Evgeny Rukhin
Evgeny Rukhin (Russian: Евгений Рухин; July 2, 1943 - May 24, 1976) was a Russian Non-Conformist painter.
Life
Rukhin was born in Saratov, Russia into a family of scientists. He began painting at the age of twenty, during his geological studies. His paintings were highly controversial. He was Russian Non-conformist artist working in Leningrad in the 1960s and 1970s. He was married to Galina Popova, an official Soviet artist who has studied stained glass during her art school days.
Rukhin was a known chauvinist and alcoholic. He was a prolific painter, working on 6 or more pieces at any given time. Because of his startling appearance and charismatic personality he was a standout figure amongst the artists of the Russian underground, working closely with foreigners interested in smuggling non-conformist art out of the Soviet Union. His various foreign-based contacts included the American collector Norton Dodge who now possess a collection of roughly 9,000 works of Soviet non-conformist art.
Perhaps it was Rukhin's determined dissidence, his ability to organize his colleagues in the underground, his illegal contact with foreigners, or his dangerous personal habits (such as smoking in rooms where he kept various studio chemicals) that led to his death in 1976. His studio went up in flames and he and another artist's wife perished in the fire. According to Rukhin's wife, Popova, the fire was simply a cover up for a KGB murder, but the official report states that he died of carbon monoxide poisoning as a result of the fire. Either way Evgeny Rukhin was dead at the young age of 32 after producing hundreds upon hundreds of striking examples of non-conformist art.
External links
- (Russian) Biography of Rukhin by Yulia Lebedeva-Gretskaja
- (Russian) Gallery of Rukhin's paintings
- (Russian) Painting by Rukhin
- Controversy Surrounding Death of Rukhin
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