Yuriy Sobchenko and Vladivostok underground

The article is the first attempt to research the creative work of Yuriy V. Sobchenko (1937–2001) who played the leading part in the history of Primorye art underground. As a realist painter he had an outstanding talent that was appreciated by his colleagues while his studying at the Vladivostok Art School and the Far Eastern Institute of Arts. Because of the aesthetics of post-impressionism in his works Sobchenko was subjected to sharp criticism and persecution from the official art institutions. He was also charged with lack of originality and was not allowed to exhibit his art until 1988. This article studies his works that were shown on lifetime and postmortem exhibitions. The author draws a conclusion of their originality and the necessity of further investigation of the artist`s art heritage as an important part of the development of Prymorye visual arts at the end of the XX century.