People's Artist of the USSR Alexander Maksovich Shilov was born on October 6, 1943 in Moscow.
The family raised three more children. After graduating from school, he worked as a loader at a clothing and furniture factory and a winery.
In 1957-1962, Shilov studied in the art studio of the House of Pioneers in the Timiryazevsky district of Moscow.
In 1973 he graduated from the Moscow State Art Institute named after V.I. Surikov (now the Moscow State Academic Art Institute named after V.I. Surikov at the Academy of Arts) in the class of painting.
In 1971-1972 he participated in exhibitions of young artists in Moscow, then in all-Union and republican exhibitions .
In 1976 he was accepted as a member of the Union of Artists of the USSR.
In 1977, Shilov was awarded the title of laureate of the Lenin Komsomol Prize.
In 1978, the artist’s first personal exhibitions took place at the Central House of Artists and at the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Moscow.
In 1979, a creative trip to Italy took place from the USSR Academy of Arts.
In 1981 For the first time, the artist’s personal exhibition was held abroad — in Paris (France) in the Gallery on Boulevard Raspail.
Subsequently, numerous personal exhibitions of the artist were held in many Russian cities, as well as in Germany, Portugal, Canada, Japan, the UAE and other countries .
In 1996, Shilov donated more than three hundred of his works to Moscow.
In 1997, on the basis of the donated collection of original works, the Moscow State Art Gallery of the People's Artist of the USSR A. Shilov was established, located in an old Moscow mansion on Znamenka Street. The gallery's collection is constantly updated with new works by the artist. Due to a large increase in funds, a new gallery building was opened in 2003. In total, the gallery’s collection includes over 1,300 exhibits (paintings, graphics).
Among the artist’s early works are the sketches “Summer” (1960), “Ostankino” (1961), “October” (1963), “Sunset” (1968), “Night Study” made with simple and colored pencils, watercolors, pastels and oil paints » (1962), paintings «Portrait of a Woman» (1969), «City of Myshkin» (1969) and others.
Shilov created a whole gallery of portraits of types of his contemporaries — “Student” (1977), “My Grandmother” (1977), “Soldiers’ Mothers” (1985), distinguished by careful modeling.
While still a student, he began painting portraits of defenders of the Fatherland. The series of works began with a portrait of the polar pilot, Hero of the Soviet Union Mikhail Vodopyanov (1972).
Later portraits appeared “Hero of Russia, intelligence officer A.N. Botyan” (2011), “Hero of the Soviet Union, Army General V.L. Govorov» (2005), «Hero of the Soviet Union intelligence officer G.A. Vartanyan» (2004), «General L.G. Ivanov, participant in the Great Patriotic War, military counterintelligence officer» (2013), «Pilot, Hero of the Soviet Union of N.V. Popov» (2005), etc.
The permanent exhibition of the Shilov Gallery «They Fought for the Motherland» contains more than 40 portraits of heroes of the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) — military pilots, intelligence officers, machine gunners, nurses.
In 2015, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Great Victory, a traveling exhibition “They Fought for the Motherland,” consisting of 36 paintings, was held in the hero cities and cities of military glory of Russia.
Currently, Alexander Shilov continues to pay attention to the topic of defenders of the fatherland, creating a gallery of portraits of heroes of a special military operation. In 2023, they were presented at an exhibition at the Vishnevsky Hospital and the Central House of the Russian Army named after M.V. Frunze Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.
On September 1, 2023, an exhibition of these portraits opened in the Shilov Gallery.
The artist painted a large number of portraits of representatives of the creative intelligentsia — including film director Sergei Bondarchuk (1994), singer Sergei Lemeshev (1976), writer Sergei Mikhalkov (1984), composer Oleg Lundstrem (2002), playwright Viktor Rozov (1997), actors Evgeny Matveev (1997) and Sergei Shakurov (2003), portraits of clergy and doctors.
Created a series of ethnic portraits. Works in the technique of portrait graphics.
Paints paintings dedicated to images of nature. Among them are “Golden Autumn. Dressings” (1999), “Indian Summer” (2015), “Autumn Time” (2016), “Forget-Me-Nots” (2017), “Blossoming Linden Trees” (2022), etc.
Among Shilov’s main works are “On Arisha’s Birthday” (1981), “Together” (1981), “Ledum Blossomed” (1983), “Bum” (1993), “Young Muscovite. Masha Shilova” (1995), “ Sonnets of Petrarch (A. Dutikova)» (2001), «Ave Maria» (2009), «Love and Sword» (2012).
Every year, according to tradition, on Moscow City Day, the artist presents his new works and donates them To the Fatherland.
Shilov writes in a realistic manner. He prefers portraiture, striving to convey the inner world of a person with absolute similarity. She also creates still lifes, landscapes, and loves the pastel technique.
In 1997, Shilov became a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Arts (RAA), and since 2001 he has been a full member (academician) of the Russian Academy of Arts. Since 2012 – member of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Arts.
From 1999 to 2002 — member of the Russian Presidential Council for Culture and Art.
Honorary member of the Patriarchal Council for Culture.
Member of the Public Council of the FSB of Russia.
The artist’s work has been awarded many awards.
Alexander Shilov — People's Artist of the USSR (1985). Honorary Artist of the City of Moscow (2008). Awarded the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, IV degree (1997), III degree (2004), Honor (2010), Alexander Nevsky (2013).
In 2003, Shilov was awarded the Belarusian Order of Francis Skaryna.
Awarded the gold medal of the Russian Academy of Arts (2010), the gold medal of the Union of Artists of Russia (2013), and the Order “For Service to Art of the Russian Academy of Arts” (2013). Certificate of honor from the Moscow government (2002).
Among the artist’s numerous public awards are the Order of Peter the Great, 1st degree (2003), the Order of Mikhailo Lomonosov (2006), the Order of the Golden Star of Russia (2007), the Foreign Intelligence Service medal “For Interaction” (2008), Prize of the FSB of Russia «For the best work of literature and art about the activities of the FSB bodies (2009), Prize of the Foreign Intelligence Service for creating portraits of outstanding intelligence officers (2012). Laureate of the N.A. Ostrovsky Prize (2005), public prize «National Greatness» ( 2007) etc.
In 1992, the International Astronomical Union assigned the name “Shilov” to the nameless planet.
The material was prepared on the basis of information and open sources