Pakhomov, Aleksei

Born Sept. 19 (Oct. 2), 1900, in the village of Varlamovo, in what is now Vologda Oblast; died Apr. 14, 1973, in Leningrad. Soviet graphic artist and painter. People’s Artist of the USSR (1971). Member of the Academy of Arts of the USSR (1964).

From 1915 to 1917, and in 1921, Pakhomov studied in Leningrad under V. V. Lebedev and N. A. Tyrsa at the Shtiglits School, and from 1922 to 1925 he studied at the State Higher Institute of Art and Technology. He taught at the I. E. Repin Leningrad Institute of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture from 1948, becoming a professor in 1949.

Pakhomov was primarily an illustrator of books for and about children. He contributed to the children’s magazines Chizh (Siskin), Ezh (Hedgehog), and Koster (Campfire). Until the end of the 1930’s he also painted. Pakhomov’s illustrations for children’s books reflected his belief that these books should be cheerful and highly educational.

In the series of lithographs Leningrad in the Days of the Blockade (1942–44; State Prize of the USSR, 1946), Pakhomov very convincingly conveyed the daily tragedies of the besieged city and the courage of the Leningraders in their struggle with the enemy. He also designed and illustrated L. N. Tolstoy’s collection of stories Filipok: Pages From the Alphabet (colored pencil, watercolor, and ceruse, 1968–70; State Prize of the USSR, 1973).