Savin (Savvin), Viktor Markiianovich

Viktor Markiianovich Savin was a Soviet painter, graphic artist and a teacher. He principally worked in the realms of easel painting and graphic arts during his career. Savin began his artistic studies at the Kharkov Art Professional School, and from 1924 to 1927 he was enrolled at the Kharkov Art Institute. From 1927 to 1929, he studied at the painting studio of the Central House of Arts in Leningrad under the noted artists Efim Cheptsov and Issac Brodskii. Beginning in 1932, Savin professionally exhibited his work in All-Union, republic and international exhibitions. A personal exhibition of his work was held in 1959 at the L’vov Museum of Ukrainian Art. While Savin is cheifly known as a genre painter of Socialist Realism, he also designed posters. He taught at the Ukrainian Polygraphic Institute in Kharkov where in 1939, he was appointed an associate professor. After World War II, Savin taught at the Polygraphic Institute in L’vov and he worked in the field of book illustration providing designs for Ukrainian fairy tales. Notably, he illustrated the trilogy "The Way to Kiev" by the writer Semen D. Skliarenko. Viktor Markiianovich Savin was a member of the Union of Artists of the USSR and in 1964, he was bestowed the title of Honored Art Worker of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.