Geliy Korzhev
Geliy Mikhailovich Korzhev-Chuvelyov was a Soviet and Russian painter.
Life
He studied at Moscow State [Art School] from 1939 to 1944 under Vasily Pochitalov, Mikhail Dobroserdov, and Mikhail Barshch. From 1944 to 1950 he studied at the Moscow [Surikov State Academic Institute of Fine Arts|Moscow State Art Institute] under Sergey Gerasimov and Vasily Pochitalov. A painter in Soviet approved style of socialist realism, he continued to be active after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and remained a supporter of Communism.Politics
Unwavering in his political views, in the late 1990s the artist refused a state award bestowed upon him by the government of the Russian Federation, and Korzhev wrote of his motives:I was born in the Soviet Union and sincerely believed in the ideas and ideals of the time. Today, they are considered a historical mistake. Now Russia has a social system directly opposite to the one under which I, as an artist, was brought up. The acceptance of a state award would be equal to a confession of my hypocrisy throughout my artistic career. I request that you consider my refusal with due understanding.