The People’s Artist of Russia Andrey Tutunov is a prominent representative of the Moscow art school. His wide manner of painting, original choice of plots, free brushstroke made him recognizable among many other Russian painters.
Throughout the decades the artist stays true to his main subject, Russian province, being alive to the beauty of old cities, such as Torzhok, Pereslavl, Suzdal. He is captivated by the locals’ everyday life in its details. He depicts his characters when smoking cigarettes on the chairs, reading the books, walking around. At the same time Tutunov is an acknowledged landscape artist of the 1960s – 1970s, his works were exhibited at the All Union and republican exhibitions, at the international biennales in Venice and Paris. In his paintings human and nature are inseparable, together they create a unified whole.
Golden Evening on the Island is a work created in 1983. The painting was preceded by a real artist’s trip to the small island at Lake Kubenskoye, which impressed him a lot and motivated to create this work. This period of Andrey Tutunov’s art is characterized by mostly parabolic, allegorical painting.
The island looks fantastic and unreal, like a magical fish creature from the traditional Russian folk tales, with its shape reminding of a fish tail. The artist chose the high angle, unfolding the panoramic view before the viewer. One can’t but mention the remarkable painting’s palette. The setting sun kindled the island, having turned it into gold. The fairytale is filled with real objects, such as a temple, a tractor, horses, villagers. The artist paints surely, a bit carelessly, the form and composition are movable as if they were swimming away from the point, fixed by the painter.
It’s hard to refer this work to the certain genre, landscape or genre art. Here we have features of both of them. The artist worked on the landscape, and in its background the life of a small island with its everyday life unfolded. We’re watching the ordinary people’s activities on the summer evening. The typical life of the provincial Russia takes place here. The island is a generalized character, an allegory of human values. Perhaps a human soul aims at such island looking for peace and calmness in the noise and anxiety of modern life.
Throughout the decades the artist stays true to his main subject, Russian province, being alive to the beauty of old cities, such as Torzhok, Pereslavl, Suzdal. He is captivated by the locals’ everyday life in its details. He depicts his characters when smoking cigarettes on the chairs, reading the books, walking around. At the same time Tutunov is an acknowledged landscape artist of the 1960s – 1970s, his works were exhibited at the All Union and republican exhibitions, at the international biennales in Venice and Paris. In his paintings human and nature are inseparable, together they create a unified whole.
Golden Evening on the Island is a work created in 1983. The painting was preceded by a real artist’s trip to the small island at Lake Kubenskoye, which impressed him a lot and motivated to create this work. This period of Andrey Tutunov’s art is characterized by mostly parabolic, allegorical painting.
The island looks fantastic and unreal, like a magical fish creature from the traditional Russian folk tales, with its shape reminding of a fish tail. The artist chose the high angle, unfolding the panoramic view before the viewer. One can’t but mention the remarkable painting’s palette. The setting sun kindled the island, having turned it into gold. The fairytale is filled with real objects, such as a temple, a tractor, horses, villagers. The artist paints surely, a bit carelessly, the form and composition are movable as if they were swimming away from the point, fixed by the painter.
It’s hard to refer this work to the certain genre, landscape or genre art. Here we have features of both of them. The artist worked on the landscape, and in its background the life of a small island with its everyday life unfolded. We’re watching the ordinary people’s activities on the summer evening. The typical life of the provincial Russia takes place here. The island is a generalized character, an allegory of human values. Perhaps a human soul aims at such island looking for peace and calmness in the noise and anxiety of modern life.
