Alexandr Shilov

Biography

Since 1992 the minor planet 4164, discovered by the astronomer Lyudmila Chernykh, has borne Shilov’s name. His link with space began with his diploma work: at the Surikov Institute he submitted four portraits of cosmonauts, among them Shatalov, painted after working at Star City. For a series of portraits of Soviet cosmonauts he received the Lenin Komsomol Prize in 1977.

Alexandr Shilov was born in Moscow on 6 October 1943, in the middle of the war.

From 1957 to 1962 he attended the art studio of the House of Pioneers in Moscow’s Timiryazevsky district, run by Vasily Voronin. What affected him most as a child was the Tretyakov Gallery. He studied at a school for working youth and took odd jobs. As a young man he got to know Alexander Laktionov and came under the influence of his manner. Laktionov introduced him to his friend from student days, Boris Shcherbakov, who also played a notable part in the young artist’s life. From 1968 to 1973 Shilov studied at the Surikov Moscow Art Institute and took part in exhibitions of young artists. In 1976 he was admitted to the Union of Artists of the USSR. After that the titles came one after another: Honoured Artist of the RSFSR in 1980, People’s Artist of the RSFSR in 1981, People’s Artist of the USSR in 1985.

Almost everything he does is portraiture, most often ceremonial. Shilov has painted leaders of the USSR and Russia, cosmonauts and cultural figures; in all there are more than six hundred such works. Among his awards are prizes of the FSB of Russia (2009, 2017) for a cycle of portraits of security service officers and a prize of the Foreign Intelligence Service (2012) for portraits of intelligence officers. He also paints still lifes, described as lyrical and philosophical; Apollo, the patron of artistic inspiration, appears in the painting “The God of the Arts” (2015).

Opinions of this painting are sharply divided. Its supporters see in it a direct continuation of Dmitry Levitzky and Orest Kiprensky. Its opponents speak of flattering photographs transferred onto canvas and assign Shilov to the so-called “Luzhkov style”. Irina Antonova, president of the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, spoke very harshly of his paintings. In 1985, on receiving the title of People’s Artist of the USSR, Shilov painted “Self-Portrait with My Daughter Masha”; the picture later became the emblem of his gallery. In 1996 he gave the city and the country a large collection of his works. Exactly how many is hard to say: both 355 and 365 are given. In 1997, close to the Kremlin, in Znamensky Lane, the Moscow State Picture Gallery of People’s Artist of the USSR A. Shilov opened in a 19th-century mansion by the architect Evgraf Tyurin. It was opened by the mayor, Yuri Luzhkov, and it shows only Shilov. Criticism is attached to the gallery’s expansion: in 2002 two 19th-century buildings listed as historic monuments were demolished on Volkhonka Street to make way for a new building.

Shilov has been a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Arts since 1997, a full member since 2001, and a member of its presidium since 2012. He is honorary chairman of the Golden Knight International Forum of Fine Arts. He has been awarded the Order “For Merit to the Fatherland”, 4th class (1997) and 3rd class (2004), the Order of Honour (2010), the Order of Alexander Nevsky (2013), the Belarusian Order of Francysk Skaryna (2003), the Medal “In Commemoration of the 850th Anniversary of Moscow” (1997) and the gold medal of the Russian Academy of Arts (2010). In 2008 he became an Honorary Art Worker of the City of Moscow, in 2014 an honorary professor of the Russian State Specialized Academy of Arts, and in 2023 he received the title of Hero of Labour of the Russian Federation.

In September 2026 the gallery that bears his name showed the artist’s new works of 2025–2026, mostly portraits of his contemporaries.