Petr Ivanovich Kotov

Born June 26 (July 8), 1889, in the settlement of Vladimirovka, in present-day Astrakhan Oblast; died July 4, 1953, in Moscow. Soviet painter. Honored Art Worker of the RSFSR (1946); member of the Academy of Arts of the USSR (1949).

From 1909 to 1916, Kotov studied under F. A. Rubo and N. S. Samokish at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. In 1923 he went to live in Moscow. In that same year he became a member of AKhRR (Association of Artists of Revolutionary Russia). Kotov taught at several institutes, including the All-Union State Institute of Cinematography (1944—48) and the Moscow Art Institute (1948–51). A number of his works reflect the enthusiasm surrounding the first five-year plans (Kuznetskstroi: Blast Furnace No. 1, 1931, Tret’iakov Gallery; Red Sormovo, 1937, A. N. Radishchev Art Museum, Saratov). Beginning in the late 1930’s, Kotov painted a great number of portraits, including Portrait of I. D. Shadr (1936, Kiev Museum of Russian Art) and Portrait ofN. D. Zelinskii (1947, Tret’iakov Gallery; State Prize of the USSR, 1948).