Mikhail Nikolayevich Romadin

Born on April 12, 1940, in Moscow. He was an artist in the third generation: his grandfather M.A. Romadin was a primitivist artist and his father N.M. Romadin an academic landscape painter. Raised in an art-centric family, his father, Nikolay Romadin, was a student of R.R. Falk, I.I. Mashkov, and P.P. Konchalovsky. The young Misha would see prominent actors, ballet dancers, great artists, and writers visit his home. At age 13, Pavel Korin gave him lessons and later became his mentor during his VGIK practice at the Pushkin Museum. However, young Romadin was drawn to other forms of art, showing his 'informal' works to Altman and Tyshler, and was deeply impressed after a 1961 French exhibition in Sokolniki with works by Picasso, Braque, Léger, and other modernists.

Romadin entered VGIK considering it the most creatively free art university. He initially painted abstract and surrealist artworks but later shifted towards the figurative. His close friends included Gennady Shpalikov and Andrei Tarkovsky. Romadin contributed to Tarkovsky's film 'Andrei Rublev' (1966) and was production designer for 'I Am Twenty' (1964). He was also the production designer and style creator of Tarkovsky’s iconic film 'Solaris' (1972), and worked with Andron Konchalovsky on several films. Each of Romadin’s works as a production designer was an innovation in cinema.

A. Tarkovsky wrote insightfully about Romadin’s painting 'Burning Elechek' (1964), describing Romadin’s transformative artistic process. Michelangelo Antonioni once invited Romadin to collaborate on a film, which was halted by Soviet censorship, but Romadin went on to a lasting friendship with Tonino Guerra, whose book 'The Lion with the White Beard' Romadin later illustrated.

Romadin illustrated more than 200 books, including 'R Is for Rocket' (Ray Bradbury), Andrei Platonov’s 'The Magic Ring', fables translated by Leo Tolstoy, 'Aibolit' (K. Chukovsky), and the series 'Tales of the Peoples of the World.' He wrote and illustrated several books himself, such as 'Grandson of Frankenstein' and 'Hammer.' He was also the publisher and author of 'Nikolai Romadin. Notes of a Landscape Painter'—about his father.

Tonino Guerra wrote of Romadin’s studio being full of books and objects in precarious balance, likening Romadin’s detailed, rhythmic, and stylized paintings to ancient art and French painting, and noting the powerful atmosphere created by his metallic colors and precise drawing.

Romadin worked as a production designer in theater for ballet and drama, including the Bolshoi Theater’s ballet concert numbers and stage productions such as 'Tyorin in the Other World' and 'Spartak.'

Romadin’s works are held in museums and private collections worldwide. He took part in exhibitions from Geneva and Berlin to Dallas and Beijing and held over 300 solo exhibitions globally. Romadin passed away on January 3, 2012. His ashes are interred in his father's grave at Vagankovo Cemetery.

Father: Nikolay Mikhaylovich Romadin (1903–1987), People's Artist of the USSR and academician founder of the mystical (romantic) landscape direction. Mother: Nina Gerasimovna Romadina (Shpileva), daughter of poet Gerasim Shpilev. First wife (1961–2008): Viktoria Dukhina (1938–2008), Soviet actress. Wife: Ekaterina Alexandrovna Shein, ballerina and exhibition curator. Daughter, Alexandra Shein-Romadina, curator of contemporary art exhibitions; wife's daughter Anna Hegl, gallery founder in Switzerland.

State Tretyakov Gallery (Moscow), State Russian Museum (Saint Petersburg), State Historical Museum (Moscow), State Central Museum of Cinema (Moscow), Museum of Cosmonautics (Moscow, Kaluga), Ludwig Museum (Cologne, Aachen, Germany), Ludwig Collection at the Museum of Contemporary Art (Beijing, China), Les Invalides Museum (Paris), Fondation Cartier (Paris), Checkpoint Charlie Museum (Berlin), Ludwig Museum (Budapest, Hungary), Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago), University of Maryland Collection (USA), Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University (USA), museums in Texas (Fort Worth, Texarkana), UNESCO Collection (Paris), Palais des Nations (Geneva), Museum of Modern Art (Seville), Bakhrushin State Theatre Museum (Moscow), Maximilian Voloshin Memorial House Collection (Koktebel), State Museum of Oriental Art (Moscow), and private collections in Russia, the USA, France, Monaco, Germany, China, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg, India, Austria, and more.

1965 — First Teacher (production and costume designer),
1967 — The Story of Asya Klyachina Who Loved but Did Not Marry (production designer),
1969 — Noble Nest (production designer, with A. Boym, N. Dvigubsky),
1972 — Solaris (production designer, author of the film's advertising poster).

People's Artist of the Russian Federation (2003), Honored Artist of the RSFSR (1988), Vasilyev Brothers State Prize of the RSFSR (1990) for the film 'The Story of Asya Klyachina, Who Loved but Did Not Marry', Y. Gagarin Prize.

'Romadin’s temperament is hidden, driven inward. In his best works, it is transformed into a calm, noble form—quiet and simple. In my understanding, this principle embodies the highest artistic quality,' wrote Andrei Tarkovsky. 'Rhythmic repetitions and oversaturation of detail in Romadin’s paintings enrich me internally and recall the grandeur of ancient frescoes,' wrote Tonino Guerra.

Works are held at the State Tretyakov Gallery, State Historical Museum (Moscow), Russian Museum (Kyiv, Ukraine), Museum of 20th Century History (Paris), Ludwig Museum (Cologne and Aachen, Germany), University of Maryland (Washington), and private collections in Russia, the USA, France, Monaco, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg.

1977: Self-portrait in Russian and Soviet Painting. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow; 1986: Solo exhibition, G. Basmadjan Gallery, Paris; 1988: 'Soviet Art Today'. Ludwig Museum, Cologne, Germany; 1988: Solo exhibition, Kalinin Regional Art Gallery, Russia; 1989: Solo exhibition, LALIT-KALA Academy, Bhubaneswar, India; 1989: Solo exhibition, House of Cinema, Kyiv, Ukraine; 1989: Solo exhibition, University of Texas, Dallas, USA; 1989: Solo exhibition, Russian Club, United Nations, USA; 1990: Solo exhibitions in Novosibirsk, Tomsk, Krasnoyarsk, Russia; 1992: Autumn Salon, Grand Palais, Paris; 1992: Solo exhibition, G. Basmadjan Gallery, Paris; 1992: FIAC, Grand Palais, Paris; 1993: Autumn Salon, Grand Palais, Paris; 1993: Solo exhibition, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, France; 1994: Solo exhibition, La Cité Internationale des Arts and Vita Gallery, Paris; 1994: Autumn Salon, Grand Palais, Paris; 1994: Independent Salon, Paris.

I represent the third and final generation of Romadin artists: my grandfather, Mikhail Andreyevich, was a primitivist artist; my father, Nikolai Mikhailovich, an academic landscape painter. I work in various genres—cinema, theater, book illustration, painting—and in different countries: Russia, the USA, France, Germany, Monaco, Belgium. At the International Academy For Contemporary Arts in Belgium (AIAC) in 1993 and 1994, I received the 'Golden Palm Branch' award, the title 'Officer,' and the honorary title 'Doctor Honoris Causa'.

Catalogue of the solo exhibition. Moscow, 1975; K. Sapgir, newspaper 'Russkaya Mysl', Paris, 1986; S. Gollerbakh 'Mikhail Romadin and His Drawings', newspaper 'Novoe Russkoe Slovo', August 17, 1993, USA; Magazine 'Ogonyok', No.47, 1987; Newspaper 'Dallas Time Herald', 3.08.1989; Newspaper 'Connaissance des Arts' No.487, September 1992, Paris; Newspaper 'Connaissance des Arts' No.488, October 1992, Paris; O. Medvedkova 'Sidewalks', newspaper 'Russkaya Mysl', No.3947, September 25, 1992, Paris; O. Medvedkova 'Mikhail Romadin at the UNESCO Palace', newspaper 'Russkaya Mysl', No.3987, July 8-14, 1993, Paris.