Ivan Arkhipov’s painting “Descending to the Ferry” is exhibited in the Primorye Arts and Crafts Museum. The artist painted it in 1994. The picture features a small village on the hillside. There is a path going downhill to the river with a ferry crossing. The cold subdued color palette suggests that Arkhipov depicted twilight.
Ivan Arkhipov was born in the Gorky (now Nizhny Novgorod) region on July 8, 1934. After school, he entered the Ivanovo Art School, and then the first experimental studio of artistic design at the Union of Artists of the USSR in Solnechnogorsk, a town near Moscow. Arkhipov served in the Northern Fleet. After three years of military service, he moved to Arkhangelsk where he became keen on the local wooden architecture. The artist traveled widely through the region and made studies depicting ancient churches, bell towers, peasant and merchant houses.
Apart from wooden architecture, Ivan Arkhipov was interested in northern nature. There are many landscapes among his works where the artist depicted riverbanks, small village views, islands, and forests of the Arkhangelsk region. The personal style of these paintings differed from that used by the artist in his church studies. Arkhipov painted nature using broad, dense, relieved brush strokes. In the words of the artist he tried to emphasize the harsh, rough beauty of the Russian North.
Ivan Arkhipov was born in the Gorky (now Nizhny Novgorod) region on July 8, 1934. After school, he entered the Ivanovo Art School, and then the first experimental studio of artistic design at the Union of Artists of the USSR in Solnechnogorsk, a town near Moscow. Arkhipov served in the Northern Fleet. After three years of military service, he moved to Arkhangelsk where he became keen on the local wooden architecture. The artist traveled widely through the region and made studies depicting ancient churches, bell towers, peasant and merchant houses.
Later, a series of such artworks became the basis for the “Northern Churches” exhibition. Ivan Arkhipov was not only a painter — he also produced architectural designs. One of his works participated in a competition held before the construction of the open-air Wooden Architecture Museum “Malye Korely”, but failed. Arkhipov designed several Orthodox churches and chapels built in the Arkhangelsk region. In addition, the artist has developed the design of the memorial to the 400th anniversary of Arkhangelsk, the technical drawing of the Palace of Pioneers in Arkhangelsk, and participated in creating the Kotlas Local Lore Museum exhibition.
Apart from wooden architecture, Ivan Arkhipov was interested in northern nature. There are many landscapes among his works where the artist depicted riverbanks, small village views, islands, and forests of the Arkhangelsk region. The personal style of these paintings differed from that used by the artist in his church studies. Arkhipov painted nature using broad, dense, relieved brush strokes. In the words of the artist he tried to emphasize the harsh, rough beauty of the Russian North.
