38 Years of Nearly Nude Modeling in Moscow

Viktor Parygin, 63, can be found, young and old, all over the walls of the Surikov Institute, one of the most prestigious art schools in the country.



He is not an artist or a sculptor but a model, who has been posed clothed and unclothed for budding artists at the institute for almost 40 years.

Parygin getting ready to model. He models at the institute in the morning (almost nude) and the afternoon (clothed).

The nude modeling is not completely nude. Parygin and the other male models wear a special garment called a gulfik — a codpiece. "It's a cloth triangle," Parygin said. "You wear it so that the male [parts] are covered and everything else is visible, so they can draw all the muscles. … It's not comfortable, but they need to be able to see everything," he said.

Students pay 229,000 rubles ($4,199) a year to study art at the institute.

Parygin ended up as an artist's model by accident. He met his friend who suggested he join him at the institute. "What will I do?" "Nothing, just sit and don't move."

His first experience was posing for a portrait. Taking his clothes off came later, but he said it was no big deal. "At 25 you can get undressed, can't you?"

Models pose for 45 minutes and then get a 10-minute break. There are three modeling sessions in the morning, an hour off for lunch and then three sessions in the afternoon.

A sign on the front of a studio door reads:



"Do not enter during lessons!!!



(Nude model)



Trespassers will take the model's place!"

Paryagin draws on the ground with chalk, so he knows where to keep his feet and remain in the same position for the 45 minutes of the modeling session.

Paryagin says that he tries to stay fit and eat well for the job.

When you meet Parygin, it doesn't seem surprising that he poses for budding artists as he has the kind of expressive face that would make even the most hopeless of artists reach for a pencil.

He remembers well how much he was paid: One ruble 30 kopeks for nude modeling, 77 kopeks for clothed and 70 kopeks for portraits.



"A bottle of vodka was two rubles 83 kopeks back then," he said, "So three sessions and you had enough for a bottle and a bite to eat."



Today the pay doesn't go far.

Modeling might seem easy, but it is tiring work as the model has to keep the same pose and not move for long periods. Parygin usually has three sessions in the morning and three in the afternoon and works most days of the week. You keep a pose "for 15 to 20 minutes then you can move a little bit, stretch and then you are OK," he said.



"You get tired on Friday. Even if you are sitting down, you get tired, your back gets tired."

First year student Yulia Nikolskaya drawing Parygin.

As he walks around the institute, Parygin is recognized by both students and teachers. He has been part of the institute for a long time.



"At the start you sit and listen to what teachers say and how the students react. Then after five years, 10 years, 15, you start to understand the [art]," he said.

"I don't plan to quit. I like it," he said. "It feels like home."



Read the full story: Posing Nearly in the Nude in Moscow Since 1977