The Soviet artist Rem Yermolin first came to Ust-Tsilma, Pechora region, at the end of 1967. After that, he visited the region every year. His works from the Pechora period were combined into the Ust-Tsilma series and became the artist’s best-known masterpiece. The series was recognized by the State Prize of the Komi Republic and a diploma of the USSR Academy of Arts.
Particularly notable among the Pechora series of paintings are the portraits of local residents, people of different professions and walks of life, who attracted the artist. According to the art historian Nadezhda Abramycheva, Ust-Tsilma residents “are people of great dignity, candor, and amiability.”
“Portrait of the Boat Builder Dmitry Malyshev” is one of the first and most remarkable paintings of the Pechora series. It was first displayed at the “Soviet North 3” regional exhibition in Petrozavodsk in 1969. Later, the portrait was exhibited at numerous All-Russian, All-Union, and international exhibitions, including shows in Czechoslovakia, Romania, Poland, and Mongolia. Five years later, Rem Yermolin painted a similar portrait of another boat builder, Zinovy Chuprov, similar to this one in composition.
Boat building remains one of the most high-demand skills in the Pechora region. A boat is a necessary means of transport in the off-road conditions of the Russian North. Ust-Tsilma craftsmen have preserved and passed down from generation to generation the old traditions of making wooden boats — a bow and a bottom. The bow of such boats is carved from a coniferous tree with a thick root known as a “kokora”.
The design of boats varies depending on the river where they are to be used. This principle explains the different names of the boats: pechorki on the Pechora, pizhemki on the Pizhma, and tsilemki on the Tsilma. Most northern boats are narrow and long, up to eleven meters in length, and can carry up to one ton of cargo.
The craftsman Dmitry Malyshev is depicted in front of newly made boats with fresh shining wood. Far away in the background, there are old houses: their walls have darkened with time. The craftsman sawed planks for the boats on the riverbank. At his place, he had a special facility for steaming wood and his own blacksmith’s shop for making nails. The artist showed two time dimensions within his painting. The local time dimension is cyclical, spinning around the life cycle of the Pechora people, while nothing around them indicates that it is the second half of the 20th century.
