In the 70 years, as you may know, there was a manger for artists (although we can assume that the Soviet government had other motives for its creation), National University of Arts Correspondence to them. Krupskaya, abbreviated ZNUI. It was a wonderful institution in which a modest fee - a few rubles a year - could learn any art - from the writers to do with ballet, and if no money to spare, then all at once.
In ZNUyah worked Cooper, Yesayan, Andrew Grositsky, Eugene Izmailov, Misha Odnoralov - in general, many artists of the sixties.
Students send their work by mail, a teacher by e-mail is sent them my advice. I got the impression that the main contingent ZNUev (at least at the department of fine arts - for folk dances and classical ballet will not vouch) were:
a) Prisoners
b) farmers, retired
a) Persons with disabilities
There are people suffering from enforced idleness (not to be forgotten that the passports farmers while stored in the collective farm chairman, therefore they can not take yes and leave).
So, he studied under Pavel Petrovich Roginsky, and Misha terribly fussed with it, in particular, he invited him to Moscow to his home. PP arrived with his vegetable oil and potatoes. Vodka he drank, until there vodka - he even tea and coffee is not consumed, even the smell could not stand, only milk. The life he was a monstrous, all the time he lived in dormitories construction workers somewhere in Kazakhstan, he bought them vodka, so they went for a few hours, but that he could to paint.
Roginskii led him to the Tretyakov Gallery, the Hall of icons, but the PP looked around and said: "Well, what to take with them, they have poor even paint something good was not." Misha was confused and began to drive him to the other halls. Seeing the Wanderers, PP finally perked up and said: "These were able to write, really. Oh, take a Perov, Shishkin and Aivazovsky, and you put them in the teachers - that they had a picture!"
Leaving, we passed all the archives by Nishina ZNUyam our friends, who were engaged in naive artists.
Recently, I asked the ZNUI (which continues to exist!) In the hope of obtaining a copy of Misha's consultations, which were very interesting - in fact he spoke to them about their understanding of the artist's works), but it turned out that they had a flood, and all archives were killed.