Boris Nikolaevich Molchanov is often described as a “star of the Polar region”. He was born in 1938, during the winter migration, into the family of a poor reindeer-herder, Nikolay Andreevich and Marfa Ilyinichna. The date and place of his birth (1 January, the settlement of Kamen) are indicated in the documents approximately.
In 1951, Boris entered a boarding school in Norilsk, where he was recognized as a gifted pupil. In the same year, he became a laureate of the 10th All-Russian Children’s Exhibition (3rd-degree diploma). In 1957, the District Culture Department sent the young artist to study at the Surikov Art School in Krasnoyarsk, but he was unable to complete his studies there due to health problems. He worked for two years as a school drawing teacher, then as a factory painter, and was head of the Red Chum in the settlement of Kamen. He was sent to Moscow again, now for a two-month art workshop where he proved himself to be a talented graphic artist. He mastered the technique of linocut at the Krasnoyarsk workshop of Vladimir Ilyich Meshkov, the “singer of the North”.
The artist noted his nature as a forager, hunter, and fisherman who cannot “grow attached to an easel”, but for whom “the creative process does not cease” in his daily routine — dressing hides, cutting firewood, and socializing with friends and relatives. Boris Nikolaevich worked as a methodologist in the House of Folk Art, as a loader, a fish collector, a graphic artist, and director of the village House of Culture, thus investing his life experience into his paintings.
In the winter of 1966, Molchanov presented 12 paintings at an exhibition in the Taimyr District, and in 1967, his linocuts at the II Regional (Omsk) Exhibition “Socialist Siberia”.
In 1979 he finally received his college graduation certificate, and in 1982 he was accepted into the Union of Artists of the USSR.
Boris Molchanov’s paintings include landscapes, portraits, genre scenes, and still lifes. He worked as a graphic artist, painter, and wood and bone carver. His artworks made of leather and suede are unique. The technique was invented by Molchanov himself; he was the only artist who worked in this unusual genre. The material for the paintings was nyuk — worn-out summer covers of tents, the very material that most organically conveyed the harsh northern beauty and the ascetic life of nomads.
Molchanov’s leather paintings are on display in museums and private collections in Moscow, Dudinka, Krasnoyarsk, and Norilsk, as well as in France, Canada, Iceland, Ireland, the USA, Finland, and other countries.
Some photos from the set of photographs of Boris Nikolaevich Molchanov were purchased by the Taimyr Local History Museum from the correspondent Alexander Prosekov.
In 1951, Boris entered a boarding school in Norilsk, where he was recognized as a gifted pupil. In the same year, he became a laureate of the 10th All-Russian Children’s Exhibition (3rd-degree diploma). In 1957, the District Culture Department sent the young artist to study at the Surikov Art School in Krasnoyarsk, but he was unable to complete his studies there due to health problems. He worked for two years as a school drawing teacher, then as a factory painter, and was head of the Red Chum in the settlement of Kamen. He was sent to Moscow again, now for a two-month art workshop where he proved himself to be a talented graphic artist. He mastered the technique of linocut at the Krasnoyarsk workshop of Vladimir Ilyich Meshkov, the “singer of the North”.
The artist noted his nature as a forager, hunter, and fisherman who cannot “grow attached to an easel”, but for whom “the creative process does not cease” in his daily routine — dressing hides, cutting firewood, and socializing with friends and relatives. Boris Nikolaevich worked as a methodologist in the House of Folk Art, as a loader, a fish collector, a graphic artist, and director of the village House of Culture, thus investing his life experience into his paintings.
In the winter of 1966, Molchanov presented 12 paintings at an exhibition in the Taimyr District, and in 1967, his linocuts at the II Regional (Omsk) Exhibition “Socialist Siberia”.
In 1979 he finally received his college graduation certificate, and in 1982 he was accepted into the Union of Artists of the USSR.
Boris Molchanov’s paintings include landscapes, portraits, genre scenes, and still lifes. He worked as a graphic artist, painter, and wood and bone carver. His artworks made of leather and suede are unique. The technique was invented by Molchanov himself; he was the only artist who worked in this unusual genre. The material for the paintings was nyuk — worn-out summer covers of tents, the very material that most organically conveyed the harsh northern beauty and the ascetic life of nomads.
Molchanov’s leather paintings are on display in museums and private collections in Moscow, Dudinka, Krasnoyarsk, and Norilsk, as well as in France, Canada, Iceland, Ireland, the USA, Finland, and other countries.
Some photos from the set of photographs of Boris Nikolaevich Molchanov were purchased by the Taimyr Local History Museum from the correspondent Alexander Prosekov.
