Nikolay Kurilov is the first Yukagir graphic artist and writer, a member of the Union of Artists of Russia, a member of the Union of Writers of Russia. He was born in the village of Andryushkino in the North of Yakutia to a deer breeder and hunter. He left home for the Krasnoyarsk Art School to study art. It was at school far away from home that the artist first turned to the landscapes of the Far North. As he puts it ‘out of homesickness and longing for tundra'.
Nikolay Kurilov depicted the autumnal tundra: a crimson space, a winding river and the rapid run of reindeer herds. For the Northern peoples this animal is considered to be the main wealth. The deer serves as a means of transport and provides valuable skin for clothing. Moreover, inhabitants of tundra believe that the reindeer is their friend, without whom they would not be able to survive in a severe climate.
The artist created the painting “Late Autumn” in 1985. In this work, he turned to the technique of application, which is known in the folk art of the Yukagirs since ancient times. It is often used for decoration of clothing and household items.
Nikolay Kurilov depicted the autumnal tundra: a crimson space, a winding river and the rapid run of reindeer herds. For the Northern peoples this animal is considered to be the main wealth. The deer serves as a means of transport and provides valuable skin for clothing. Moreover, inhabitants of tundra believe that the reindeer is their friend, without whom they would not be able to survive in a severe climate.
In the lower left corner, the author placed a silhouette of a reindeer herder, who throws a rope over a deer. Before each migration, the nomads caught a few deer to form a harness. The main way to catch an animal was a lasso – a rope with a length of 20-35 meters, which was part of the personal equipment of each man.
Upstream is the yaranga – a traditional mobile home of nomadic peoples. It consists of a wooden frame, coated with reindeer skins, and a roof in the shape of a cone. In the upper part of the picture, a helicopter is a flying – the only mode of transport connecting reindeer herders with the world.
“Late Autumn” reveals the most characteristic traits of Kurilov’s art – poetic perception of the environment, dynamic and freewheeling composition, expressive outlines, bright colour and ornamentality. The artist wrote about his creative path:
