At the beginning and middle of the 20th century, the Uzlovsky district economy based on coal mining. It was a coal basin region near Moscow, the first of more than thirty mines opened here in 1939, during the first five-year plans and industrialization era. The country needed fuel for its metallurgical industry. One by one, mining villages appeared, namely Dubovka, Kamenetsky, Gornyatsky, Brusyansky.
During the Great Patriotic War, many of Uzlovsky mines were damaged or destroyed, but they were restored after expulsion of fascists. Coal production reaches its prime in the region in the 60s of the last century. Each enterprise produced an average of 700 to 1800 tons of black gold per day.
The author of Miners labor watch, famous Uzlovsky self-taught artist Kuznetsov Fedor Ustinovich, devoted 31 years to working at a coalface. This national talent was born on March 6, 1928 in the Komarevo village of Arsenyevsky district that is in Tula region. After his work in the mine, the artist found time for creativity. In 1965, he graduated from the All-Union Cultural Institute of Distance Education.
Kuznetsov’s paintings have been repeatedly exhibited at All-Union Art Exhibitions in 1967, 1974, and 1985. In the year of the 40th anniversary of the Great Victory, Fedor Ustinovich was awarded a medal of the All-Union Amateur Art Show for creating a portrait of Bokovikov, a veteran of the Great Patriotic War.
Since young years in the mine, the artist himself has experienced all hardships of working underground. In his picture, Miners' labor watch, Kuznetsov depicted the moment of shipping a trolley with coal.
Two miners work in a narrow and dark face in feeble light of a miner’s lamp. Most coal mining processes are mechanized, but still a significant part of operations must be performed manually in a limited space, in conditions of high temperature and humidity, constant dustiness. Judging by the duties performed, one of the miners is a mechanic, and the second is a hauler. Their serious, tense faces show the utmost concentration on an important task. The slightest mistake, one wrong movement can lead to a serious accident.
Fuzzy contours of walls, barely visible from the darkness, create an oppressive atmosphere of the underground mine, located at a depth of tens of meters. When you are in the face, you cannot determine the time of year or day. Minutes here turn into hours, and a shift into eternity. Operating heavy steel mechanisms, moving the trolley heaped with coal, require great physical effort and endurance from workers. Gloomy and grey-black color scheme of the painting conveys a constant sense of anxiety and danger associated with miners’ labor.
During the Great Patriotic War, many of Uzlovsky mines were damaged or destroyed, but they were restored after expulsion of fascists. Coal production reaches its prime in the region in the 60s of the last century. Each enterprise produced an average of 700 to 1800 tons of black gold per day.
The whole life of the Uzlovsky region was connected with mines. Entire dynasties of miners worked there. Their hard labor, which believed to be one of the most harmful and dangerous among all professions, became the main theme of paintings by local artists.
The author of Miners labor watch, famous Uzlovsky self-taught artist Kuznetsov Fedor Ustinovich, devoted 31 years to working at a coalface. This national talent was born on March 6, 1928 in the Komarevo village of Arsenyevsky district that is in Tula region. After his work in the mine, the artist found time for creativity. In 1965, he graduated from the All-Union Cultural Institute of Distance Education.
Kuznetsov’s paintings have been repeatedly exhibited at All-Union Art Exhibitions in 1967, 1974, and 1985. In the year of the 40th anniversary of the Great Victory, Fedor Ustinovich was awarded a medal of the All-Union Amateur Art Show for creating a portrait of Bokovikov, a veteran of the Great Patriotic War.
Since young years in the mine, the artist himself has experienced all hardships of working underground. In his picture, Miners' labor watch, Kuznetsov depicted the moment of shipping a trolley with coal.
Two miners work in a narrow and dark face in feeble light of a miner’s lamp. Most coal mining processes are mechanized, but still a significant part of operations must be performed manually in a limited space, in conditions of high temperature and humidity, constant dustiness. Judging by the duties performed, one of the miners is a mechanic, and the second is a hauler. Their serious, tense faces show the utmost concentration on an important task. The slightest mistake, one wrong movement can lead to a serious accident.
Fuzzy contours of walls, barely visible from the darkness, create an oppressive atmosphere of the underground mine, located at a depth of tens of meters. When you are in the face, you cannot determine the time of year or day. Minutes here turn into hours, and a shift into eternity. Operating heavy steel mechanisms, moving the trolley heaped with coal, require great physical effort and endurance from workers. Gloomy and grey-black color scheme of the painting conveys a constant sense of anxiety and danger associated with miners’ labor.
