The review of the work of JAMBUL JUMABAYEV placed below continues to acquaint you with the paintings by Kyrgyz artists in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts named after G. Aitiev through the eyes of art historian GAMAL BOKONBAYEV. Some of the works are presented on the museum’s website, the rest are in the collection, but are not presented on the museum’s website.

Jambul Jumabaev (1946-2005) – painter and drafter, book illustrator and production designer for feature and television films. His works are in the G. Aitiev State Fine arts museum, the Tretyakov Gallery, the State Museum of the East in Moscow, the museums of Saratov, Novosibirsk, Astrakhan, as well as in private collections in Japan, Germany, USA, Greece, Italy, etc.

The review covers 28 works. All of them are thematic, but conditionally one can divide them into genres. Four landscapes, 4 portraits, the remaining 20 works are thematic compositions.

We divided the review into two parts – 14 works each.

Landscape #2. Oil on canvas, 49.8×65, 1991

The author marked the picture number two! This is the serial number of the exercise and at the same time – a conceptual statement! In those days, it was fashionable to do so! The second attempt at a visual study of the sacred essence of the Kyrgyz landscape! That is how it is! The work could well be called “Yellow Mountain”; it dominates here, its shape, texture, color. We see only a flat fragment, but we feel something huge and even. A small village nestled under the slope of the mountain; it has its own life: one-story buildings, roofs, white walls, green trees, brown fences. There is an accent – blue gates! Next to, it is a huge yellow spot. Unbelievably beautiful! The main contrast of the composition is the contrast of one-color and multi-colored. A paradoxical observation – the edge of the gray sky above echoes the gray dirt road below; they both turned gray, but not from the clouds – from the sun, which shines too brightly … Yellow is not yet an abstraction. At the same time, it is not design. It is still painting. The artist realistically depicts reality based on natural impressions, but he does it like a philosopher and a poet. Therefore, the village is a kurak*, it is woven from various shreds of life. Moreover, yellow is the color of the sun reflected off the mountain. Reflection eats eyes! The sun turned all colors to ashes, but the colors invented by man could not! There is a lot of everything here, from impressionism to cubism, and at the same time, it is Kyrgyz, natural and human. Eternity froze, the beautiful stopped! Great artist, great talent, great soul… Inexplicable like nature! Nature can cover the village with a mountain, without explaining anything to anyone. Eternity is eternity, and landslides should be avoided.

*Kurak is an ancient Kyrgyz technique of patchwork and mosaic sewing, which is also inherent in many other peoples

Landscape #1. Oil on canvas, 49.8×65, 1991

The author decided to return to the open air! To direct natural impressions! To a realistic display of reality! He remained a poet. Designated the work as the first number! How is the exercise? How is the statement? Probably this and that. I could call the landscape “Red Mountain” it dominates here, its shape, texture, color. It was as if a monster lay down in the valley, huge, strong, naked and beautiful. The contrast of red ocher and lead, dark gray. Thunderclouds hung in transparent glazing; cold slopes peep here and there; a mountain of red clay is molded in dense layers. The third, not superfluous, dilutes the drama – the foothills. It diversifies the composition with a mixture of yellow and green shades, emphasizing the grandeur of the simplicity of the universe. A dirt road, trees and bushes explain the true scale of the creation of nature and the place of man in it … This is not an abstraction, not a far-fetched composition! The artist subtly captured the familiar mood. It happens like this: thunderclouds have gathered behind the mountain, it is raining and cold there, but here – while the warm, gentle sun is shining. Silence and grace. It happens in life too: a black streak is approaching, but the danger is still far away, but for now, we enjoy life and art! Let us have fun and eat! Trouble will come, and then we will worry. Maybe it will pass. Side? … Ahead of the 90s, fateful, not simple, thunderous! The collapse of the USSR, the era of change, and such a wise, picturesque and vital parting word is not superfluous at all.

Difficult years. Oil on canvas, 99×100, 1985

On the right is an aksakal, on the left is a grandmother sitting on a bench, holding a child on her lap. A part of the house is visible, a veranda, a door, a window. Men are at war, women are on the labor front. Old men in alarm: will the men return? In addition, how are the women? There is a light anxiety, and this is a dark one. A very sad grandfather, a sad grandmother, the child threw up his hands, but not joyfully – he is naughty. The background is conditional; there is no greenery, no blue sky. There is only invoice. Form convergence occurs the main features of the works of Jambul Jumabaev and Satar Aitiev. However, at Jambul everything is done more beautifully. Too beautiful! There are not enough complex emotions, paradoxical associations. In addition, the skill of the artist does not help. Why the artist highlighted the door so strongly in blue? As if this is an exit to another space… Most likely, this is a formal accent, made according to the composition, and this is its only meaning. In the mid-1980s, the contradictions of Soviet modernism intensified. It remains plot and loses relevance. There were no more topics that could be safely discussed in bird language. Works about nothing – this is the general result, which will come to the fine arts of Soviet Kyrgyzstan. The easel painting of Kyrgyzstan still suffers from this disease … Here you can try to update the plot! Find out: whose child is this? Where is the mother, was there a father? However, you do not have to do this. Soon “perestroika and glasnost” will begin, everything will be questioned, and there will be plenty of anti-artistic blackmail.

