The last years of the artist Valentin Popkov’s life were associated with the village of Tarkhanovo. Located in the Ichalkovsky district of Mordovia on the Nuya River, the ancient village is famous for its beautiful views. Valentin Popkov bought a house in Tarkhanovo, which the artist used as a summer studio. The surrounding nature was an inexhaustible source of inspiration for the painter. Valentin Popkov devoted a number of his works to Tarkhanovo landscapes. The most famous canvas from this cycle is “Bright Nights in Tarkhanovo”.

In building the composition of the painting, the artist used the montage technique. Montage in this case is a way of reflecting the philosophical connection of “everything with everything” in the world. Valentin Popkov strove to connect not only individual elements and details, but also different spaces, times and states of mind.

The painting depicts a view of a summer night in a village. In the foreground there is a high bench, which is fixed on the right against the wall of a wooden log house. Antique items are displayed on the bench in a row: a kerosene lamp, a pot of geraniums, a samovar, and frames from beehives.

In the painting “Bright Nights in Tarkhanovo” inanimate things become living characters. We seem to be looking into a fairy tale. Elena Golyshenkova, an art expert, writes, “

The technique of attributing human characteristics to inanimate objects is called “personification”. With the help of this technique, the antiques in the artist’s painting have been given a “voice” and an opportunity to tell their story. Thanks to personification, the typical objects for a still life acquired psychological depth.

In the background, there are hills with rural houses, a full moon in the sky, and bright stars on its dome. In the nearest house, the door is hospitably open and the light is on. The grayish-green color palette of the painting creates an atmosphere of understatement, fantasy and mystery.

The “Bright Nights in Tarkhanovo” is a canvas in which the past and the present merge. The multilayered meanings do not allow to attribute the painting to any one particular genre. The landscape turns into a thematic painting, the still life turns into a landscape, reality mingles with metaphysics. Mixing of genres is a characteristic feature of Valentin Popkov’s work, revealing his philosophical and artistic worldview.