Nisskii, Georgii

Born Jan. 8 (21), 1903, in Novobelitskaia station, present-day Gomel’ Oblast, Byelorussian SSR. Soviet painter. People’s Artist of the RSFSR (1965). Member of the Academy of Arts of the USSR (1958).

From 1922 to 1930, Nisskii studied in Moscow at Vkhutemas (State Higher Arts and Technical Studios) and Vkhutein (Higher Art and Technical Institute). His work, which was influenced by A. A. Deineka, was closely related to that of the Society of Painters (for example, Nisskii’s Autumn—Semaphores, 1932, Tret’iakov Gallery).

Seeking to express the power of a new, socialist reality, as well as the perception of nature by modern man, who has become accustomed to the fast-moving rhythm of life, Nisskii invested his works (predominantly seascapes and industrial landscapes) with a strong dynamism and depicted broad expanses of space. Since the mid-1950’s, he has turned increasingly to a decorative and generalized style, developing his compositions with highly rhythmic silhouettes and large planes of intense and, often, local colors.

In 1951 the State Prize of the USSR was awarded to Nisskii’s paintings By the Shores of the Far East (1950, Moscow State University), Landscape With a Lighthouse (1950, L’vov Picture Gallery), and The Port of Odessa (1950, the motor ship Rossiia). Among his other works are Winter in the Moscow Region (1951, Cheliabinsk City Picture Gallery), Frontline Road Under Moscow (1957, L’vov Picture Gallery), The “Zagor’e” Kolkhoz (1959, Russian Museum, Leningrad), and Above the Snows (1959–60, Russian Museum, Leningrad).

Nisskii has been awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor and a number of medals.