‘Evening in the Gobi’ is a painting by Afanasy Osipov from the ‘Gobi’ series. Osipov is an authoritative Yakut painter, a People’s Artist of the USSR, and the winner of the Ilya Repin State Prize of the RSFSR. He was born on February 28, 1928 in Gorny Ulus in Yakutia. He graduated from school and then from the Yakut Cooperative Technical School in 1945. After that, Osipov went to Moscow and there entered the Moscow Secondary Art School at the Moscow State Academic Art Institute named after V.I. Surikov, and then at the institute itself. After returning to his homeland, Osipov taught at the Yakut art school, traveled a lot around the republic, for many years headed the Union of Artists of Yakutia, and organized exhibitions.
The “Gobi” series was painted during a trip to these regions together with Afanasy Osipov’s wife, the Yakut artist Zinaida Kurchatova. The Gobi is a vast region in Central Asia on the territory of Mongolia and China, and the third largest hot desert in the world. It stretches 1,300 kilometers from West to East and 800 kilometers from North to South. The word ‘gobi’ is of Mongolian origin and means ‘waterless place’. This word in Central Asia refers to desert and semi-desert landscapes.
During this trip, the artist created many paintings. Among them are ‘My Aratian Friends’, ‘Twilight on the Outskirts of Somon’, ‘A Fine Evening in Somon’, ‘Sunset over Somon’, and others.
The landscape ‘Evening in the Gobi’ features a stream flowing near Sevray Somon. The Mongolians call ‘somon’ or ‘sum’ a city with adjacent territories, as well as the central estates of collective farms. Camels and wild antelopes, i.e. gazelles, are approaching the water. These streams are the real arteries of life in the desert. The permanent here is adjacent to the momentary. In the distance, one can see the wandering sands. This is a lifeless space. The series of etudes under consideration are nature views of the Southern part of the Gobi Desert. The sky adds a sense of space and vastness to the canvas. To emphasize the grandeur of the landscape and the vast expanses of the valley, the artist depicted tiny figures of people resting by the stream. Most of the works related to Mongolia in one way or another reflect the life and cultural characteristics of ordinary residents of the Mongolian steppes.
The “Gobi” series was painted during a trip to these regions together with Afanasy Osipov’s wife, the Yakut artist Zinaida Kurchatova. The Gobi is a vast region in Central Asia on the territory of Mongolia and China, and the third largest hot desert in the world. It stretches 1,300 kilometers from West to East and 800 kilometers from North to South. The word ‘gobi’ is of Mongolian origin and means ‘waterless place’. This word in Central Asia refers to desert and semi-desert landscapes.
During this trip, the artist created many paintings. Among them are ‘My Aratian Friends’, ‘Twilight on the Outskirts of Somon’, ‘A Fine Evening in Somon’, ‘Sunset over Somon’, and others.
The landscape ‘Evening in the Gobi’ features a stream flowing near Sevray Somon. The Mongolians call ‘somon’ or ‘sum’ a city with adjacent territories, as well as the central estates of collective farms. Camels and wild antelopes, i.e. gazelles, are approaching the water. These streams are the real arteries of life in the desert. The permanent here is adjacent to the momentary. In the distance, one can see the wandering sands. This is a lifeless space. The series of etudes under consideration are nature views of the Southern part of the Gobi Desert. The sky adds a sense of space and vastness to the canvas. To emphasize the grandeur of the landscape and the vast expanses of the valley, the artist depicted tiny figures of people resting by the stream. Most of the works related to Mongolia in one way or another reflect the life and cultural characteristics of ordinary residents of the Mongolian steppes.
