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The Early Years of Sergey Volkov (1955-1980) |
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The Children's Collection Mother
Gallery
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Gallery 3 Anna Volkova The
Girl |
Sergey Volkov Self Portrait Age 12 Summary of interview of Alexander Volkov regarding his son July, 2001: Sergey was born to Alexander and Anna Volkov on November 21, 1955 in a suburb of St. Petersburg, Russia. Alexander was an air force MIG 23 fighter pilot and later a journalist for a newspaper, Anna was a senior accountant for industry and a homemaker. The family was blessed with the wise and kind matriarch Eudokya. Sergey's parents describe him as an observant child who was interested in his surrounding environment and activities. During the interview they were gracious, pleasant and proud parents.
Sergey's father Alexander Sergey was first observed to have artistic talent at age 3 1/2 when he began to draw pictures of family members. Often when the Volkov family visited relatives, little Sergey would travel with his drawing kit and upon arrival slide into a comfortable table and begin to draw the pictures of his relatives. A close friend of the family, and a teacher, encouraged the family to arrange for him to attend special school for artistically gifted children. The Volkovs were proud of their son but interpreted their feelings as mere parental wishful thinking and exaggeration. As parents they were concerned that focusing on specialized training in art in his early youth would not be in his best interests so they postponed any active pursuit of an art education until he was 6. By this time, Sergei was painting unusually clear and accurate portraits and copying a variety of pictures from books and magazines.
Sergey
at age six with his Sketch Book
Alexander
and Anna then took him into the city
of St. Petersburg and presented him
and samples of his paintings
to the world famous artist, Levine
Solomon , the grand master in the
academy for gifted young artists
at the Anichkov Palace. Normally,
children were not accepted to interview
unless they were 12 years old. In
this case, Sergey was evaluated and
immediately accepted as a boarding
student. However, once again,
the parents were concerned that he
would not receive a proper education
in the sciences, math and languages
so they arranged with the academy
for Sergey to attend art classes
for 1 hour after his regular school
and only 3 days a week. His
father noticed that the students
were twice the age and twice the
size of their Sergey. The
travel and arrangements eventually
became too difficult for the family
so it was necessary that after a
year that Sergey leave the arts program
at the Anichkov Palace.… with the
expectation and promise that he would
return in later years.
During
the years that followed, Sergei
developed his skills and often
experimented with various techniques. His
devoted and meticulous took
Sergey to visit and ponder the
voluminous art that hangs in
the many museums and Palaces
in and around the city, as the
custom of most parents of children
in St. Petersburg. During
his younger years, he played
on his school gymnastics, hockey
and soccer teams and enjoyed
cross-country skiing with his
friends. Upon completion
of his K-10 education, Sergei
applied for admission to the
secondary academy of Arts School
190 for gifted artists which
would prepare him for candidacy
into the renowned Mukhina
Art Institute
of St. Petersburg. At age 17
he completed his studies at the
Academy and was accepted into
the Mukhina Art Institute
where he majored in Art and Design. After
graduating from the Mukhina Art
Institute at age 22, he worked
as an industrial designer and
continued his passion in paintings
at home. After one year
in industry, he was drafted into
the Russian Army where he served
as a communications officer at
a military academy. Following
his duty in the service, he returned
home and continued his paintings
and married Galina Velina. She,
and their two children Anna and
Alex were often the subjects
of his paintings. During
his brief lifetime, Sergei
Volkov ……. (now need to go to
the historical text coming from
St. Petersburg….). The rising
star of this loving artist was
taken in tragedy on May 31, 1994
when Sergey was the victim of
a random act of violence
by thugs who beat, robbed and
murdered Sergey at a local train
station. This summary is from my notes when interviewing Alexander Volkov in St. Petersburg in the summer of 2001. All Copyrights to Images on the Sergey Volkov website are sole property of Galina Volkova and the Heirs of Sergey Volkov © 2002 |
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