Mikhail Fedorovich Nikonov’s Portrait of the Artist’s Friend, Bliokh I.I. (1968) captures the restless creative energy of 1960s Soviet art. The subject, Igor Ilyich Bliokh—an illustrator and fellow artist—is shown through the lens of Nikonov’s bold, confrontational style.
As a key member of the “Group of Nine,” Nikonov stood at the forefront of a movement pushing back against official norms. This portrait is part tribute, part provocation.
Bliokh’s face dominates the canvas, rendered with distorted, expressionist intensity. The features twist and contort, leaning into the grotesque. His head tilts awkwardly, gaze raised in a gesture that reads as either defiance or transcendence. Nikonov uses the human face as a pressure point for social commentary—earning him the label “furious negativist” from Soviet critic Aleksandr Kamensky.
The brushwork is split between aggression and precision. Bold strokes carve out the planes of the face, while subtle detailing draws out emotional depth. The tension between these techniques keeps the surface active, pulling viewers in. It’s not just a portrait—it’s a psychological event.
Colour heightens that tension. A jarring yellow-green background clashes against flesh tones shaded with greens, reds, and oranges. The palette buzzes with anxiety and emotional volatility. It’s not pretty, and it’s not supposed to be. Nikonov was capturing the stress fractures of Soviet life during a time of cultural thaw.
Born in Moscow in 1928, Nikonov trained at the Moscow State Art School and the Moscow State Art Institute under Vasily Prokofievich Efanov. He broke with tradition at the 1961 “Exhibition of Nine,” aligning himself with the Severe Style—a movement rejecting the polished optimism of Socialist Realism for rawer, more honest depictions.
A member of the Union of Artists of the USSR, he held solo shows in Moscow (1987) and London (1989). His work is housed in the State Tretyakov Gallery, the State Russian Museum, and private collections across Russia, the U.S., and the U.K.
