Bello

Was born in Svishchevka, in the Tambov Province of Russia. His father died when he was only six weeks old. They lived poorly. At the beginning of 1930, the family moved to Astrakhan, where Vasilij began studies at the Astrakhan Art School in 1938, but after three years his studies were interrupted.
In the beginning of 1941, he was called to serve in the navy. The war began. In 1942 Vasilij was a sailor on the gunboat Bakinskij Rabochij on the Caspian Sea. By 1943, he was fighting near Novorossiysk, on the Black Sea. Till the end of the war and then, for two years afterward he served on various units on the Black Sea Fleet. For his serving during the war, Vasilij Belikov was awarded with medals for the defense of Caucasus and for victory over Germany. In 1947, after leaving the navy Vasilij came to Penza and continued his education in the Penza Art School. One of his teachers was an outstanding Russian artist, I.S.Goryushkin-Sorokopudov. After completing art school, Belikov began his work at the Penza branch of the Art Fund of Russia and was its chief from 1955 through 1961. He has enclosed many forces in construction of House of the Artist in Penza. But the intense administrative work undermined his health. At the age of 40 he was ill with tuberculosis, and for several years he was torn from his art. By triumphing over his illness, the artist has completely devoted himself to creativity. With years his manner became more discreet and solid. In early 1970 his artworks in exhibitions began to attract the attention of spectators and critics. His passionate love of art and persistent work helped him to perfect his craft. He regularly attended summer residence for creative art (Academicheskaya) where he became acquainted with many of the leading artists of the country. Contacts with them helped Vasilij to believe in his own strenth and in the correctness of the path he had chosen in Art. In 1975 he was accepted in the USSR Union of Artists. The exhibition, at last, was held in 1994, but alas, as postmortem.