Dainis Rozkalns, Tree of Life, 1982, Linocut

Tree of life. 1982, Paper, linocut, print size 50x56 cm; total 60x65 cm was a Soviet, Russian painter, graphic artist, art teacher, professor of the Leningrad Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture named after Ilya Repin, People's Artist of USSR, Corresponding member of the Academy of Arts of the USSR, who lived and worked in Leningrad. He was regarded as one of the brightest representatives of the Leningrad school of painting, being most famous for his portraits and historical paintings. In 1929, Piotr Belousov met with Brodsky and by his invitation comes to Leningrad to continue his study. He engaged in drawing and painting under Brodsky leadership, as well as in the studio AKhRs and the Community of Artists. In 1933, Piotr Belousov entered the first course of the painting department of the Leningrad Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. He studied under Mikhail Bernshtein, Pavel Naumov, Alexander Lubimov, and Vladimir Serov. In 1939, Piotr Belousov graduated from the Repin Institute of Arts in Isaak Brodsky workshop together with Aleksei Gritsai, Lev Orekhov, Mikhail Kozell, Gleb Verner, Elena Skuin, Nikolai Timkov, Boris Sherbakov, and other young artists. His graduation work was the historical painting of "On the eve of October Revolution (Meeting of Lenin and Stalin)". Since 1930, Belousov had participated in Art Exhibitions. He painted genre and historical paintings, portraits, landscapes, worked in easel painting and drawings. Most famous for his portraits and historical paintings devoted to the image of Lenin, the history of Bolshevism and the October Revolution in Russia. His personal exhibitions were in the city of Vologda in 1959, and in Moscow in 1982. Since 1940, Piotr Belousov had been a member of the Leningrad Union of Artists. In 1939–1989, Belousov taught painting and drawing in the Repin Institute of Arts. He was Professor and Head of Department of Drawing since 1956. In 1970, he was awarded the honorary titles of the Honored Artist of the RSFSR, in 1978 - the Honorary titles of the People's Artist of the Russian Federation (1978). Also, Belousov was elected as the Corresponding Member of the Academy of Arts of the USSR (1979). Piotr Petrovich Belousov died in Leningrad in 1989. Paintings by Piotr Belousov reside in State Russian Museum, State Tretyakov Gallery, in Art Museums and private collections in Russia, Ukraine, England, France, the U.S., and throughout the world.