Spring of 1945. Oil on canvas, 89×99, 1985

Two people are sitting on the ground: a woman and a man. A one-legged soldier, a crutch nearby, woman is breastfeeding her baby. Between them is a tablecloth with a meager meal. To their left is a girl, turned and looks into the distance, holding one hand behind her head, in the other hand – a handkerchief. Gray day, gray-earthy coloring, figures and background are generalized. The military tunic stands out in color, the woman’s active red dress; the girl’s blue sleeveless jacket languishes. A soldier in the war became disabled, returned and a child was born in his rear, and now they, with the whole family, are waiting for the long-awaited Victory. However, on the faces of grief and sympathy. Because the girl is waiting for someone who will never return. In addition, in the spring, hope is reborn! … Alternatively, maybe the girl is pregnant! How early widowed Aliman, Tolgonai’s daughter-in-law, from Chyngyz Aitmatov’s story “Mother’s Field”. She did not have a handkerchief in her hand; the woman tore a white handkerchief from her head! Such an interpretation expands the semantic space of the picture! It makes the feelings of the characters more voluminous, more tragic and … more humane … In 1985, the 40th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War was celebrated. There were many thematic exhibitions. During the exhibitions, the museum bought works and it is very good that I bought this particular painting, one of the most difficult to interpret, ambiguous, fantastically deep!

Reprisal against activists. Oil on canvas, 149×180, 1984

Enemies of the Soviet government broke into the homes of sleeping activists, fighters for revolutionary changes, at night. Caught by surprise, three are tied with ropes and taken away for reprisal. The old men were pushed to the left side, they scream in horror. What can they do against the young? In addition, there are much more thugs; eight members of the gang fit into the composition. A red flag is trampled on the ground. Soon the earth will be stained with blood, there is a saber, but still in a sheath. The leader of the Basmachi* on a black horse. There are no other details; the expression of the figures speaks for everything. The background is a mountain valley. Clay ocher and cold black create an atmosphere of horror … Now we have a different attitude to such topics. In addition, the definition of “basmach” is perceived differently. Then, a talented Soviet artist wanted to testify to his political reliability and earn some money. In 1984, they celebrated the anniversary – 60 years of the Communist Party of Soviet Kyrgyzstan. In addition, most likely, there were a great many thematic exhibitions. During the exhibitions, the museum had to buy ideologically consistent works… It can be seen that the stage captivated the author with its drama, the movement of the masses, and flashes of light. In those days, the theatricality of revolutionary romance and stilted characters from the era of the formation of Soviet power looked appropriate: turbaned Basmachi – scary, bearded, and activists – young, bright. The optimistic tragedy is that the enemies temporarily gain the upper hand by using dastardly tricks. All the art of the USSR served the purpose of educating the youth for a correct communist worldview. I remember the film “Bow to the Fire” (1971, directed by Tolomush Okeyev); the final scene from this film is terrible and bloody. How can this issue be resolved now? Show how the Bolsheviks deal with the Basmachi? Black Bolsheviks and light Basmachi? Do not know. Moreover, nobody knows. On the one hand, we fell in love with Soviet stereotypes, for example, through the film The Seventh Bullet (1972), in which Suimenkul Chokmorov played the role of a fighter against the Basmachism superbly. On the other hand, violence is always bad.

*Basmachi – According to Soviet historiography, the Basmachi is an armed counter-revolutionary nationalist movement in Central Asia in 1917-1926.

Rural motive. Oil on canvas, 90×150, 1984

They work with the whole collective farm! Brigade! Family! In the center, a woman with a baby sitting on a mat, happy and smiling! Nearby, girlfriends string tobacco leaves on twine and manage to gossip like a neighbor. On the left side, a girl in a skullcap carries ready-made “garlands”, and on the right, a man and a woman hang tobacco for drying. Most likely, they will leave it on the street, and at night, they will put it in a barn. A barn with an open gate is visible in the distance, on a hillock. Mostly women work, they are helped by the only man in the team, wearing a kalpak* and boots. Gray cloudy day. Golden ocher dominates, vet tobacco and earth color. Other shades adjusted to the overall color, turned gray. The form obeys the movement of the brush, and the movement of the brush obeys the movement of the soul of the artist. Moreover, he is temperamental, likes to change the rhythm and pace. Fill your fantasies with life observations. The artist saw the Tobacco Madonna in the South, an angel in a skullcap with garland wings, the peasants Millet and Van Gogh working late by hand. He did not follow the socialist realist dogmas. The form turned out to be brutal, like dirty earth, like hard truth! Accused of sketchiness, incompleteness, and approximations. There is such a thing. What figure rises behind the Madonna? Do not understand. Too abstract! However, abstraction looks true in an era when everything becomes a lie.

*Kalpak – Kyrgyz  traditional men’s hat made from felt

Southern motive. Oil on canvas, 89.5х99.7, 1984

A young woman goes to work in the morning, for example, to trade in the market. One hand supports the burden on the head; the other is a tray of provisions tied with a tablecloth. In a red dress, in a blue sleeveless jacket, in a scarf of the same color. She looks back at the wrapped cradle, an older woman rocking it. A woman goes to work – a grandmother with a small child remains at home. Probably so. On the left is a tree trunk and part of the crown. Houses are crowded in the distance – this is a southern city. The artist started with a transparent underpainting in ocher and black, and then added color. This is what the old masters did, but in modernism, the techniques are accentuated. The color is located not according to the form and not according to the meaning – according to the composition. Moreover, the form is arbitrarily divided into parts by color. That is more interesting! It is a game! Yellow dominates, blue and red echo. Often they exist on their own, as independent elements of modern design. This is a southern motif color design! When did the word motive originate? It denoted something fleeting, elusive, and moody. Without any ideology. Nevertheless, the motive is something settled, and here is an experiment. Its modern south and a bit obscure. In addition, the artist is not embarrassed that the figure on the right looks like an Armenian artisan, judging by the dressing gown, trousers and headdress. The buildings of the southern city resemble the architecture of the Mediterranean. He does not care about these inconsistencies; he sees a new form in the inconsistencies. He is a citizen of the world and borrowing no longer seems like that. After all, in the end, everything should become common! Art should be without boundaries and conventions, when talent understands talent and together they serve the people, improving their tastes, making them versatile and deeper. Talents give the ability to perceive paradoxes! Moreover, through this to understand the beauty! On this path, fantastic spiritual discoveries await all of us! This was the main feature of Kyrgyz modernism! The main thing is optimism! Then a plot with a riddle, and at the end – a paradoxical color in a paradoxical form … And now we will call it eclecticism*, because there is no global community of talented artists. In addition, it is not expected.

Evening. Canvas, mixed media, 90×119, 1983

Who will now argue with the fact that Dzhambul Dzhumabaev is the first postmodernist in the visual arts of Kyrgyzstan? An artist can work in different styles at the same time and equally well! Playing … The guys after work play football. Most likely virgins. Or builders? The assembly team is pulling the power line. Cannot be more precise. Near the trailer, a canopy was made – a place for eating, relaxing and holding meetings. There are no other “talking” objects. They play three on three. Two do not play; they are more interested in a girl, probably a cook. She is resting, which means she has already had dinner. The end of a long summer day, the sun is setting. The picturesque space is formed by large masses. A huge sky, golden, clear, rich and oppressive. Independent and nothing else he needs! Illuminated surfaces – light ocher; own shadows – red; long, falling shadows – brown and cold. In addition, the figures are recognizable! Typical, high quality! They were developed by many generations of Russian-Soviet artists. Therefore, it worked out well. On the one hand, it testifies to skill. On the other hand, it is about compilability. In the Soviet Union, a quick change of manner was justified by several good reasons: firstly, by order, secondly, creative searches; and, thirdly, the theme of the forthcoming exhibition. For example, “Komsomol – virgin land!” Perhaps this is a sketch for a movie of the same name. In addition, the style was dictated by the style of the script. This is now considered a more complex issue. The master understands that one style (manner, handwriting) has its limitations, and for another topic, he tries another style (manner, handwriting). The artist has the right to experiment, the right to moral and financial support! Support was: the work was bought by the museum. However, the postmodern experiment, it is up to something! He is not on his own! He is from the understanding that everything is moving somewhere with monstrous speed and you need to catch up. Where to run? Unclear! It is impossible to develop further the form, and the content is impossible to develop! Moreover, a manner appears which will later be called postmodernism. If necessary, the author can make someone else’s style his own. Is it necessary? It looks like a joke of a very smart and talented artist who does not know what to do and starts the game! He took the Russian theme and did not suffer with the name.

Autumn in the south. Oil on canvas, no, 1983

We see the earth from above, and people from the usual level. Reminds me of a sketch for a theater or a movie. On the back, the walls of the house, buildings, fences lined up in a zigzag pattern. They hide from us rural courtyards with yellowed leaves on the trees. Mostly women on stage. Three march in formation (probably going to the market). Adults carry bundles on their heads: a woman and a teenager in blue jeans, we will call him Romeo. Next to a girl. Another well-dressed woman walks with a yoke. Blocks Juliet in purple, who froze near the tree and hides behind the trunk. The ocher ball of the crown of an orphan tree is the center of the common space. There are rams on the ground and the only man grazes with them… All other characters are hidden for the time being behind white walls. An exposition of a drama in which there will be no action. What remains is a picture that is by no means a good one. The conflict is not created by the plot, but by color and form. Three is unity, sameness, order and ritual. Elegant, yellow-red, triangular, overly active, she is in contrast with three regular ones. A black figure in the doorway. In addition, a talkative black opening on blue. Focus in a single window. All elements together draw a right arrow. What for? Sometimes it seems that the black in the middle is the real center. However, what can a grazing sheep tell us? Yes! It is not the plot that is important here – the emotions that … abstraction evokes are important! Nevertheless, before us is not a pure abstraction. Figures and characters are recognized, and they are silent about many things…! This is the South! Passive and furious, familiar and mysterious, friendly and indifferent.

Autumn in Arslan Baba. Oil on canvas, 29.7×64.4, 1981-1982

In the center is a walnut tree, the trunks are textured intertwined, the small leaves have turned gray and fallen off. The alley winds through the trees. Buildings with flat roofs lined the alley. Further, behind a hillock, green grass and small bushes are visible. The tops of the trees have already turned yellow. Most likely, this is on the territory of a boarding house in a walnut grove. Thick crowns block the sky, but cold uniform illumination penetrates from it. One of the few works by the author, made from nature. Done quickly, in some places the canvas is visible … The alley turns and it is clear that it goes along the top of the hill and has become a straight line. The bottom of the buildings, the ground on which they stand are not visible. Such an angle is considered to be losing, in educational work, among photographers, cameramen. In addition, the master is not afraid; he accepts the challenge and makes philosophy out of loss. Very often, the creations of human hands do not fit into nature, but these strange objects, straight lines and rectangles, do! It is no longer a building or an alley. These are geometric primitives, as in the metaphysical painting of Giorgio de Chirico. Only here everything is done in an intentionally casual way and the hints are thinner … In the midst of natural chaos, two trees form an arch over the road. This pathetic movement is supported by a decorative bush with branches directed upwards. In addition, two parallelepipeds divert the viewer’s attention to the side; do not let them catch on to understandable banalities. They seem to whisper: “Nature is not only trees! We are nature too! We contain light and shadow, color and form. We are simpler and clearer. The future is ours!”

Gray day. Oil on canvas, 69.5×90, 1981

A house on a hillock looks out through a dark window, an incomprehensible wall is attached to it, and next to it is a washed-out haystack. A white horse grazes on a dark brown square of a plowed garden. Warm earthy tones dominate, among which the steel-gray roof appears blue. The mess of colors beautifully writes out the mess of autumn mud. Yard surrounded by a hedge of shrubs, brushwood and poles. Thickets of reeds descend down to the river. Poplars and a hill in the distance. There is a white cloud in the gray sky. The view is similar to the suburbs of the capital, this is not a southern landscape, but the author does not have just landscapes. A white cloud, like a white square – a paradoxical accent, white on light gray. Something magical comes from it. White, dark brown, yellow are fantastic, they are not strangers, and they are from here, from this area. However, dark brown is a failure into the abyss; yellow – golden, like an alien’s armor; the upper corner outlines a mysterious dirty gray. It does not mean anything; it is dictated by the ideal composition. A lonely white cloud, large, beautiful, sad, stands over a horse, a house, a garden, hills. Beautiful, aloof, suffers and pities all of us (there is a similar excerpt from Yuri Kazakov’s story “There is a dog running” in 1961) … This feature of the Kyrgyz landscape was picked up by the Kyrgyz Art Nouveau. Correct field observations always lead to fantasy, and not only in the sky. In addition, if there is no science fiction, you get a set of educational stamps. Moreover, if only abstraction, it turns out to be an educational exercise in composition. 70-80 is the most powerful period in the philosophical landscape painting of Kyrgyzstan.

Evening. Oil on canvas, 60×60, 1981

A variation on the theme of the painting “Remembrance”, the general composition with the main characters is repeated. Do not understand what work was done before. Alternatively, maybe it does not matter, they appeared at the same time, and the artist in one work tried to continue what did not work out in another. Moreover, the museum bought both works! … Here the author tries to be freer, more beautiful, and more playful. The girl is thin, slender, arched in a tense arc! He holds a multi-colored knot on his head that looks like an apple! The image of youth is overly embellished and a little excited. A man in a skullcap intrudes from the side; he has a frighteningly black mustache, wide eyebrows, like Barmaley’s. He wears a shirt, is somewhat caricatured, and holds a melon under his arm. Alternatively, a kitty? A bundle that looks like an apple, a knapsack that looks like a melon … everything looks like something … Still, a melon, Barmaley wants to treat the girl. The sun is setting, the sky is orange. Burning reflections on everything. House with a flat roof, next to a tree. Blood red, fierce orange, poisonous green, dazzling white. Why did the author call the work “Evening”? This quote? Does not look like it. The author doubts his right to quote, is somewhere between modernism and postmodernism… Asel runs with Ilyas, taking his simple belongings? No. Ilyas is definitely not like that. Alternatively, maybe a party member wants to steal a Komsomol member. The author does not need such associations. He wants to get rid of the images that torment him… imagination is not the subconscious; it was not in Soviet culture (not even now). Beautiful colors, exquisite spots, singing lines, graceful rhythm, subtle coloring, successful composition, textured texture! – Please! Then you do not need to … There remains a feeling of understatement. The author jokes mysteriously and comes up with an unexpected formula: a banal evil is always hidden behind aesthetic painting.

Memory. Oil on canvas, 140×125, 1981

To the right is a man in a quilted robe tied with a blue handkerchief. Chapan without patterns, but golden! On the left, a woman in a crimson sleeveless jacket and with a burden on her head is a colorful bale sewn from rags. In the middle, the teenager leaned his hands on a ketmen* or on a shepherd’s crook. Two rams, white and black, graze nearby. Behind the boy in the distance, a woman in purple, apparently not young, crouched. In addition, even further away, an ancient mazar** rises on a hill. The environment is indicated by large volumes, and they emphasize the main thing – the triangle shapes. Could it be symbols? Youth (there are two of them), then youth, and even further – old age. It can be a family: father, mother and son. Alternatively, older brother and neighbor, or sister and neighbor. In any case, an adult woman and an adult man, and between them a teenager whose sympathies are on the side of the woman, she is brighter and more elegant. The man is a rival, he has long limp sleeves, and he is a dude in a golden chapan. His charm is in adulthood, in a beard, in a languid look, in black boots. Moreover, the teenager tries to imitate him in everything, in clothes, in manners, and looks defiantly. This is not good for him, the memory of adult’s remains. They are incomprehensible, complete opposites, a beauty and a slacker, and maybe a marijuana lover, but they are drawn to each other along the brown path and cannot be stopped.

*ketmen – it is a heavy hoe or hoe weighing almost a kilogram, in which its kinetic energy allows you to easily and quickly loosen the top layer of any soil.

**Mazar – mausoleum

Autumn. Oil on canvas, 88.5×149.5, 1980

Autumn, the outskirts of the village, houses, outbuildings, trees. Women are waiting for a scheduled bus. They are waiting near the road, which is not visible; it passes in front of the picture, where the viewer is. The eldest, middle and young are standing next to them with a child, a girl clung to them. To the side, a lone figure holds a burden on his head. Together they are close, and the one that does not join them is just a fellow villager. Therefore, the village is not small. Dark brown earth, yellowed trees, ocher and shades. In addition, bright color inserts. Coloristic unity, which consists of several layers. The bottom layer is transparent, liquid paints spread in subtle shades. The other layer is denser; these are mixtures, simple and complex, rubbed with a brush on a palette. Another layer is applied with a palette knife – these are open colors, such as they are in nature. In addition, the result is the technology of an incredibly complex pictorial score of the South! Not harmony, for one-dimensional – cacophony. Moreover, if you respond, you become a co-author of the most fruitful period in the work of the master. The composition does not obey the rules and the lighting is arbitrary, like an endless sky. You perceive the meaning according to the laws that the master created. This is the plastic metaphysics of the South. The goal is the same as that of the masters of realism. However, the author does not want to accumulate the image bit by bit. He conjures directly on the canvas, furiously, unconsciously, obeying only his artistic instinct. He is as free as the environment allows him to be. Moreover, the situation in the 80s was fantastically favorable!

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We continue to introduce the works of Kyrgyz artists presented in the collection of the National Museum through the eyes of art critic GAMAL BOKONBAYEV. This is the second section of two dedicated to the work of Aman Asrankulov.

Asrankulov Aman (1939-1998) – painter. He was born in Frunze. In 1964 he graduated from the Frunze Art College and in 1969 – the Faculty of Painting of the Moscow Art Institute named after V.I. Surikov. People’s Artist of the Kyrgyz Republic. Since 1971 – member of the Union of Artists of the USSR.

My parents. Oil on canvas, 113.5×97.5, 1985

Parents are standing nearby, preparing to meet the festive date. A pentagonal mirror, elongated, hangs on the wall behind. It is enough to take a closer look and it turns out that the old people are not standing next to each other. Mirror reflects the veteran.  Only the spouse is in front of the mirror, this is emphasized by the falling shadow. In a white scarf, in a dark suit, he carefully holds the order in his hands. She has a happy… and mournful face. She is going to wear the order… However, there is no one. She looks somewhere into the distance, into a parallel mirror world. There is a front-line soldier; he is wearing a gray suit with awards, a gray shirt, and a burgundy tie. The gray hair has risen from the breeze and is intertwined with the clouds…. We do not know the biography of the artist’s parents (this, by the way, is a task for museum researchers). From very scant information, it is known that the artist’s father, BORUBAI ASRANKULOV, a veteran of the Great Patriotic War, was born in 1912 in the Osh region. In 1985, the Minister of Defense of the USSR awarded him the jubilee award, the Order of the Patriotic War I degree. An old mother holds it in the picture. Apparently, the veteran did not wait for this high award … In the same year the picture was painted. The color is not cheerful. Gray-ochre, dark brown colors with small-accentuated colored inserts. Unusual composition: all elements are shifted to the left. On the left side of the table is a jug with flowers, most likely purple crocuses, and a case for the order. Two yellow flowers symbolically drooped. An empty field remains on the right. Thus, the order in the hands of the mother is moved to the center and the plot value of the award is indicated. On the other hand, perhaps the artist wanted to finish the right part of the picture … and did not.

Summer. Oil on canvas, 61×65, 1983

Somewhere on the outskirts of the field, near a clay tandoor, a young man and a girl are eating fried corn. The coals are still smoldering in the stove, there is a black cumgan* nearby, there is firewood left. A young man in a kalpak** and barefoot, a girl in a red dress. Clear, sunny, judging by the shadows – noon. Most likely, it’s August, but it is not hot for young people. Light ochre dominates, together with red ochre; they create a “fried” flavor. There are transparent shadows on the light undercoat. A shirt of a warm shade is written in white; cold smoke from the fire is indicated. Narrow strip of blue sky and green trees under the hills complement the fiery palette. It seems that not only the corn is fried. The summer, the earth, the air are fried! A young man and a girl were fried. They are not hot, they are lovers! Soviet artists were able to see a kind of poetry in the simple artless peasant life; they were able to appreciate the unpretentious romance of steppe freedom…. The theme of two is this favorite theme of Kyrgyz painters, let us remember: Gapar Aitiev “On the outskirts of the village” (1959), Alexander Voronin “Uch-Kurgan” (1968). There are two of them here, too. They are, of course, collective farmers (there were no others in those days), but it is great to escape from everyone and be alone together. Steal collective farm corn, roast it and eat it.

*Kumgan – a narrow-necked vessel, a jug for water. Used for washing and ablution

**Kalpak – traditional Kyrgyz men’s felt headdress

Expectation. Oil on canvas, 81,5×69, 1982

A little girl is holding a very little brother on her back. She stands with her back to us and gazes intently into the wide steppe. The girl is dressed simply: a white dress and a gray tank top. On her feet are black Asian galoshes. The little one is dressed in dark blue, the same shades as the evening sky. A dog is lying nearby, judging by the pose, it has been lying for a long time. They are waiting for the return of adults from collective farm fields. This is understandable: summer, harvesting. Dad and mom are somewhere far away; there is not even a hint of their appearance. When they come back, it will be completely dark. A visual image drawn from childhood memories: when you wait for a long time, your soul becomes terribly sad. At the same time, waiting always ends with a holiday! … You can fantasize and imagine that the little ones are waiting for the sunrise. This is a kind of symbol of the meeting of a new day, new hope! … In any case, the children and the dog are touching in their expectation. Waiting for joy, happiness, love! Hope…. Just a little smooth and the picture will turn into a sentimental illustration for a women’s magazine. The author wants to avoid sentimentalism, goes into brutal sketchiness (it will become the author’s handwriting!). This is not a stylization of a child’s drawing. The ideology of Kyrgyz pictorial modernism is clearly expressed here – to depict uncomplicated plots is not official, sometimes harsh, and sometimes creepy. To portray problems: to portray deliberately undeveloped, not well-groomed children, and to hide a rigid “ideology” under the inability to draw. However, for a talented author, the inability to draw means to draw like a brilliant child!

Mourning. Oil on canvas, 97×115, 1982

They mourn a front-line soldier, a participant in the Great Patriotic War. A portrait of the deceased hangs above the entrance to the yurt – this tradition appeared in Soviet times. Judging by the portrait, the event takes place no earlier than 1943 (after the introduction of shoulder straps in the Red Army); the front-line soldier in the cap was probably a sergeant or an officer. Dark matter hangs on a pole above the yurt. Usually, black matter notifies that a middle-aged person has died. On the other hand, perhaps it is the outer clothing of the deceased. Why is this done? There are no men visible among those gathered – only small children and old people. In the center, a teenager is bent and wailing. The figure of a one-legged invalid stands out. Therefore, the event takes place during the war. On the right, the children of the deceased and the old man-father huddled in a disconsolate heap. The women are sitting inside the yurt; they are outlined in one black silhouette. The old people gather outside, usually opposite the place where the body lies. The mullah is not visible. Following ancient customs, a separate yurt is set up for the deceased, where ablution and seeing-off are performed. Everyone can come, express sympathy and say goodbye. Moreover, here questions arise. Perhaps the front-line soldier died of wounds at home. However, the place in the yurt where the deceased should lie is empty. In that distant war, during the fighting, it was almost impossible to deliver the body of the deceased to his homeland. Usually they buried in a mass grave and sent a funeral. Have you decided to mourn without a body?.. In this interpretation, the space of tragedy expands to infinity. The courage of the people expands to infinity. At home, they decided to spend the last journey of the hero’s spirit. To fulfill the last duty to memory. Artists of the 70s of the last century boldly touched such dangerous topics. Such infinite courage is unattainable for the current generation.

In ancient times, they held the belief that the deceased without graves cannot find posthumous rest, suffer and take revenge. Therefore, a symbolic grave is necessary, even if there is no body.

Blacksmith. Oil on canvas, 79, 5×60,5, 1980

The blacksmith in his forge, with the help of fire, mystery and skill, subordinates stubborn iron to his will. Naked to the waist, in a white burnt apron, holding a triangular piece similar to an amulet on an anvil in a pincer! Maybe it is just an axe handle. It seems that the second hand of the magician takes the fire directly from the forge. The bed for the anvil is a huge stump. A wooden rocker for manually pumping air into the bellows hangs from the ceiling. The fire from the furnace illuminates the workshop. The light does not reach the far walls and ceiling, they are formed by reflections of a green hue. The window openings are dark. Evening or night? The semicircular arches of the furnace are light blue, as if an otherworldly light emanates from them. The artist is precise and simple, he uses life observations and his inner eye, and therefore the picture turned out to be correct. The blacksmith is a strong, strong man, interesting for his personality. He is not a cog of an indifferent system. This is a brutal symbol of human disobedience, dissimilarity and uniqueness. His products are in demand, but he has to work at night. The Soviet system believes that in the era of industrialization, the blacksmith is a relic of the Middle Ages, and the forge is a source of unearned income. An individualist blacksmith in his private forge works at night, and does not want to meet with the financial inspector.

