Krasnopevtsev

“In the mid-1980s, my dad was missing Russia terribly and wanted to travel there. I asked him: - Why do you need this trip? What will it give you? - I really miss my friends. - Give me a name. Who do you miss? - Number one: Dimochka. - And number two? He fell silent. ..He was silent for a long time. But there were also Manukhin, Sanovich … After a long pause, he nevertheless named Slava Manukhin. But with none of them did my dad have such a close, touching and open relations as with Krasnopevtsev. " (from an interview with Aliki Kostaki).

It is surprising that of all the contemporary artists, George Costakis singled out two antipodes: the explosive, spontaneous Zverev and the quiet, focused Dmitry Krasnopevtsev (1925-1995). In his collection there were several first-class still lives by Krasnopevtsev, but their friendship was built, rather, on rare, purely human sympathy. Georgy Dionisovich was impressed by the artist's aristocratic upbringing, his encyclopaedic knowledge, love for music and passion for collecting (in addition to church rarities, Krasnopevtsev collected natural, mostly marine artefacts). In the 1980s, Costakis dreamed of arranging a trip to Paris for Dmitry Krasnopevtsev, who adored France and its culture, but the artist was not able to receive a visa. Krasnopevtsev kept the warmest relations with the Costakis family until the end of his days. Dmitry Mikhailovich was the godfather to Katerina (b. 1963), daughter of Aliki and granddaughter of George Costakis.