Gherman Alexeyvich Komlev
Russian 1933 - 2000

Born in Sudislav in 1933, Gherman Alexeyevich Komlev graduated from the Pedagogical Art School in Kostroma. Early on he focused on illustrating books and albums, but he eventually developed an interest in stamp art, working in the USSR Ministry of Communications where he created hundreds of original designs for stamps, envelopes and postal cards.

Among his most sublime works are stamps honoring masters of world art -- Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Veronese and Rubens. He also designed a spectacular series of stamps featuring masterpieces of Russian medieval art. Komlov created stunning designs covering a variety of topics such as space flight, the cosmos, the Olympic Games and historic subjects such as Nicholas II --- the last Russian Tsar. He was particularly interested in space and a popular artist among the Cosmonauts, with whom he often worked closely. His works were exhibited throughout the former Soviet Union and Russia and he received numerous medals and diplomas, including a number of awards in the "Best of the USSR" stamp competitions. Komlov was a member of the Trade Union of Moscow Painters and the Association of Free Painters of the USSR and the Russian Federation.

A fine painter and illustrator of great warmth, humor and intellect, he had a keen sense of graphic design which helped him fine-tune his works according to how they would be reproduced, whether as very small postage stamps or dramatic posters, and throughout his career was up-to-date on trends throughout the world.