Sergey Babkov

Sergey Fedorovich Babkov (1920-1993)

Babkov Sergey Fedorovich was born on December 28, 1920 in Zlatoust, Chelyabinsk region, in the family of a military doctor. Both of his parents were active participants of the Civil War with the Red Army.

In 1922 his family moved to Petrograd (Leningrad), where Sergey joined the secondary Art School at the All-Russian Academy of Arts in Leningrad. 

Sergey just graduated from the Art school at the All-Russian Academy of Arts in Leningrad when the Great Patriotic War started on 22nd June 1941. Instead of entering the Arts Academy, where he was due to start, he enrolled at the III Leningrad Artillery School on July 31.

In January 1942, he finished the practical portion of the Artillery School in Kostroma and upon receiving the rank of lieutenant was sent to the front line. In November he began serving as a firing platoon Commander of the 7th Battery of the 840th Artillery Regiment.

Sergey participated in the Kursk winter offensive, fought in battles on the Bryansk, Central and First Ukrainian Fronts. He held positions as Headquarters Platoon Commander, Firing Platoon Commander, and Senior Battery Officer of the 840th Artillery Regiment of the 289th Konotop-Korostep Order of Suvorov Infantry Division.

On the Dnieper jumping-off site he was wounded and shell-shocked. Upon returning from the hospital to his regiment he was sent to the headquarters of the Commander of the artillery of his old division, where he served as Chief of Staff for the Operations Division. He ended the war as the Chief of Staff of the 368th Separate Anti-Tank Fighter Brigade of the Red Star Order of the 289th Konotop-Korostep Order of Suvorov Infantry Division.

For his service and courage during the war, Sergey was awarded the Order of the Red Star, Great Patriotic War 2nd degree, and medals “For the Capture of Berlin” and “For Victory over Germany”.

In 1946 he was demobilised and enrolled at the Leningrad State Academic Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture named after I.E. Repin, which he graduated with honors for his painting “The Taking of Voroniya Mountain by the Corps under General Simonyan.” He received the title of artist-painter in 1952.

A year later, Sergey was accepted as a member of the Union of Artists of the USSR, and took part in the All-Union Art exhibition. At the same time he joined the Studio of War Artists named after M.B. Grekov, so he could further explore the subject of war and recreate his wartime impressions on large canvases.

Babkov in his studio in Leningrad, 1990

Over ten years Sergey was a battle-painter at Grekov Studio. He worked on ships of different classes in the Black, Azov, Baltic, and White seas. During this period he created a number of paintings devoted to the Great Patriotic War and to the everyday life of the army and navy. Sergey became a permanent participant of art exhibitions, organised by the studio, his paintings were acquired by the USSR’s museums and galleries.

Starting in 1972 his works were exhibited in Japan, France, Germany, Sweden, the USA and other countries. The private art collectors were buying his paintings at auctions in Paris, London and other cities.

To mark his achievements, in 1992 Sergey Babkov was elected as a member of the Peter’s Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Sergey Fedorovich Babkov died in Leningrad (St. Petersburg) on October 4th, 1993. He is buried in the New Volkovo cemetery.

Items from the personal archives of Sergey Babkov: