It is no coincidence that Ivan Petrovich Popov referred to the artist Grigory Ivanovich Gurkin in his work. He considered Gurkin, who lived and worked in the village of Anos, to be one of his mentors. It was there that Popov drew inspiration and painted studies which marked the beginning of his independent artistic career. “The Estate of the Artist Gurkin” depicts the house of Grigory Gurkin which Ivan Popov visited on various occasions but only after the death of the renowned landscapist.
The painter Grigory Gurkin (1870–1937) was a graduate of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts and a student of Ivan Shishkin. He was the first professional artist who came from the indigenous people of Siberia. Like many landscapists, Grigory Gurkin praised the beauty of his native land. He was born in the village of Ulala (now the town of Gorno-Altaysk), Biysk District, on January 12, 1870. His father was a craftsman from the ancient Altai clan of Choros. He later added the clan’s name to his family name to form his pseudonym — Choros-Gurkin.
In 1897, thanks to the people who recognized his
talent in his early works, Grigory Gurkin found himself in St. Petersburg. The
Russian capital was not as kind to him, as no workshops and studios were
willing to welcome this self-taught artist from the Altai. Desperate and
exhausted after all of his vain endeavors, Grigory Gurkin decided to take one
last chance and sought an audience with Ivan Tolstoy, the Vice-President of the
Academy of Fine Arts. Gurkin was offered the opportunity to show his work to
Ivan Shishkin. During their meeting, Shishkin said,
