Mount Barkova is located at the headwaters of the Kozhym River in the Nether-Polar Urals. It is named after the Soviet academician and geographer Alexander Barkov. In the mid-20th century, a large deposit of high-quality quartz and rock crystal was discovered there. The minerals were extracted from mines with a depth of one kilometer.
The Zhelannoye settlement at the top of Mount Barkova became a scientific station. It is located at an altitude of 1320 meters above sea level. The snow season begins very early, with snowstorms starting in mid-August. The annual temperature range extends over 80 degrees. The quartz and crystal mined in Zhelannoye were used for the manufacturing of optical products, electrical appliances, ultrasonic generators, synthetic crystals, and equipment for the space industry.
Large-scale quartz mining at Zhelannoye came to an end after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and was only partially resumed 15 years later. Nowadays, Mount Barkova is popular among industrial tourism enthusiasts and alpinists due to the traces of production left on the slopes, including half-filled adits, quartz mines, remnants of conveyors, and trestles.
Vitaly Trofimov visited Zhelannoye in the 1970s and interpreted his impressions of that period in his art, including the painting “Spring Cyclone over Mount Barkova”. The artist has lived in the Ural town of Inta for over 60 years and has depicted the unique mountain landscapes in many of his watercolors. Due to the mightiness of the panoramic and monumental landscapes, all of Trofimov’s paintings are full of inner tension.
The color palette of “Spring Cyclone over Mount Barkova” immerses the viewer in the atmosphere of the Russian North on an almost physical level. The picturesque images are comprised of soft shades of gray, green, and transparent blue. With these colors, the artist captures the height of the mountains, the shivering air, and the gusts of wind. Even the air is tangible in Vitaly Trofimov’s works with its humidity and freshness when the artist uses color to combine visual and sensual perception.
Vitaly Trofimov is a member of the Artists’ Union of Russia, an Honored Cultural Worker and a People’s Artist of the Komi Republic. Over one thousand of his paintings have been exhibited in Bulgaria and Finland, as well as the Komi Republic.
