Gavriil Malysh. 1940
Gavriil Kondratyevich Malysh (1907-1988)
Gavriil Kondratyevich Malysh was born on 25 March 1907 to a family of peasants in Kytaihorodka village near Ekaterinoslav (now Dnepropetrovsk), Ukraine. He was one of six children. Gavriil’s father was a gardener, whilst his mother was predominantly working at home looking after children. It was his mother who taught him to appreciate beauty and helped to develop his creativity. Garvriil started drawing at an early age and dreamt to become an artist.
After finishing the local village school he went to Odessa to enter the Odessa Art Institute, where he was accepted based on excellent exam results. There he studied under the auspices of Professor Alexander Fyodorovich Gaush – member of “Mir Isskustva” and Teofil Borisovich Fraerman who taught him to appreciate and understand the art of painting.
In 1934 he graduated from the Odessa Art Institute and moved to Leningrad.
Between 1935 and 1941 he worked at the State Leningrad Museum of Agriculture Reconstruction where he progressed to become a lead artist.
The Great Patriotic War changed his plans and he enlisted to the army. During the war he stayed in Leningrad and worked as a district artist, creating posters, agitation slogans and propaganda artworks for the frontline. He also continued painting nature – his beloved subject which he continued to explore all his life.
In 1946 Malysh joined the Leningrad Art Fund and in 1948 was accepted to the Leningrad Union of Soviet Artists. However, in 1952 he was expelled for the accusation of “formalism”.
In 1957 his membership was restored, and he continued to work as part of the painting department of the Leningrad Union of Artists until his last days. Gavriil Malysh mastered watercolour painting and created his own style of transmitting the multifaceted beauty and mystery of Mother nature.
Gavriil Malysh. 1988
“He is not a member of any academies; he has no titles; he is not a follower of any schools or trends in art. He is simply Gavriil Malysh, bestowed by God with great artistic talent, a master who has chosen his own star and paved the way to it”. Gleb Raikov. (Art historian).
There were over fifty personal exhibitions of Gavriil Malysh’s works in Russia and across the world, including Europe, America and Australia.
Gavriil Kondratyevich Malysh passed away on 5 October 1988 and is buried at Volkovo Cemetery in St Petersburg.
His works make up part of the leading Russian state museums and private collections, including the State Russian Museum and the State Museum of St Petersburg.
Items from personal archives of Gavriil Malysh:
Award Certificate 1943
Gavriil and Eugenya Malish 1947