Usinsk is the youngest town in the Komi Republic. The area’s large oil reserves were discovered near the Kolva River in 1962. This is how the Usinskoye oil field was established. Its abundant hydrocarbon reserves revolutionized the Soviet oil industry. One of the wells produced up to 700 tons of oil per day. In 1966, a worker’s settlement was founded among the swamps and taiga. It was named Usinsk, after the Usa River.
The construction of a new oil field was classified as an All-Union Top-Priority Komsomol Construction Project. Young construction workers, drilling technicians, and laborers poured into Usinsk. The settlement was rapidly growing and developing. New apartment buildings, schools, and kindergartens were constructed to replace old wooden buildings.
In 1984, the settlement was transformed into a town. This was also when a group of artists of the Komi Republic came to Usinsk, including Anatoly Kopotin, Vladimir Yermolin, Gennady Dmitriyev, and Sergey Astashev.
The paintings inspired by this trip formed a major part of the regional exhibition “Soviet North” which took place in Novgorod the same year. Among the exhibits was Sergey Astashev’s painting “Rhythms of Usinsk”. It is distinguished by its symbolism, philosophical ideas, and attention to detail which are typical of all Astashev’s works.
The title “Rhythms of Usinsk” refers to how quickly and enthusiastically the young Soviet professionals were exploring the new area. At the same time, it can be applied not only to social work and public life but also to the fate of the painting’s main character.
Astashev’s painting demonstrates the transformation of a young man: he seems to shed his old shell and begin a new life, full of color, freedom, and space. The door symbolizes the boundary between two worlds, the natural and artificial. Everything inside the cabin is painted in shades of brown, reminiscent of oil itself.
The young man’s attitude to life, with his liveliness and enthusiasm, was typical of the new generation which included the artist himself. Sergey Astashev was 32 years old when he created this painting.
