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Vitaliy KomarRussian and American artist
Date of Birth: 11.09.1943
Country:  USA |
Content:
Biography of Vitaly Komar
Vitaly Komar is a Russian and American artist who is known for his collaborations with Alexander Melamid. Together, they are considered the founders of the art movement known as "Socialist Realism." Born into a family of military lawyers, Komar spent two post-war years living with his maternal grandfather in the town of David-Gorodok. After his parents' divorce, he was raised by his mother, who worked as a labor law professor at the Institute for Advanced Studies for Enterprise Directors.
In Moscow, Komar attended the 110th Secondary School and the Children's Art School. He completed his education at the Evening School while working at the Theater Art and Technical School, where his grandfather was employed. In 1967, he graduated from the Stroganov Art School, where he studied alongside Alexander Melamid. In the 1970s, they gained recognition as co-authors and founders of Socialist Realism. However, their "Double Self-Portrait" was destroyed at the "Bulldozer Exhibition" in 1974.
In 1977, Komar and Melamid emigrated to Israel and then to the United States in 1978. They held several successful exhibitions in the US, capturing the attention of the Western and Russian press. Several of Komar and Melamid's paintings were acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Komar also authored the dictionary entry on Socialist Realism in the "Dictionary of 21st Century Culture."
Family
Komar's paternal great-uncle was the mathematician Yefim Yevseyevich Gelman, a professor of physics at Leningrad State University. His grandfather, Vladimir Yevseyevich Gelman, was an educator and the deputy director of the Moscow Theater Art and Technical School. Komar's son, Pyotr Vitalyevich Degtyaryov (1969-2007), appeared in films as a child actor, most notably as Kozlenok Mityay in the movie "Mama" and in the lead role of "The Adventures of Trava."
Komar's wife, Anna Halberstadt-Komar, is a psychotherapist and poet born in Vilnius in 1949.
