The art collection of the Polyarny Museum of History and Local Lore presents “A general View of the Khibiny and Vudyavr” — a watercolor by Boris Fedorovich Zemlyakov, one of the first geologists to set foot on the Kola Peninsula.
Boris Zemlyakov was born in 1898 in St. Petersburg. In 1926, he graduated from the Geographical Faculty of Leningrad State University and received a degree in quaternary science, geomorphology and anthropology. While studying at the University, Zemlyakov taught at the Forestry Commercial School in Petrograd. The director of the school, Gennady Boch, actively introduced the excursion method into the school’s education program. As part of this method, Zemlyakov went on geological trips to the vicinity of Petrograd, drawing the attention of young people to archaeological excavations, which he conducted in the Lakhtinsky Spill on the coast of the Gulf of Finland.
During this time, Zemlyakov met Alexander Fersman, the famous geologist who repeatedly made expeditions to the Kola Peninsula and published scientific articles about it. This acquaintance influenced Zemlyakov’s desire to visit this little known but ripe with untold riches region. Together with the director of the school, they decided to organize an expedition to the Murman Coast and the Khibiny Mountains for pupils and students. While preparing for the trip, Boris Zemlyakov took his students to the Mineralogical Museum of the Academy of Sciences. At the museum, Alexander Fersman gave them instructions, talked about what and how they should conduct their observations and gave advice on equipment. Zemlyakov, in accordance with the advice of the experienced traveler, equipped the expedition with all things necessary: light sleeping bags, compact tents, good shoes and other things. The trip took place in 1923. The students visited Murman Coast and the Khibiny Mountains.
The peaks of the Khibiny Mountains painted in dark grayish-green tones and the slopes of the near lake Vudyavr are depicted in the foreground of the presented watercolor. There is snow on the slopes in some places. The mountain peaks densely covered with snow are shown in the background. They are brightly lit and painted in light blue tones. The sky is of a light blue color. This picture was painted by Zemlyakov himself during that very trip. After the expedition was completed, the watercolor was exhibited at the school, and then stored in the personal archive of Ivan Krasnov, one of the participants of this expedition.
Later, Zemlyakov repeatedly visited the Kola Peninsula to conduct archaeological and geological studies.
