Biography

Alex Jawdokimov 1937 - 2019
Born in Smolensk, Russian originally but resided in Gloucestershire until his death. He had what can only be described as a horrific childhood as during world war two he was interned in a concentration camp with his mother and then following their liberation by Russian forces he was placed in a gulag. Eventually they were released and emigrated to the UK in 1947 where they settled in Somerset for a time. Alex was already fluent in four languages and learnt English extremely quickly. He became a naturalized British citizen after five year in England. From there he began training at the Somerset College of Art and went on to have several creative successes including working as an illustrator and designer, a dancer (he toured the world for a while with a Russian Cossack Company), a musician and even actor. He has been in films alongside Sean Connery, Michael Caine and worked with directors John Sturges and Ken Russell! He was in the war film ‘The Eagle Has landed’ where he placed a German officer during World War Two (how bonkers is that given his history)! As a complete change of pace Alex also learnt to fly planes in Canada, joining the RAF for a short while.

Alex has been painting since those early years when he arrived in the UK. He has a strong reputation around the racetracks of Europe for his horse racing pictures and also produces beautifully detailed romantic and stark cityscapes. Although his rendering of the Russian Birch Trees that Alex was obsessed with. These are some of the most iridescent and striking images you might see of birches. Here Alex takes his memories of Russia - which must mean a whole variety of different things to him.

Alex used combination of oils and acrylics in many of his works during his lifetime.