Gershov (Hershov) Solomon Movshevich (Moiseevich) (23.09.1906, Dvinsk, Vitebsk province - 1989, Leningrad) - painter.
Solomon Gershov was the son of bookbinder Movshe Berkovich Gershov (b. 1881) and Esther Elievna Gershova. In 1910 the family moved to Vitebsk. In 1913-17 he studied at the real and theological schools, but was expelled from both institutions. In 1917-19 attended the art atelier of the famous artist Yudel (Julius, Yehuda) Pan. In 1920. Pan sent his drawing to the World Children's Exhibition. The work was awarded first prize. In 1919-22 he studied at the Vitebsk State Free Art Workshops of Yu. Pen and Marc Chagall.
In the summer of 1922 Gershov's family moved to Petrograd. In 1922-25 he studied at the art school at the Society for the Encouragement of Artists under the teacher R. Eberling. From 1926 he was a caretaker at the Museum of the Revolution (Winter Palace). Worked in the Shlisselburg Fortress on the restoration of the prison interior of the autocracy era. First personal exhibition - in the newspaper ‘Leningradskaya Pravda’. In 1925-27 studied at the School of Analytical Art of Pavel Filonov, then participated in the painting of the auditorium in the House of the Press (Sheremetyev Palace). During the years of work in the workshop of P.N. Filonov he painted many landscapes, portraits, compositions on biblical subjects. For deviation from the canons of the school and disagreement with the theory of the teacher about the ‘madeness’ of the picture he was expelled from the group.
Solomon Gershov attended the Institute of Pictorial Culture of Kazimir Malevich. He was interested in avant-garde and Old Russian icon painting.
He was interested in avant-garde and Old Russian icon painting.
Solomon Gershov was closely acquainted with composer Dmitri Shostakovich, actor Erast Garin, artist B.M. Erbitin, musicologist I. Sollertinsky, theatre artist E.V. Safonova. A great influence on S. Gershov was greatly influenced by his acquaintance with the artist R. Falk. In the same years G. met ballerina V.S. Kostrovitskaya, who later became his wife.
In 1930 he held a personal exhibition in Leningrad, where about 50 works were presented. He designed children's books by E. Schwartz and Z. Papernaya, co-operated with the magazines ‘Yezh’ and ‘Chizh’, travelled to Ukraine and Magnitogorsk. His works were acquired by the Russian Museum.
In April 1932 Solomon Gershov was arrested and exiled to Kursk together with artists B. Erbstein and E. Safonova, poets D. Kharms and A. Vvedensky. In autumn 1934, together with B. Erbstein, he decorated the Borisoglebsk Museum of Local Lore. In 1934 he returned to Moscow and became a member of the Moscow Organisation of the Union of Artists. In 1941 he received the third prize at the All-Union Exhibition of the Moscow Union of Artists for his painting ‘Liberation of Western Belorussia’.
In October 1941 Solomon Gershov went to the front as a volunteer. Soon, together with a group of Moscow artists evacuated to Novosibirsk, and then to Tomsk. He worked in ‘Windows of TASS’. In Novosibirsk he was the chief artist of the Belarusian State Jewish Theatre. He designed the plays ‘Bar-Kokhba’ and ‘The Enchanted Tailor’ by Sholom Aleichem. In 1943 he was drafted into the army. Worked in a military newspaper in Novosibirsk. In 1948 he was arrested again. Released in 1956, returned to Leningrad. Several times visited Latvia, particularly Riga.
In 1965 - personal exhibition in London, in 1972 - in the USA. His paintings were acquired by art museums in Moscow, London, Paris, Jerusalem, Zurich and Tbilisi. In 1975 G. made a creative trip to Vitebsk and gave six of his works to the local museum of local lore.
An important place in Gershov's works was occupied by the Jewish theme. Among his paintings are ‘Reznik’, ‘Simkhas Toira’, ‘Judgment Day’, ‘Portrait of Father’ (‘Morning Prayer’), ‘The Eternal Wanderer’, ‘Warsaw Ghetto’, ‘Jewish Funeral’, ‘The Road to the Concentration Camp’, works from the biblical cycle, works based on I. Babel's stories. Several works are connected with Latvia: ‘Maris Liepa’, ‘The Girl from Riga’.
In memory of his wife he created the cycle ‘Requiem’, including 100 works. In the 1980s he made creative trips to Georgia. Solomon Gershov’s personal exhibitions were held in Tbilisi in the House of Actor A. Khorava, in Leningrad in the House of Writers, in Kutaisi Museum of Fine Arts. In 1987 he participated in the conference dedicated to the 100th anniversary of M. Chagall's birth. In 1988 he created a cycle of ten works dedicated to the victims of the earthquake in Armenia.