In his artworks, Nikolay Ryabov, an Honored Artist of the Republic of Mordovia, represented national motifs in the style of ethnosymbolism. A painter and master of wood carving, Nikolay Vladimirovich Ryabov was born in 1958. He graduated from the Ichalkovsky Pedagogical College named Sergei Mironovich Kirov in 1977, and later — the Graphic Arts Faculty of the Moscow State Pedagogical Institute. Since 2006, Nikolay Ryabov has been working as an associate professor of the Department of Design and Advertising at the Institute of National Culture of the Ogarev Mordovia State University.
Nikolay Ryabov is a leading representative of ethnosymbolism in the Mordovian fine arts. Through symbols, the ethnosymbolists reveal the cultural code of the people, their worldview, values, and religious practices. In their works, the ethnosymbolists depict the echoes of superstitions, pagan rituals, traditional culture, and social order.
As a representative of the Erzya people, Nikolay Ryabov is primarily interested in the spiritual and tangible heritage of the Mordvins-Erzya. The language of this ethnic group belongs to the Finno-Ugric branch of the Uralic family. The ethnic group is believed to have emerged in the 1st millennium BC.
Nikolai Ryabov is not only an artist, he is also a scientist. As a candidate of historical sciences, he actively studies Mordovian culture. In the course of his research and teaching, the artist published a monograph “Ethnosymbolic forms of Mordovian culture: origins and evolution” in 2010. In this work, the author revealed the function of symbols in the emergence of cultural concepts.
The artist also uses symbols in the painting “The Evening Bells”. Nikolay Ryabov builds up the imagery and represents the values of the people: the canvas depicts ground, an ox, hay, human beings and the endless space around them. The painter chooses a low horizon line to concentrate the viewer’s attention on the main objects.
The image of the cart and the ox dominates the canvas. The ox acts as a symbol of fertile power. The stylized figures of Erzya women, on the contrary, are small. This detail seems to tell us that a person is only a tiny speck of the big universe. There is nothing superfluous in this worldview: only the ideal of the unity of man and nature, and labor as the basis of life.
Nikolay Ryabov is a leading representative of ethnosymbolism in the Mordovian fine arts. Through symbols, the ethnosymbolists reveal the cultural code of the people, their worldview, values, and religious practices. In their works, the ethnosymbolists depict the echoes of superstitions, pagan rituals, traditional culture, and social order.
As a representative of the Erzya people, Nikolay Ryabov is primarily interested in the spiritual and tangible heritage of the Mordvins-Erzya. The language of this ethnic group belongs to the Finno-Ugric branch of the Uralic family. The ethnic group is believed to have emerged in the 1st millennium BC.
Nikolai Ryabov is not only an artist, he is also a scientist. As a candidate of historical sciences, he actively studies Mordovian culture. In the course of his research and teaching, the artist published a monograph “Ethnosymbolic forms of Mordovian culture: origins and evolution” in 2010. In this work, the author revealed the function of symbols in the emergence of cultural concepts.
The artist also uses symbols in the painting “The Evening Bells”. Nikolay Ryabov builds up the imagery and represents the values of the people: the canvas depicts ground, an ox, hay, human beings and the endless space around them. The painter chooses a low horizon line to concentrate the viewer’s attention on the main objects.
The image of the cart and the ox dominates the canvas. The ox acts as a symbol of fertile power. The stylized figures of Erzya women, on the contrary, are small. This detail seems to tell us that a person is only a tiny speck of the big universe. There is nothing superfluous in this worldview: only the ideal of the unity of man and nature, and labor as the basis of life.
