The collection of the Iskitim Museum of Arts and History features a painting titled “Vasily Shukshin House Museum” by Ivan Petrovich Popov.
The famous writer and film director Vasily Shukshin was born in the old Siberian village of Srostki, located on the famous Chuya Highway, in the Biysk district of the Altai Krai. It is here that the Vasily Shukshin House Museum is situated.
It was in Srostki that Shukshin found new themes and characters that he introduced into Russian literature and films. He wrote, “It is hard to comprehend, but whenever anyone mentions the Altai, it makes me start, an immediate flame of feeling licks at my heart — to the point of pain… When I die, if I’m conscious, at the last moment I will think of my mother, of the children and of the place where I was born that lives on in me. There is nothing dearer to me.”
After the death of Vasily Shukshin, hundreds of admirers of his talent traveled to his native village from all over the country. On July 23, 1978, on the eve of his birthday, a museum was opened in the house Vasily Shukshin had bought for his mother in 1965.
Vasily Shukshin wrote to his mother in 1972, “Mom, I have one favor to ask of you. Please do not do anything with the house while I’m away. That is, don’t sell it. I’ll visit you and we’ll decide what to do with it. To be honest, I would like to spend more time at this house in the future, I like it. After finishing this big movie, I plan to film less, very rarely. I would prefer to write more and stay at home. Not all te time, but longer, for a year… That is, if everything goes well… That’s my plan. I dream about living with you.”
The well-built house is located on a hill, at the foot of Mount Piket, and can be seen from afar. Ivan Popov depicted it in his painting “Vasily Shukshin House Museum”.
In the foreground of the painting, there are old
tall trees with green canopies. Behind them, on the hill, stands the house of
Mariya Sergeyevna. The depicted outbuildings — the bathhouse and the woodshed —
were constructed after Vasily Shukshin purchased the house. The trees are
reflected in Lake Ramenskoye. It is located slightly further away from the
house of Mariya Sergeyevna. However, the artist apparently wanted to combine
childhood memories associated with Strostki and painted it next to the museum.
