The portrait of Dr. Alexander Vasilyevich Atabegov is one of the best in Andrey Kurnakov’s oeuvre. The doctor is depicted in the interior of the surgery unit, sitting calmly on a wooden white stool in a minute of rest after the completed surgery. His figure is close to the foreground and is expressively deployed in space. Eyes are watching us intently; strong hands are folded on the knees. He is wearing a white robe and a small cap. Surgical gauze bandage is pulled over his chest, and brown surgical gloves are clamped in his right hand. On the right, behind him, one can see the edge of a surgery table with a sheet and a metal tripod cart with a thick black cord. On the left, in the background, a nurse is shown from the back, placing surgical instruments in a glass cabinet located against the backdrop of a light wall. To the right of the cabinet is a round white screw medical stool with three legs.

The courageous and serious face of this aged man with deep wrinkles on his swarthy face and with characteristic clear southern features: a proud aquiline nose, thick black eyebrows, large almond-shaped eyes, a strong-willed mouth and a strong voluminous chin… This face reflects a deep inner world, experience, energy and composure, wisdom and humanity of the doctor.

Lively, serious, thoughtful and at the same time exacting look of Alexander Vasilyevich Atabegov’s brown eyes is amazing. His glasses with dark, thin, horn-rimmed rims and round clear lenses that slightly refract the shape of the face and cast a light shadow are drawn exquisitely. The staging of a strong, solid figure of a nurse is aptly captured, a still life with tools on glass shelves of an ivory-colored cabinet is magnificent. A sterile-clear shimmer of silver metal with a few glittering golden highlights created with dark brownish and lighter gray strokes. The artist notices bed’s reflections on the floor, light and shadows along the edges of the tiles.

Due to the abundance of white, the entire space of the surgery room seems to be filled with air. The symphony of white is based on the calm sound of its various shades, with intertwining variations of gray, brown, cream, subtle greenish, golden and purple-lilac so beloved by the artist. The white chord is complemented by the color of small fragments of the suit: the collar of a blue and brown checkered shirt of a doctor, a narrow strip of the lilac hem of a nurse’s dress.

The main merit of the artist is the majestic simplicity and naturalness of the integral, laconic and memorable image of Alexander Vasilyevich Atabegov, who was symbolically honored with this pictorial portrait as with another award.