Kalenskii, Vladimir Dionisievich

Vladimir Dionisievich Kalenskii was known as a muralist and as a poster artist in the Soviet Union and in international art circles. In 1925, when his father was invited to work at the VSNKh (Supreme Economic Council of the USSR), the family moved to Moscow. In 1940, Kalenskii was called into active naval service and during World War II, he served with a submarine unit of the Northern Fleet. From 1945 to 1950, he attended the Moscow Higher School of Industrial Art (formerly the Stroganov School) where he studied under the tutelage of Sergei Gerasimov, a noted Soviet artist. Kalenskii's diploma work was a tempera-based painting entitled The Struggle for Peace. From 1952 to 1957, he worked as a lecturer at Moscow Higher School of Industrial Art while serving as a teaching assistant to Gerasimov.

In 1954, Vladimir Kalenskii was awarded an Honorable Mention at the All-Union Competition for Graphic and Applied Arts. In 1957, the year he became a member of the Artists' Union, he began to professionally exhibit work. From 1957 to 1978, he participated in a number of exhibitions of Soviet art aboard. In 1987, he won a commission to create a stained glass window for the Moscow metro station Tsevtnoi bul'var. In 1989, he was awarded the title of Honored Artist of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.

In 1999, Kalenskii won a medal from the Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow for his mural paintings at the Aleksandr Nevskii Church in the Kurkino district of that city.   On February 23, 2005, the Russian Government bestowed upon Kalenskii the honorary title "People's Artist of Russia". A month later, the artist was awarded the Medal of the Russian Academy of Arts. He participated in the inauguration of the exhibition dedicated to the 100th Anniversary of the Russian submarine forces and, for the celebration of the 300th Anniversary of the Burdenko Military Hospital in Moscow, Kalenskii contributed ideas for the creation of an art gallery inside the hospital. In 2007, the Russian Government awarded him the "For Merit to the Fatherland" medal.