The collection of the ‘Gamayun’ Museum Center houses several paintings by the amateur artist Alexandra Utkina. These works depict rocky shores, lakes, wild woods, deer paths, and snow-covered suburbs.
In her paintings, Utkina often used the views of her native village of Klenovoye, which is located on the western slope of the Ural Mountains in the high-water bed of the Biserti River. One of these works is presented in the exhibition ‘Road to the Forest’.
In the picture, the artist captured a clear and quiet winter day. In the middle distance, there are four tall birches; their branches are barely covered with snow. In the foreground, five tiny pine trees are lined up and the snow on their boughs lies tightly, as it is usually depicted on Christmas postcards. On the right, you can see a country road, along which a wild boar runs.
Many of Alexandra Utkina’s works resemble children’s drawings. She does not follow the rules of academic painting. She often warps the perspective and draws the objects that are near and far with equal carefulness. At the same time, her paintings are sincere and truthful in detail. This allows us to attribute the artist’s works to the so-called ‘Naive Art’, the painting of non-professionals.
Alexandra Utkina was born in 1922 in the Amur region. She spent her childhood and youth with her parents in the village of Voykovo in the Konstantinovsky district. Therefore, in her landscapes, you can often notice the elements of Far Eastern nature.
In 1942, Alexandra Iosifovna volunteered for frontline duty, where she served as the commander of the ranging department of the 175th Artillery Battalion of the 2nd Far Eastern Army. The artist was party to combat missions against the Japanese Kwantung Army and was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War.
At the front, she met her future husband, Sergeant Vasily Utkin. After the war, Alexandra graduated from the Blagoveshchensk State Pedagogical University and went with her husband to the Urals.
In her paintings, Utkina often used the views of her native village of Klenovoye, which is located on the western slope of the Ural Mountains in the high-water bed of the Biserti River. One of these works is presented in the exhibition ‘Road to the Forest’.
In the picture, the artist captured a clear and quiet winter day. In the middle distance, there are four tall birches; their branches are barely covered with snow. In the foreground, five tiny pine trees are lined up and the snow on their boughs lies tightly, as it is usually depicted on Christmas postcards. On the right, you can see a country road, along which a wild boar runs.
Many of Alexandra Utkina’s works resemble children’s drawings. She does not follow the rules of academic painting. She often warps the perspective and draws the objects that are near and far with equal carefulness. At the same time, her paintings are sincere and truthful in detail. This allows us to attribute the artist’s works to the so-called ‘Naive Art’, the painting of non-professionals.
Alexandra Utkina was born in 1922 in the Amur region. She spent her childhood and youth with her parents in the village of Voykovo in the Konstantinovsky district. Therefore, in her landscapes, you can often notice the elements of Far Eastern nature.
In 1942, Alexandra Iosifovna volunteered for frontline duty, where she served as the commander of the ranging department of the 175th Artillery Battalion of the 2nd Far Eastern Army. The artist was party to combat missions against the Japanese Kwantung Army and was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War.
At the front, she met her future husband, Sergeant Vasily Utkin. After the war, Alexandra graduated from the Blagoveshchensk State Pedagogical University and went with her husband to the Urals.
