The exhibition at the Vitaly Aleksandrovich ZakrutkinMemorial Museum features an exceptional portrait of the writer. This painting depicts Vitaly Zakrutkin, the esteemed author of works such as “Floating Stanitsa“,“Creation of the World”, “Notes from the Caucasus”, “Mother of the Human”, and “Sunflower”, and the winner of the State Prizes of the RSFSR and the USSR. Created in 1984 using an aerography technique that was just beginning to gain popularity among painters, the portrait is rendered in light brown tones.

The writer is depicted from the chest up, with lush wavy hair and a mustache. He is dressed in a tunic adorned with order award bars and holds a pen — an essential attribute of a writer — in his right hand. There is a dedication along the lower edge of the front side of the portrait.

The portrait of Vitaly Zakrutkin was created by the artist Nikolay Sevastyanov. This painting was a gift to the writer from his fellow residents of Konstantinovskaya stanitsa in the Stavropol Territory. In this portrait, the writer is depicted as courageous and handsome, with lush gray hair. The artist successfully captures both the inner and outer aristocracy of Zakrutkin.

Nikolay Sevastyanov successfully conveyed the bright and noble image of the writer in his portrait. The artist achieved stunning decorative effects through smooth color transitions, a sense of volume, and photographic realism. Most importantly, he captured the inner world and mood of the writer. This aerographic work was presented to the writer on his last birthday, March 27, 1984. He passed away on October 10 of the same year.

“Here, in Kochetovskaya, I have lived the best and most mature part of my life, filled with quiet reflections. It is here that I would like to end my days, so as never to part with the trees I have planted, the nightingale songs over the moonlit Pleska, and the people who have taught me so much,” Zakrutkin reflected even when he was still young.

Vitaly Zakrutkin was buried on the Don River in the Kochetovskaya stanitsa, in the courtyard of the house where he lived for many years, which now serves as his museum. In Rostov-on-Don, a bust of the esteemed Russian Soviet writer was installed on Pushkinskaya Street.