Artist Semyon Chuikov painted the Evening Landscape in 1949. The painting shows the Tian Shan mountain range for which the artist chose a soft color scheme, slightly muted shades of purple, pink, green, and brown. The mountain tops are illuminated by sunset rays with the foreground remaining in the shade. The artist has created a serene and harmonious landscape: thanks to the flowing lines and broad brushstrokes the mountains on the horizon do not look menacing and majestic.

Semyon Chuikov was born in 1902 in the Kyrgyz town of Pishpeke, present Bishkek. He started painting when he was 10. Chuikov’s first teacher was a portrait, landscape, and icon painter Nicholay Khludov.

From 1921 to 1930, Semyon Chuikov was a student of the State Higher Artistic and Technical Workshops in Moscow, the legendary VKHUTEMAS. He attended the workshop led by the artist Robert Falk. In 1927, Chuikov represented Kyrgyzia at the First All-Union Arts Exhibition, the Art of the Peoples of the USSR. Two years later, in 1929, the State Tretyakov Gallery bought Chuikov’s canvas, Boy with Fish.

Semyon Chuikov highly regarded the art of Alexander Ivanov, author of the famous canvas, the Appearance of Christ before the People. Chuikov dubbed him the Titan of Art and compared him to the masters of the Renaissance. He travelled to Italy and visited the places where Ivanov worked, and even found his old workshop in Rome. In 1970, Chuikov succeeded in having a memorial plate put up on that building.

Semyon Chuikov’s favorite theme was his native Kyrgyzia. He painted mountain landscapes, portraits of children and adults. In the 1940s, the artist created a series of paintings under a common title, the Kyrgyz Kolkhoz Suite.

The major canvas in the series is A Daughter of Soviet Kyrgyzia. The painting is based on an actual girl named Aijamal Ogobaeva, from a village called Orto-Sai. However, the artist was less interested in creating a life-like portrait than producing a general image of a typical Soviet Kyrgyz girl. In 1949, the artist was awarded the Stalin Prize for his Kyrgyz Soviet Kolkhoz Suite.