Oscar Rabin (1928-2018) - Soviet and French artist, one of the founders of the unofficial Lianozovo art group. Organizer of the world-famous "Bulldozer Exhibition" (1974).

In the late 1950s, he was one of the founders of the Lianozovo group, an informal association of post-avant-garde artists not recognized by the authorities. His works - like the works of other members of the Lianozovo group - were actively bought by Western collectors.

From the beginning of the 1960s, criticism of Rabin and his associates began, devastating reviews appeared in newspapers, and the authorities began to seriously restrict the freedom of expression of representatives of unofficial art. In the late 60s, it was forbidden to hold any exhibitions without the sanction of the Moscow branch of the Union of Artists.

In the spring of 1974, Rabin was the initiator and one of the main organizers of the exhibition of works by nonconformist artists, which was suppressed. Pictures were broken, participants were detained.
The event caused a huge resonance in the press: it was attended by Western journalists and diplomats. The exhibition became widely known under the name "bulldozer" and was one of the most important actions of resistance of the creative intelligentsia to the authorities. Rabin's works were not taken to exhibitions, he was not accepted into the Union of Artists.

In 1978, Rabin and his wife emigrated to France, and in June of the same year, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, by a special decree, deprived the artist of Soviet citizenship. At the same time, he was very famous in the West, his first solo exhibitions were held in the mid-60s in London. After emigrating, he began to exhibit in France, the United States and other countries.

For 60 years of active creativity, Oscar Rabin created about 1,500 works. In the last years of his life, he lived and worked in France and, already abroad, became one of the best-selling artists of the Soviet period. His works regularly appeared at major exhibitions, their prices reached three hundred thousand dollars and in the last fifteen years they have risen in price every year, so that among collectors they began to say that the acquisition of Rabin's works is the most profitable investment.