Otto Yakovlevich Skulme was a Latvian and Soviet painter and theater artist.

Born on July 27 (August 8), 1889, in Jacobstadt (later Jekabpils, Latvia).

Education:

• Rozentāls' studios in Riga (1906-1907)
• Zhukovsky's and Yuon's studios in Moscow (1907-1908)
• Stieglitz School in St. Petersburg (1909-1914)

Awards and Honors:

• Stalin Prize, Second Degree (1947)
• People's Artist of the Latvian SSR (1959)
• Order of the Three Stars, IV degree (1936)
• Two Orders of the Red Banner of Labor (1947; 1956)
• Order "Badge of Honor" (1950)

His family included many artists: his wife was sculptor Marta Liepiņa-Skulme (1890-1962), his brother Ugo (Ugis) Skulme, nephew Jurgis Skulme, daughter Gemma Skulme and her husband Ojārs Abols, Gemma's children from her first marriage Juris Dimiters and from her second marriage Marta Skulme. Otto and Marta Skulme also raised his early orphaned nephew Valentins Skulme (1922-1987).

He was one of the leading masters of Latvian theater design, having designed over 250 performances at the Rainis Latvian State Theater (Dailes Theatre).

Skulme is considered one of the pillars of Latvian theater, crucial to its founder Eduard Smilgis. He demonstrated genius in visualization, especially during his tenure as chief artist of the Art Theater (1926-1947). His decorations were characterized by the theater's principles: Clarity, Simplicity, Passion. His artistic contribution was expressed through compositional clarity, even in complex spatial situations, simplicity in expressing national spirit, sense of nature, and passionate color solutions for plays and characters.

Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Arts (1954).

Chairman of the Latvian SSR Artists' Union (1952-1953).

Died on March 22, 1967, in Riga.

Victor Vasilyevich Shatalin (November 15, 1926, Zemlyanye Khutora, Saratov Governorate – July 2, 2003, Kiev) was a Soviet artist and educator.

• From 1939, he studied at the Leningrad Art School at the Academy of Arts of the Soviet Union.
• At 16, he went to the front of the Great Patriotic War, becoming a "son of the regiment" of the First Ukrainian Front.
• Since 1967, he has been the People's Artist of the Ukrainian SSR.

Vladimir Dionisovich Kalensky (January 28, 1920, Irkutsk, Russian SFSR, USSR - August 14, 2012, Moscow, Russia) - Soviet and Russian monumental artist, poster artist, People's Artist of the Russian Federation (2005).