The Early Years of     Sergey Volkov  (1955-1980)

HOMEPAGE

The Children's Collection  

Mother
First step
Father
First Opus
Grandfather Came!
Waltz of Marmoset with Elephant
In a street
In a museum
Guests
Cartoons
Melancholy
Kitten Poosh
Lullaby
Dream

Gallery 2

Portrait of  Galina
Lilacs
The Tiger
Table for Two
Last Self Portrait 
The Recital

     Sergey Volkov Self Portrait Age 12

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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.