanislavsky Opera House in Moscow in 1935).

Ul’ianov was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor.