Afanasy Osipov is an outstanding Yakut painter, People’s Artist of the USSR, and winner of the Ilya Repin State Prize of the RSFSR. Osipov’s paintings are kept not only in the National Art Museum of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), but also in the State Tretyakov Gallery, the State Russian Museum, and in private collections in Russia and abroad.
He was born in Yakutia, studied painting in Moscow, and then returned to his homeland.
In 1994-2004, Afanasy Osipov worked as a full professor and head of the Painting Department of the Yakut branch of the Krasnoyarsk Art Institute, and in 2000-2004, he was a full professor and head of the Painting Department of the Art Faculty of the Arctic State Institute of Culture and Arts. He taught practical classes in painting for students. Having a pedagogical, organizational gift and erudition, the artist was at the origin of the creation of the Academy of Spirituality of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). At the same time, he continued to work a lot as a painter.
The canvas depicts the amazing beauty of the Ust-Koksa area, which is located at the beginning of the Uymon Valley at the confluence of the Koksa River with the Katun in the Altai Republic. Here is the territory of the famous Katunsky Reserve, which includes such natural monuments as Mount Belukha, Katunsky Ridge, as well as Multinskoe, Kucherlinskoe, and Shavlinskoe Lakes. Moreover, the central estate of the Katunsky Biosphere Reserve is located in the village of Ust-Koksa. Afanasy Osipov visited this place in 2001 and completed a series of landscape works in its vicinity. The main ‘characters’ of the picture, despite its name, are the mountains covered with legends. The artist painted pictures from nature. Birch groves like a fairy-tale path rise up the mountains, thus disappearing into the hills under the onslaught of gloomy clouds. Autumn golden motifs echo the grayness of the sky. The heavy silver of the sky pressing down on the hill with sadness touches the gold of the birches. The presence of a person can be traced by the red roof of the house, which is comfortably located among the ‘gold’ and has become part of the worldview.
He was born in Yakutia, studied painting in Moscow, and then returned to his homeland.
In 1994-2004, Afanasy Osipov worked as a full professor and head of the Painting Department of the Yakut branch of the Krasnoyarsk Art Institute, and in 2000-2004, he was a full professor and head of the Painting Department of the Art Faculty of the Arctic State Institute of Culture and Arts. He taught practical classes in painting for students. Having a pedagogical, organizational gift and erudition, the artist was at the origin of the creation of the Academy of Spirituality of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). At the same time, he continued to work a lot as a painter.
The canvas depicts the amazing beauty of the Ust-Koksa area, which is located at the beginning of the Uymon Valley at the confluence of the Koksa River with the Katun in the Altai Republic. Here is the territory of the famous Katunsky Reserve, which includes such natural monuments as Mount Belukha, Katunsky Ridge, as well as Multinskoe, Kucherlinskoe, and Shavlinskoe Lakes. Moreover, the central estate of the Katunsky Biosphere Reserve is located in the village of Ust-Koksa. Afanasy Osipov visited this place in 2001 and completed a series of landscape works in its vicinity. The main ‘characters’ of the picture, despite its name, are the mountains covered with legends. The artist painted pictures from nature. Birch groves like a fairy-tale path rise up the mountains, thus disappearing into the hills under the onslaught of gloomy clouds. Autumn golden motifs echo the grayness of the sky. The heavy silver of the sky pressing down on the hill with sadness touches the gold of the birches. The presence of a person can be traced by the red roof of the house, which is comfortably located among the ‘gold’ and has become part of the worldview.
