Gavriil Nikitich (Nikitievich, Nikitovich) Gorelov, March 22 (April 3) 1880, Pokrovskoye village, Moscow Gubernia –1966, Moscow),
Russian and Soviet artist, Merited Figure in Arts of the Russian Federation (1947), member of the Soviet Academy
of Arts (1953) and winner of the 3
rd
degree Stalin Prize (1950). In 1925-1926, Gorelov was a member of the Association of Artists of Revolutionary Russia
(AKhRR) and painted many-figured compositions on revolutionary and especially historical themes, including
Pugachev Tries a Landlord
(1925),
The Execution of Pugachev
(1925),
Bolotnikov’s Uprising
(1944),
Minin Makes First Appeal to the People
(1945), and
Rascal Knights
(1947). In 1937-1938 Gorelov taught at Moscow’s Pamyati 1905 goda Regional Art Teachers’ Training School
(MGAKhU pamyati 1905 goda). In the postwar period his works became increasingly indoctrinated and ranged from a
series of portraits of Serp i Molot Works steelmakers to the notorious
Stalin and the Three Bogatyrs
(with a full-length portrait of Joseph Stalin against the famous
Three Bogatyrs
canvas in the background). He also designed the most politically indoctrinated posters of the 1940s and 1950s.
