Congratulations to E. and C. Nielson who placed the the winning bid of $2,250 for August's auction painting "Outskirts of the Village" by MikhailV. Akinshin. The estimated price for the painting was $3,500! . The winning bid culminated a full day of last minute bids and counter-bids. The painting proved to be not only a wonderful piece of Russian art but a bargain as well. We invite you to participate in this month's auction and thank everyone who placed bids last month

As our September auction choice, we are pleased to present "Village Watchman" by Alexander Ivanovich Ovchinikov. This painting's value is estimated at $2,500. Bidding begins at $250, followed by minimum bidding increments of $250. The auction will end at 9 PM on Friday, September 30th.

"Village Watchman" is a classic Soviet style sketch. It was painted plein air' from a summer spent by the artist in a village near the city of Orenberg. During the mid-1960's, much of the Soviet artistic community still believed in the idealism of communism. Artists spent summers out in the field looking for working class hero's and when they found these models they painted them--all to push forward the ideas of the communist revolution.

If you look at the power and dignity of this 'Watchman' he is clearly a man who is responsible, serious and looking toward the future. Building the road to pure communism. This sketch was painted in one quick setting. The heavy brush strokes reveal that energy and life of a live model out in the countryside. The sketch was used as a part of a bigger painting portraying the dignity of village life and of its workers.  BID FORM

Estimated Price $2,500, Winning Bid $2,250 P. Taylor

Alexander I. Ovchinikov, "Village Watchman
"19'' x 13¾'', (48 x 35 cm), 1965, Oil on Board, Estimated Price $2,500

Alexander Ivanovich Ovchinikov, (1927- 1980)

Translated from the original Russian

Aleksander I. Ovchinnikov was born in 1929 in the village of Baleika, Novosergievo, district of Orenburg region. Ovchinnikov's artistic talent was revealed in his early childhood. He began to study art in the Art Studio in Goriachy Klyuch, then he worked and studied in the Kardovsky Center for Creative Work in Pereyaslavl-Zalessky and at the Academy Country House in Vyshny Volochok where he was a disciple of A.F. Stephanov and V.M. Sidorov. In the 1950s, he was an active participant of exhibitions in this country. It was then that he also decided to get professional training and, in 1962, he entered the Academy of Arts. He, already a participant of all Russia's exhibitions, was offered to work at the Academy Country House.

In 1970, he became a member of the Union of Artists of Russia. He works in different types of painting; there are subject pictures, such as "Seeing Off Soldiers to the Front" (1961) and "Father in the Field" (1970), epic and lyrical landscapes, portraits and still, and life paintings. In the 1970s, his stiff-life series "Bread" was subject to wards of several exhibitions.

In his creative work the artist continues the tradition of Russian realistic painting. He participated in local exhibitions in Orenburg, in all Russia's exhibitions, in national and international exhibitions. There have been more than 10 one-man exhibitions. One more one-man exhibition (commemorating his 70th birthday) is in the process of preparation in Orenburg. In 1998, he participated in the exhibition of the works of Russian artists in India and in the Tretyakov Gallery exhibition "India as Seen by Artists."

The artist's work can be found in museums and private collections both in Russia and abroad.