The names of such outstanding people as the artist Boris Kustodiev and the Russian avant-garde poet Velimir Khlebnikov are associated with the city of Astrakhan. The painter Boris Viktorovich Parkhunov was born in Astrakhan in 1938.

In 1962, he graduated with honors from the Surikov Moscow Art Institute. The artist presented his first work as a student of the Institute, at the sixth youth exhibition in Moscow in 1961. From then on, he participated in numerous exhibitions in the USSR and abroad.

The journalist Leonid Vasilyevich Kruglov wrote in the newspaper “Rural Life” about the artist as follows, “The Volga expanses or the Volga land, which is free since the times of Stenka Razin, formed his robust character, bestowing upon his eyes and hand, holding a brush, a bold skill that grows stronger over the years.”

Boris Viktorovich Parkhunov’s style was formed under the influence of the Moscow school of painting, as well as French Impressionism. He called Ancient Russian painting the highest achievement of fine art. He classified himself as an artist of the “nationalistic” direction that sought to comprehend the Russian idea, village, nature and soul.

These views were reflected in the canvas “Rus”, which Boris Parkhunov dedicated to the Russian painter Mikhail Vasilyevich Nesterov. He depicted the coronation of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich: the Time of Troubles was over, the country was liberated from foreign invaders and impostors, and the people began to realize the greatness of their feat.

The artist sought, in contrast to many of his colleagues, to paint objectively and from a humanistic standpoint. He worked mainly in the genres of themed easel painting, portrait, landscape and still life. Boris Parkhunov created an extensive series of works about the Russian village with its old-fashioned patriarchy, which is now history.

Parkhunov’s works are kept in the collections of many museums in Russia and abroad. The artist painted “Over Protva” in 1979. He depicted an autumn landscape. A plethora of golden autumnal shades and festive tones of multicolored trees create a sense of celebration. A church ensemble and a bell tower crown the beauty of nature.