Viktor Bogorad (born 1949) is a Russian cartoonist whose works have appeared in the most famous publications, and he himself has been awarded 20 times with prestigious international cartoonist awards. Bogorad's work is funny and witty, but also contains a certain sadness and a second meaning that is much deeper than it seems at first glance.
Lost and Found
Bogorad often depicted in his caricatures the lyrical hero - an ordinary Russian working man with relevant interests and level of knowledge, who is “pressed” by everyone who has the slightest power and influence, and he only obediently bears his cross.
Empty pocket
Bogorad rarely used clouds with inscriptions, preferring an extremely laconic black-and-white drawing. This was largely due to the peculiarities of printing during the Soviet era and the 1990s, when popular black-and-white newspapers were published in multi-million copies. However, later he painted a whole series of color lyrical paintings, where instead of sharp social satire he explored the eternal issues of love and life.
Gift
Perhaps they are not too funny, but always witty, make you think about the meaning of the picture, or even admire the author's ability to portray a hackneyed theme and his absurd view of the surrounding reality.
Family boat
Victor loved drawing since childhood, at school he designed a wall newspaper, for which his teacher even exempted him from drawing lessons. After graduation Victor's parents showed some drawings to St. Petersburg professor Kopeikin, but he looked at them and strongly advised him not to get an art education, as it would only spoil his original style. So Bogorad chose a specialty as far from art as possible and entered the Radio Engineering Department at LETI.
Offspring
He studied diligently, and the subject of his thesis was the invention of a sensor to detect eye fatigue in students. He even got a patent for it, but the theory never got any further than that, although this invention would have been useful for many people. In addition to his studies, in his student years he willingly participated in various concerts, went with friends to the cafe “Gaudeamus”, and at the same time wrote oil paintings, which were exhibited at the apartment exhibition of his friends - one of the first events of this kind in St. Petersburg. So Bogorad could also be classified as a nonconformist to some extent.
Bait
Then he worked as a radio engineer at the Leninets plant, at Russky Diesel and at Teamontazh. Gradually Bogorad began drawing his own cartoons and sending them to various St. Petersburg newspapers and magazines.
Flight
It allowed me to earn a little money and gave my creative streak free rein, allowing me to distract myself from the routine of life. By the way, many cartoonists in general have a technical education, and art historians explain it by the peculiarity of the view of the world, which is formed during studies in the relevant universities, when a certain set of conditions is given and students need to get a certain result by complying with them. It is the same in caricature: the artist reflects a certain funny situation through familiar images, and it depends on his thinking how well he can do it.
The janitorial competition
One day at work we learned that a popular newspaper had printed cartoons signed “Bogorad.” “It can't be. Bogorad is a serious man and would not do such nonsense.” But as you can see he did and at a very high professional level.
Detainee
In 1989, Bogorad was appointed chief artist at the newspaper Perekryostok. Then there was cooperation with the literary and art magazine “Smena” and many other publications, including foreign ones.
Scene of the crime
In the 90s, cartoonists earned much more than engineers, and the demand for their work was very high. Bogorad also worked on all kinds of topical satire, but admitted that he was closer to eternal themes: love, good and evil, peculiarities of behavior, psychology, and ways of thinking of various people representing any social groups, such as the police or officials.
Mannequin
Bogorad recalled how once in 1973 he and his friends organized an exhibition of paintings in the 10th Anniversary of October House of Culture. However, the exhibition was unofficial, and the director of the Cultural Center warned him that tomorrow the KGB would come to confiscate the paintings. Not all of them were quite “white and fluffy” and glorified the triumph of socialism, and therefore there was a real threat of serious trouble for both the artists and the management of the Cultural Center.
Two neighbors
Bogorad decided to come in the evening and take out 60 paintings, but at that time there was a concert in the DK, after which there was a disco, where a fight broke out. The police were called, and the artist's situation became quite stalemate: how to get 60 paintings past the policemen without arousing any suspicion? But Bogorad found a way out: he stopped a passing car with enlisted soldiers, promised them a couple of bottles of vodka, and the soldiers happily carried all the paintings without raising any questions.
Document verification
Bogorad often gets ideas for his cartoons from the news and has never complained about the lack of them. From 1993 to 2015, he drew cartoons every day for the English-language newspapers The Moscow Times and The St. Petersburg Times. It took him about two hours to create one cartoon.
Good noght
Bogorad chose the most interesting current event and reflected his view on it in caricatures. At the same time, he says that such work does not bore him, and he always has enough fantasy for everything. So, probably, he is still a happy man, because he has found an occupation to his liking, which brings a charge of joy and good mood to many viewers. And what else does an artist need?
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