Igor V. Babailov, Hon.RAA, KStA

Teacher~Student Lineage

Valery Valeryanovich Babailov (1941- 2001)

"My Father, my Mentor, my First Teacher in Art."

Igor V. Babailov

Artist and composer Valery Babailov, Igor Babailov's father.

My father, Valery Valeryanovich Babailov, was an accomplished artist, known for his portrait works and landscape paintings. He was also a composer, poet and songwriter. Born in 1941 in the small town of Russian Loza, in Udmurtia, a republic of Russia, he belongs to the generation of the «children of war» as they call them in Russia. He was only 3 months old when World War II (The Great Patriotic War) began.

Valery Babailov received his advanced education in art at Udmurt State University, in Izhevsk, studying painting under famed artist and teacher, A.P. Kholmogorov. Kholmogorov taught his students the knowledge he himself acquired at the Surikov Institute in Moscow, where he learned his craft of painting and drawing from Victor Tsyplakov, student of the renowned artists Igor Grabar and Sergey Gerasimov, both of whom studied in the studios of world famous artists Ilya Repin and Valentin Serov.

The People's Artist of Russia, Aleksey Kholmogorov, highly valued Valery Babailov's artistic talent and regarded him as his "favorite student." Upon graduation from the university in 1964, Babailov moved from Izhevsk to Glazov, but continued the relationship with his mentor and they remained close friends until Kholmogorov's death in 1987.

The creative professional endeavors of Valery Babailov combined painting, poetry and music. While still at the university, he wrote a song «My Institute» which became a popular hit and was sung by students in universities across the region.

Throughout his life, he was an active participant in the art exhibitions in Udmurtia and around the country, and his songs were performed on a regular basis on regional radio and TV. Often, when I was getting ready to go to school in the early mornings, my Dad's songs were played on the radio.

In 1970, the first Children's Preparatory Art School opened its doors in Glazov. Valery Babailov was one of the school's founders and my formal art education had begun there too. He loved to teach and is still remembered by his numerous former students for his personality and kindness.

My father was a humble, soft spoken man with the finest sense of humor, profound intelligence and wisdom. He loved life and his sensitivity to beauty is felt in every painting and song that he created. My father passed away in 2001. In his honor, I made an oath to always sign my name with my middle initial «V», which goes after his first name, on all my paintings ever since.