NIKOLAI ANDRONOV (1929-1998) Still life with Kholmogory casket

signed with initials and dated 'AN 85' (lower left), signed again and titled in Cyrillic (on the reverse) oil on canvas 60 x 81 cm Nikolai Ivanovich Andronov was a Russian painter, who was born, lived and worked in Moscow, a monumental and decorative artist, and graphic artist. Andronov was one of the founding figures of the Severe Style, a movement that emerged in the Soviet Union in the late 1950s and early 1960s as an alternative to the idealised optimism of Socialist Realism. Characterised by a monumental realism, a restrained palette, and an emphasis on the moral strength and dignity of everyday life, its leading figures — including Andronov, Viktor Popkov, Tahir Salahov, Gely Korzhev, and the Smolin brothers — depicted the daily existence of workers and peasants with sculptural clarity and quiet gravity. A graduate of the Repin Institute in Leningrad and the Surikov Institute in Moscow, Andronov became a member of the Union of Artists in 1958 and later a Corresponding (1991) and Full Member (1997) of the Russian Academy of Arts. Honoured as Merited Artist of the RSFSR (1978) and People's Artist of the Russian Federation (1996), he was appointed Professor at the Surikov Institute in 1994. Andronov gained prominence at the 1962 '30 Years of MOSKh' exhibition at the Manege in Moscow, where his painting Raftmen (Plotogony) drew widespread attention following criticism from Nikita Khrushchev. The resulting debate elevated Andronov as one of the leading voices of the new generation. From the early 1960s, his works were shown at the Group of Nine exhibitions, an informal association of Moscow painters exploring greater artistic independence. By the 1970s, Andronov turned toward more introspective subjects. His still lifes and interiors from this period reveal a contemplative tone, reflecting on form, memory, and the enduring presence of the past. Still Life with Kholmogory Casket (1985) belongs to this mature period. Andronov was also renowned for his monumental commissions, including mosaics for the 'Oktyabr' Cinema Hall (1967), Man and the Press for the Izvestia building (1979), and decorative works for the Soviet Embassy in Washington (1979–80). His paintings are held in the State Tretyakov Gallery, the Russian Museum, and major regional collections across Russia.