Tobacco of the new harvest (Collective farmers). Canvas, oil. 145 x121, 1980

Tobacco leaves are dried under the canopy. Here, at a table made of boxes, on chairs made of boxes, the collective farmers settled down. In the center sits a man in a black hat and a suit (possibly an agronomist-technologist), preparing homemade cigarettes. The person sitting on the left is waiting for his turn and gives valuable instructions. The standing man took a drag on his cigarette, folded his arms on his chest and froze for a minute, even the smoke is not visible. Tastes the fragrance. Collective farmers, before going to a tobacco factory, try a new crop and their assessment is very real. This is an informal assessment and an improvised laboratory. The color of the painting is earthy, like tobacco itself, like the land on which it grew up. The influence of Vincent Van Gogh’s painting “Potato Eaters” is guessed. By color, texture, individual characters. However, the meaning of what is happening is somewhat different. Collective farmers resist alienation. They do not want to be cogs. They are not the bricks of a bright future – this is their life, their work, the taste of their tobacco, the one and only. I remember the workers from Otar Ioseliani’s brilliant film “Leaf fall”. There are winemakers there, and tobacco growers here. The workers know the value of everything; they do not show off, they build socialism as best they can. Why do they look shabby? Because the collective farmers? Faith in the Soviet government is undermined? Workers and collective farmers under any government worked, valued the profession, kept the brand, cherished dignity and hoped that not all this was in vain. They look shabby, but their souls are golden, like the leaves of a new crop of tobacco.

The organizers of the first Komsomol cells in the city of Osh Kasymbekov. Oil on canvas, 138.5×130, 1978

Here is what the famous art critic Olga Popova writes about this amazing work: “The Portrait of the organizers of Komsomol cells in Osh Kasymbekov is distinguished by the depth of the social content, generality of the artistic language. This portrait is a biography, fanned by the romance of the first years of Soviet power in Southern Kyrgyzstan, a reflection portrait.” On the outdoor terrace, a young fighter in a tunic is sitting at a table. A blonde-haired spouse stands out against the background of a lighted wall nearby. Summer is in full swing, the garden is lush greenery and mysterious shadows. The young man is leaning on the table with one hand, his head propped up, and the other is holding a book on his lap. Are you thinking, dreaming of the triumph of socialism? Maybe about your personal happiness? Maybe about everything together and inseparably? Little is known about the spouse. Only one sentence, a stingy certificate with initials: “Active participants of party and Komsomol cells in Osh county in 1918-1920 spouses S. F. and E. K. Kasymbekov.” That is it! Why is there no information about his wife in the biography of Sanjar Kasymbekov? We can only guess. The lack of information awakens the imagination. It seems that the artist saw the image of Russia in a blonde woman! Charming and unyielding, awkward and fascinating. A Symbol of Faith, Hope, Love! And the victims! Nationality is not important – spiritual closeness is important. Templates are not interesting. Easy to read and quickly forgotten. Riddles are remembered… Is E. K. Kasymbekova pregnant? … Much more is known about the hero himself. Sanjar Fozilbekovich Kasymbekov is an Uzbek, born in 1900 (according to other sources in 1902), educated at the Andijan Real School. In 1917, he returned to his hometown. One of the first Komsomol members of the city of Osh. In 1918, he joined the Bolshevik Party. An active participant in the establishment of Soviet power in the Turkestan region, a fighter against counterrevolution and Basmachism*. Head of Osh county. He was brutally murdered in November 1924 in the Samarkand region.

County-city party organizations of Kyrgyzstan. (1918-1924) [Text]: Collection of documents and materials / IML Branch under the Central Committee of the CPSU – Institute of Party History under the Central Committee of the KP of Kyrgyzstan ; [Comp.-ed. V. N. Semenkov and V. V. Sannikov]. – Frunze: Kyrgyzstan, 1968. – 660 p., 4 l. ill.

* Basmachism is a term of Soviet historiography used to describe various military-political, national liberation and religious movements in Central Asia in the first half of the XX century.

Portrait of the Hero of Socialist Labor S. TESHEEV. Oil on canvas, 100×80, 1975

Here is what the famous art critic Olga Popova writes about the portraits of the artist: “The most important line in Asrankulov’s work is connected with the portrait. Here there is a chamber image of close people, and a monumental-elevated solution of images of socially significant personalities… The portraits are distinguished by their compositional diversity and strict color scheme.” Among the best works of the artist, the critic also refers to this work … Tesheev Saidila (1925-1985) – foreman smelter of the Kadamdjai Metallurgical Plant; Hero of Socialist Labor (1960). He was elected a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the Supreme Soviet of the Kyrgyz SSR. He was elected a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kyrgyzstan. He was awarded the Orders of Lenin (1960), the October Revolution (1971), the Red Banner of Labor (1966) … the brigadier achieved a lot in the country of the dictatorship of the proletariat! The figure of the hegemon bursts the composition! The helmet and the right hand did not fit into the frame! A huge Soviet man! It can be seen that the portrait resemblance is preserved: middle-aged, red face, narrow slits of eyes and distended nostrils. Professional selection made him that way. Strong, prickly, stern and unyielding, with huge hands. Moreover, the hard workers will not obey another. Behind him, as behind the wall of Cezanne. Behind the cubism of surfaces: workshops, equipment, working overalls. It seems that the supervisor’s face is also a production workshop in miniature. One-dimensional, unambiguous, like a red pipe. The trumpet itself is like a slogan, like a banner. However, pathos turns into irony, and the hero of forgotten times does not have to himself. Poor – and the other is not needed: to vote unanimously – you do not need a lot of intelligence. Caricature? This is also good – only laughter causes sympathy. The artist writes what he sees, and his character begins to live his own independent life and outgrows stilted definitions. The artist, following his intuition, gives a universal visual answer: a hero is a hero only in his strictly limited time.

