Vladimir Vasilievich Lebedev (May 14 [26], 1891 - November 21, 1967) - Russian and Soviet painter, graphic artist, recognized master of posters, book and magazine illustrations, founder of the Leningrad school of book graphics. People's Artist of the RSFSR (1966), corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Arts (1967). In the 1920s and 1930s, Lebedev created many easel graphic works that became classics of the Leningrad graphic art of that time. Series on «everyday» topics: «Laundresses» (1920-1925, gouache, applications), a series of 23 drawings «Panel of the Revolution» (1922, ink), also called «Street of the Revolution», and the series «NEP» and «New Life» (Mid-1920s). A series of drawings in pencil and ink: «Models», «Ballerinas», «Acrobatics». Paintings: an early period - «Still Life with a Palette» (1919), «Coffee Pot, Spoon, Mug» (1920), «Saw and Board» (1920), «Worker at the Anvil» (1920-1921), series «Counter-reliefs» (1920-1921), including «Selection of materials: iron, wood, cardboard» (1921).
Lebedev's painting in the 1920s was largely determined by his friendship with Ivan Puni, and later by the friendship with N.F. Lapshin and N.A. Tyrsa, which constituted for him the artistic environment necessary for each artist. Lapshin and Tyrsa were fond of French art; also Lebedev was carried away by Seurat, Picasso, later Renoir and Manet. In the early 1930s, the series Still Life with a Guitar (1930-1932) were written, including Red Guitar and Palette (1930) and Fruit in a Basket (1930-1931). «Each of these still lifes is a small world, alive with its concreteness, sometimes funny, sometimes lyrical, or with a touch of cheerful irony. Still life with a guitar, lemons and shells can serve as an example of brilliantly done work on the organization of a picturesque space. Color and its masonry, rather than an airy or linear perspective, builds the spatial vibrations of objects within a very narrow distance, as if sandwiched between two parallel planes - a sensation close to the sign. The material sensation of the thing was carried out with maximum tension, the laying of color was carried out with great wealth and a variety of techniques» (Vera Anikieva).
Since the late 1920s and until 1957, the artist created many female portraits, including «Portrait of the Artist N. S. Nadezhdina» (1927), «Girl with a Jug» (1928), «Model with a Mandolin» (Malvina Stern; 1927), portrait of the artist Nina Noskovich (1934, also known as the portrait of Nina Lekarenko).
One of Lebedev’s most famous paintings, «The Woman with the Guitar» (1930), depicts the model Elena (Lyolya) Nikolaev. EG Nikolaeva was for a long time the subject of interest of V.V. Lebedev, as was the artist O.N. Gildebrandt-Arbenina.
In 1933, a series of «ironic» portraits was written, called «Athletes» or «Girls with Bouquets». Other works of Lebedev in the 1930s include a portrait of the artist Tatyana Shishmareva (1935), a portrait of the sculptor Sarah Lebedeva (1936), The Red Navy (1937), Turkish Wrestlers (1937), and portraits of the writer Susanna Georgievskaya (1937). After the war, Lebedev wrote a little, of his later works can be called a portrait of Ada Sergeevna Lazo (1954) and a portrait of a young girl in a headscarf (1957).
