Vlady Rusakov

Russian Mexican painter (1920–2005)

Vladimir Victorovich Kibalchich "Vlady" Rusakov (Владимир Викторович Кибальчич; June 15, 1920 – July 21, 2005) was a Russian Mexican painter, known simply as "Vlady" in Mexico. He came to Mexico as a refugee from Russia together with his father, writer Victor Serge. Attracted to painting from his exposure in Europe, Vlady quickly became part of Mexico's artistic and intellectual scene, with his first individual exhibition in 1945, two years after his arrival to the country. Vlady spent most of his career in Mexico with trips back to Europe, gaining fame in the 1960s. In the 1970s, he was invited to paint murals at the Miguel Lerdo de Tejada Library, a 17th century building in the historic center of Mexico City. The result was "Las revoluciones y los elementos" dedicated to the various modern revolutions in the world including the sexual revolution of the mid 20th century. The work was somewhat controversial but it led to other mural work in Nicaragua and Culiacán. Vlady received a number of awards for his life's work including honorary membership with the Russian Academy of Arts. A number of years before his death in 2005, the artist donated 4,600 artworks from his own collection, about a thousand of which are found at the Centro Vlady at the Universidad Autónoma de la Ciudad de México, which is dedicated to research and promotion of the artist's work.

Vlady was born on June 14, 1920, in Saint Petersburg, Russia (then called Petrograd), during the Russian Revolution. He was the son of writer and photographer Victor Napoleon Lvovich Kibalchich, better known as Victor Serge, and Liuba Rusakova. Serge was secretary to Leon Trotsky
Due to pressure from writers and intellectuals such as André Malraux, the family was allowed to leave the Soviet Union in 1936. Their visa to live in Mexico was approved with help from then ex president Lázaro Cárdenas, and they left for the Yucatan peninsula after a short stay in Cuba
Vlady lived and worked in Mexico City until 1990, when he moved to Cuernavaca, to a country house with a large studio. He continued to live there with his wife and work until his death on July 21, 2005, from brain cancer.

He was fascinated by the murals painted by Diego Rivera and José Clemente Orozco, trying at first to imitate them without success after his arrival. He then traveled around Mexico to learn more about his new country, sketching the people and the geography. The overall work is called Las revoluciones y los elementos, and consists of panels entitled La tríade apacionada, La mano martirizante de la vieja fe rusa, la passion comunista and Una cabeza autosuficiente. Vlady first completed the section in the chapel, considered to be the most important panel and causing the area's renaming to the Sala Freudiana. The center was inaugurated with his widow Isabel Díaz Fabela and his nephew Carlos Díaz in July 2005. The center has a permanent collection of 318 paintings, 245 engravings, lithographs and linoleum etchings, 63 oils and 376 drawings and watercolors. It is not exactly a museum although it does sponsor research, exhibition and promotion of the artist's work. There has been a dispute since 2011 between the descendants of Vlady and the school. The former claim that the college has not been fulfilling its obligations.