Igor Galanin
1937 – 2024
Igor Galanin, a Russian American artist known for his serene and imaginative paintings and sculptures, passed away at 87 on Saturday in Westchester County, New York, due to a fall that led to a hemorrhagic stroke.
In Soviet Russia, Igor began with ceramics and later found success as a children's book illustrator, charming publishers with his humor and warmth. Despite a dream life in Moscow, he chose to emigrate, risking everything to escape the limitations of Soviet life. His journey took him to Italy and then the United States, where kindness from strangers and talent propelled his career. Igor gained recognition after NY Times critic John Russell called his work a "dreamland," likening him to an "unsentimental Chagall."
Igor's art was deeply influenced by his difficult early years, creating works that were serene and beautiful. He retreated from the art world's spotlight in the late 1990s, finding joy in community life in Millwood, New York. His art, often minimal and poetic, connected with collectors on a fundamental human level. Throughout his life, he relied on his wife Natalia, whose support allowed him to focus on his creative passions.
Igor sold over 750 paintings, leaving behind a legacy of meaningful connections with his collectors. Survived by his wife, Natalia, and their children, he will be celebrated in Millwood, where his wish was for others to make new friends in his memory.
"There is no reality besides the canvas.”
As a successful artist, book illustrator and theatrical designer in the former Soviet Union, Igor Galanin enjoyed professional success and recognition-without freedom of expression. Yet he had an inner Machanism that understood what freedom was all about. Within his personal, painted kingdom, Galanin let freedom ring. If he wanted a chair to rest on water instead of a floor, he put it there. If he thought the fruit in a still life should go floating out of its bowl, away it went. Seeking liberty for himself and his family, Galanin emigrated to the United States in 1972.
On the surface, Galanin’s paintings are purely a celebration of the sensual. In this carnival of earthy delights, women with delicate, aristocratic features and round, voluptuous bodies take center stage. Whether they are enjoying a park vista from the comfort of a bench, or flying through the air on the trapeze, Galanin’s big beautiful women remain serenely in control of their surroundings. Expressing a wholly unique artistic vision these technically masterful paintings contain lighthearted nods to mannerism, to Surrealism, and to the dainty theatrical caprices of Jean-Antoine Watteau. Galanin’s jewel-box palette and dramatic use of dark backgrounds may bring to mind Russia’s decorative black-lacquer art objects, as well as religious icons.
Perhaps because they are the direct descendants of this venerable artistic tradition, Galanin’s cast-bronze sculptures possess a timeless simplicity and power. They have the same energy and charm as his paintings, and frequently treat the same subject matter. Each original or limited-edition sculpture is cast in bronze, then colored through the application of acid and heat. When placed outdoors, the sculptures will develop a rich patina.