Cheprakov, Konstantin Pavlovich

Konstantin Pavlovich Cheprakov was a Soviet graphic artist, painter and illustrator. His foray into art came naturally as he did not receive a formal art education at an early age. While he did study at the Odessa Drawing School until the age of 16, he did not graduate from the institution. Upon being drafted into the Red Army he became a military artist. At the completion of his service, Cheprakov enrolled in the Odessa Polytechnic School of Fine Arts. In 1938, the artist moved to Tashkent, Uzbek SSR where he enrolled in the Tashkent Art Studio and studied under Alexander Volkov, the famed avant-garde painter. Cheprakov later worked as an illustrator for Detgiz (Children's State Book Publishing House).

During the late 1930s and early 1940s, the artist visited the construction sites of the Fergana Canal and the Chirchik Chemical Plant to create a series of drawings and watercolors of the on-going work. During the Second World War, the artist was involved in propaganda art and he created a number of patriotic posters for the war effort.

Cheprakov created a landscape panel for the foyer of the Uzbek State Opera and Ballet (a.k.a. Alisher Navoi Theatre) in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The theater was completed in 1947. In 1951, Cheprakov collaborated with artists Ural Tansykbaev and Mikhail Arinin on the design of the Uzbekistan pavilion at the All-Union Agricultural Exhibition in Moscow. He also participated in the creation of monumental works with Ural Tansykbaev. Throughout the 1950s, Cheprakov delved into the field of propaganda art by creating social posters such as, "Physical Education and Sports to the Masses of Youth!" (1948). He also illustrated books by Uzbek writers and poets. In 1967, personal exhibitions of the artist’s work (dedicated on the 60th anniversary of his birth) were held in Moscow and in Tashkent. Konstantin Pavlovich Cheprakov was bestowed the title of People's Artist of the Uzbek SSR.