Dementii Alekseevich Shmarinov

Born Apr. 29 (May 12), 1907, in Kazan. Soviet graphic artist. Member of the Academy of Arts of the USSR (1953). People’s Artist of the USSR (1967).

Shmarinov studied at N. A. Prakhov’s studio in Kiev from 1919 to 1922 and under D. N. Kardovskii in Moscow from 1923 to 1928. He was chairman of the administrative board of the Moscow organization of the Artists’ Union of the RSFSR from 1959 to 1961, from 1966 to 1968, and in 1972. He became secretary of the administrative board of the Artists’ Union of the USSR in 1968.

Shmarinov works chiefly as an illustrator. He gives realistically precise graphic interpretations of literary works and conveys dramatic situations and the psychosocial characteristics of his heroes in a highly convincing manner. His works include illustrations for Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment (charcoal, black watercolor, 1935–36), A. N. Tolstoy’s Peter the Great (charcoal, black water-color, 1940–45), and L. N. Tolstoy’s War and Peace (black water-color, 1953–55), all of which are housed at the Tret’iakov Gallery in Moscow. He also illustrated Lermóntov’s A Hero of Our Time (1941, Tret’iakov Gallery; Russian Museum, Leningrad) and Pushkin’s The Captain’s Daughter (1974) and The Queen of Spades (1976), all in charcoal and black watercolor.

During the Great Patriotic War (1941–45), Shmarinov designed a number of political posters. He also executed a cycle of easel works entitled We Won’t Forget, We Won’t Forgive! (charcoal, black watercolor, 1942, Tret’iakov Gallery). This angry, impassioned series, which was awarded the State Prize of the USSR in 1943, vividly describes the suffering and courage of the Soviet people in their struggle against the enemy. Shmarinov has also produced a number of paintings.

Shmarinov has been awarded the Order of Lenin, two other orders, and several medals.