Prominent Russian Artist Glazunov Dead At Age 87

A photo taken in 2006 shows Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) as he speaks with painter Ilya Glazunov (right) during a visit to the Moscow State Picture Gallery of Ilya Glazunov.

Russian artist Ilya Glazunov has died in Moscow at the age of 87.

Russian state media reported Glazunov's passing on July 9, citing a statement from his wife. The cause of death was not immediately available.

Born in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) in 1930, Glazunov was known for his paintings on religious and historical themes, as well as for his illustrations to the novels of Fyodor Dostoevsky.

In 1980, he was named a People's Artist of the Soviet Union, and he was the laureate of numerous Soviet and Russian state honors.

In the early 1990s, he was a leading advocate of the reconstruction of Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. He also participated in the post-Soviet restoration of the Moscow Kremlin.

In 1987, he founded the Russian Academy of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture, which trains young artists in Glazunov's signature style of mystical, heroic realism.

Based on reporting by TASS and RIA Novosti