In the USSR, members of the Artists’ Union often went on creative trips and expeditions. Their goal was to depict the courageous workers and technological progress of the Soviet Union. Artists created scenes of construction sites, new settlements, the opening of factories, and the harnessing of nature.
The painter Engels Kozlov recalled,
Conversations with workers strengthened my belief that everything is based on hard work. I noticed that the most successful artists among us were also not the ones who spent their days lying on the couch and waiting for inspiration to strike but the ones who committed to working hard at the easel and not wasting their precious time on idle talk.
Miners and oil workers became some of the most common subjects in Engels Kozlov’s paintings. Born in Troitsko-Pechorsk, the artist graduated from Repin Academy of Arts and stayed in Leningrad. However, he often visited his homeland and traveled extensively across the Komi Republic. In 1966, Engels Kozlov worked in Inta, at Kapitalnaya Mine No. 9. It was one of the top-performing mines not only in the Pechora basin but in the Soviet coal industry. The mine was founded in 1944 and was distinguished by the fact that it employed not only independent contractors and convicts but also former Labor Army workers, mostly Soviet Germans.
Engels Kozlov painted around 40 portraits of miners. Particularly notable among them is the portrait of Nikolay Shashkov. He was born in 1934 in the Arkhangelsk region, close to the border with the Komi Republic. He spent his entire life working in a mine where he came after graduating from school. When this portrait was painted, Nikolay Shashkov served as the foreman of the shaft crew. He was awarded the badge of the Excellent Worker of Socialist Competition, the Order of Lenin, and the Silver Medal of the Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy. His portrait was put up on the board of honor. Later, Nikolay Shashkov was awarded the titles of “Honorary Miner” and “Mine Veteran”, the Order of the October Revolution, and medals “Distinguished Miner” of first, second, and third degrees.
Nikolay Shashkov sat for the portrait after a shift. However, he does not look tired but rather vivacious, energetic, and resolute. His blue eyes are emphasized by his swarthy complexion caused by the coal dust. The miner looks at the viewer searchingly, which adds an emotional layer to the painting.
After retirement, Nikolay Shashkov moved to the Novosibirsk Region where he lived in the countryside, enjoying well-deserved respect. Mine No. 9 was closed and flooded in 2004.
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