In the last year of the war, happy colours appeared in Deineka’s austere palette. In the summer of 1944, he finished the large painting Expanse, which he began before the war. The resulting painting is perceived as a joyful hymn to peaceful life against a backdrop of the vast expanses of his native land.

Deineka Alexander

Deineka, Alexander Alexandrovich (1899, Kursk - 1969, Moscow)
Painter, graphic artist, sculptor, poster designer. Helped to decorate streets on Communist holidays. Studied at the Kharkiv School of Art (1914-1918) and the Free/Higher Art and Technical Studios (1920-1925). Contributed to exhibitions (from 1924). Member of the Union of Artists (from 1932). Taught at the Higher Art and Technical Institute (1928–1930), Moscow Institute of Polygraphy (1930–1934), Vasily Surikov Institute of Art (1936, 1946, 1957–1964), Moscow Institute of Applied and Decorative Art (1945–1952) and Moscow Institute of Architecture (1953–1957). Business trips to Italy, France and the USA (1935). Full member of the Academy of Arts of the USSR (1947). Vice President of Academy of Arts of the USSR (1962, 1966). People's Artist of the USSR (1963). Corresponding member of the Academy of Arts of the GDR (1964). Hero of Socialist Labour (1969). Awarded the Lenin Prize (1964).