The name of the first Mari art critic, a member of the Artists’ Union of Russia and veteran of the Great Patriotic War Boris Fyodorovich Tovarov-Koshkin was closely connected with the history of Mari fine art. His professional and artistic development was taking place in the 1960s — the time marked by a creative boom in the Mari fine arts, when the regional Mari branch of the Union of Artists was established. Tovarov-Koshkin authored many works dedicated to Mari art: booklets and catalogs, essays on paintings, articles in collections of scientific papers, in major publications, and in periodicals. His essays on decorative, applied and fine arts of the Mari ASSR were included in the encyclopedias “The Great Soviet Encyclopedia” (1965), “Art of the Countries and Peoples of the World” (1971), “Ukrainian Soviet Encyclopedia” (1965), and in the album “Fine Art of the Autonomous Republics of the RSFSR” (1974). To this day, his most popular book is a detailed and comprehensive work written with Svetlana Mikhailovna Chervonnaya, the monograph “Artists of the Mari ASSR” (1978).
Valery Chebotkin is one of the most famous contemporary Mari artists, an Honored Artist of the Mari El Republic, a recipient of the State Prize and a member of the Artists’ Union of Russia. He has participated in fifty national and international exhibitions, including seven personal ones, and his works are kept in museums and private collections in Russia, the USA, France and Poland. In addition, during his entire professional career, he has been training future artists. Six students of Valery Chebotkin became members of the Artists’ Union of Russia.
Valery Chebotkin has often dedicated his artworks to depicting national history and glorifying his contemporaries. The artist has created a gallery of portraits of his famous fellow countrymen. In his art, he remains faithful to the traditions of academic realism. The work “Art Critic B.F. Tovarov-Koshkin” is a waist-length portrait of an elderly man who is depicted against a brownish-green background sitting sideways. The emphasis is placed on his face and hand. His gaze is directed at the viewer. The expression on his face with large features is calm, and due to his tightly compressed lips it looks somewhat harsh. In his fingers, he holds glasses with gold frames by the temple. The portrait is painted in a free manner using broad brush strokes.
Valery Chebotkin is one of the most famous contemporary Mari artists, an Honored Artist of the Mari El Republic, a recipient of the State Prize and a member of the Artists’ Union of Russia. He has participated in fifty national and international exhibitions, including seven personal ones, and his works are kept in museums and private collections in Russia, the USA, France and Poland. In addition, during his entire professional career, he has been training future artists. Six students of Valery Chebotkin became members of the Artists’ Union of Russia.
Valery Chebotkin has often dedicated his artworks to depicting national history and glorifying his contemporaries. The artist has created a gallery of portraits of his famous fellow countrymen. In his art, he remains faithful to the traditions of academic realism. The work “Art Critic B.F. Tovarov-Koshkin” is a waist-length portrait of an elderly man who is depicted against a brownish-green background sitting sideways. The emphasis is placed on his face and hand. His gaze is directed at the viewer. The expression on his face with large features is calm, and due to his tightly compressed lips it looks somewhat harsh. In his fingers, he holds glasses with gold frames by the temple. The portrait is painted in a free manner using broad brush strokes.
