Oleg Prokofiev

Oleg Sergeyevich Prokofiev (Russian: Оле́г Серге́евич Проко́фьев; 14 December 1928, Paris – 20 August 1998, Alderney) was an artist, sculptor and poet, and the son of composer Sergei Prokofiev.

The family of Sergei Prokofiev, 1936. From left to right: Sergei, Sviatoslav, Oleg, and Lina Prokofiev

Artistic life

His career as an artist began at sixteen, attending the Moscow School of Art from 1944 to 1949. On completing his studies, Prokofiev worked in the studio of the painter Robert Falk, leaving in 1952 to work for the Institute of Art History in Moscow. There he studied and published his writing, specializing in the ancient arts of India and South-East Asia. As the second son of Sergei Prokofiev, he wrote that his father's music inspired in him ‘a wave of some wonderful energy…a poetic or artistic impulse’.[1]

During Prokofiev's lifetime he exhibited worldwide, including the UK, (Germany), Russia, France, and the US. As an artist, he was both excited about the future of Art as well as being remarkably informed about its history. During a visit to New York City in 1977, Prokofiev experienced the works of Rothko, Still, Motherwell, Barnett Newman, and Helen Frankenthaler, and these continued to influence his own work throughout the 1980s. He began creating organic constructivist sculptures, and over a short period of time his paintings also began to change. His brightly saturated line paintings and skyline sculptures of the 1980s demonstrate a definite departure from the greys, browns, and masking white works of the 1960s and early 70s.

Since his death, his popular abstract compositions have been exhibited in the collection of the renowned Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. His work is also in the collections of the Lehmbruck Museum of Modern Sculpture, (Germany); the Zimmerli Art Museum, US; the Leeds City Art Gallery, UK; and the MART Museum, Italy.

Personal life
Family grave of Oleg Prokofiev in Highgate Cemetery

Born on 14 December 1928, from Sergei Prokofiev's first wife, Lina Llubera (the stage name of Carolina Codina). They lived in Paris until moving to Moscow, in 1935, at the age of seven.

Oleg was first married to Sofia Koravina with whom he had a son, Sergei (1954–2014), who lived from 1985 in Germany and Switzerland with his wife Astrid and who, writing sub nom Sergei O. Prokofieff, wrote profound works in the field of Anthroposophy and, in general, Christian occultism.[2]

Oleg decided to move to the West, and from 1971 until his death he lived in Blackheath, London. Oleg married Frances who gave him five children, one of whom, Quentin, died at an early age. Frances Prokofiev, her four children and Anastasia live in Britain.[3] His son Gabriel Prokofiev is a London-based composer, producer and DJ. His son Rupert died in 2017 aged 31 from ataxia–telangiectasia.[4]

Oleg Prokofiev died in 1998 aged 69, while on holiday on the island of Alderney in the English Channel[5][6] and is buried on the west side of Highgate Cemetery.

Selected exhibitions

References
  1. Taranova, Julia "Prokofiev's Russian and English Periods, Together", Moscow Times, 23 June 2010 . Retrieved 2 September 2014
  2. "SteinerBooks". steiner.presswarehouse.com. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  3. Lady Downes, Joan "About the Prokofiev Family", Oranges Journal, No.1, 2001. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  4. "Funeral of Prokofiev's grandson". 11 January 2017.
  5. Mann, Noelle "Obituary: Oleg Prokofiev", The Independent, 26 August 1998. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
  6. Kozinn, Allan "Oleg Prokofiev, 69, Artist and Son of Composer", "The New York Times", 30 August 1998. Retrieved 1 September 2014
  7. "Hay Hill Gallery Exhibitions"

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