A story about courage. Oil on canvas, 100×114, 1977

The moon illuminates the mountains and the scene on Jailoo. The women were left behind the scenes, most likely cleaning up after dinner. An adult tells the boys about courage. He is lying on the ground, with his back to the viewer, with one hand resting on the ground, gesticulating with the other. Three boys are sitting in front of him. The first opened his mouth in surprise, the second anxiously looks towards the viewer, the third is older and his emotions are more complicated. The theme, title and plot are simple, clear, officially approved, but the language of painting is not standard! This is not social realism – it is a picturesque primitive with elements of irony. The narrator does not look like a batyr* and does not look like an akyn** either. He tells his story as well as he can, composes and, of course, lies. What is the story about? About the exploits on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War? Maybe about the people’s batyrs? Perhaps everything is mixed up? Daniyar, the hero of the famous story of Chyngyz Aitmatov “Jamila”, did not like to talk about the war. Nevertheless, more than 30 years have passed. The narrator could have been a participant in the battles, but this is not advertised in any way. Whatever the story is about, there is no philharmonic brilliance and philistine pathos. Concert halls are not needed! Fantastic mountains, an inspired narrator, stunned listeners – this is enough to teach the boys courage and justice…. There is also no harsh romance, fashionable in those days. Figures and mountains are funny, like toys. Moreover, you believe such a non-standard interpretation. Everyone was tired of the official lies about developed socialism and turned to the simplest: in form, in feelings, in thoughts. Only two things fill the soul of a Kyrgyz with wonder and awe – these are mountains above his head and stories about courage!

*Batyr – the hero, the brave 
**Akyn – poet

A boy with a dog. Cardboard, tempera, 69,5×49,5, 1972

A boy stands near the yurt with a red apple in his hand and looks at the viewer, and a dog looks at the boy, waiting for his piece. On the other side of the yurt, with her back to the viewer, sits an old woman in a red dress and a quilted tank top. In the distance, near the river, a blue female figure with white buckets stands out against the background of a scarlet field. Golden ochre dominates; light and dark shades are deliberately applied in large strokes. Vigorously shaded: sky, mountains, and yurt. Accents are spots and dots of blue and red. A primitive drawing adds energy. The artist has mastered “sloppiness” as a compositional technique! How confidently he works with the form! He knows the main thing. The main thing is a simple picturesque plot. In the hands of the master, it flies high! People are busy with business, the boy is resting, and the dog is waiting: maybe they will give something tasty? They will! Ordinary people will feed! The poor will not leave hungry. It embraces the feeling of universal peace and divine serenity. This is Kyrgyz existentialism! … Different works will be done in one year. One in the South, the other in the capital. One is light and the other is dark. Existence and decadence. “A boy with a dog” and “Portrait of a Contemporary”. Both paintings are equally different from the others. They are simpler, more primitive, more powerful, and more truthful. In the 70s of the XX century, Kyrgyz critical modernism began in Kyrgyzstan, in the USSR, in the era of the triumph of decaying developed socialism.

Still life. Oil on canvas, 49,3×67, 1970

The work was written a year after graduating from the Vasily Surikov Moscow Art Institute, but the composition is not at all educational. The center of the composition is a bouquet in which chrysanthemums, orchids, lavender, sage are guessed. The Chinese vase is a vertical axis. Apples, quince, persimmon, are located on a horizontal line. Yellow chrysanthemums bent down, it seems they are drawn to the smell of fruits. Funny…. Flowers painted on a vase, natural flowers and fruits form a right triangle. Ochre drapery is more like clay earth – it holds all the elements in unity. Flowers and fruits in an earthy environment – the author sees a feature here! Cezanne’s influence is undeniable. Our artist goes further – the background is not only material, it becomes dominant! He is lively, dynamic, looks more interesting, thanks to the energy of strokes. The strokes have a different slope! That is where the highlight is! The slope of the strokes forms a cross with a chrysanthemum stem! … The background is more coarse-grained than the objects themselves! Contrary to logic! The laws of perception! Unusual! New! This technique makes the work unique, but hardly… adds meaning. In the future, the author will “enlarge” the objects themselves, and he will have ideas that are more complex.

Mother. 58,5×51,1, 1969

The author made the work in the year of graduation from the Vasily Surikov Moscow Art Institute. Mom has a tired face and she lowered her eyes. On her head is a plain white scarf, dressed in a plain dark green dress. There are no familiar patterns. The artist removed everything superfluous to create a symbol where white speaks of purity of thoughts, and green indicates a simple peasant life. Monumental composition, strict color, brutal texture, generalized forms. However, the feeling does not leave that this is a fragment of something bigger. It seems that everything was done on purpose, deliberately. It was possible to add, expand, and deepen. You remember the portraits of Lucas Cranach the Elder. The German artist has Protestant simplicity! What about ours? Is this a continuation of the harsh style? …Or maybe it is easier. The young artist is sure that it is necessary to take care of mom simply, without unnecessary sentiment. Mom is a tireless work, honestly lived life, high spirituality. Nothing else is needed.

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