FINE ARTS
FINE ARTS, a type of visual arts including painting, graphics and sculpture. The formation of the Bashkir fine arts started at the end of the 19th to early 20th century. Previously, it was restrained by the orthodox Islam, which forbade depicting images of the real world, and therefore, the art tradition that developed among the indigenous population was only of decorative and applied art. Its coloristic, ornamental and plastique features left an original imprint on the character of F.a. among the Bashkirs. At the beginning of the 20th century, in Bashkortostan there were several active art studios led by professional artists. In 1913, the first art organization, the Ufa Society of Painting Enthusiasts was founded. Its artists, who took part in the exhibitions of 1916–17 were the true originators of the modern Bashkir F.a. These were: Yu.Yu.Blumenthal, K.S.Devletkildeyev, M.N.Elgashtina, V.S.Syromyatnikov, A.E.Tyulkin and others. Their creative work activity became the guarantee of high spiritual and professional level of all types of F.a. in the Republic.
In the 1920s, in Ufa, there were established several art studios and workshops. The opening in 1926 of the Bashkir School of Fine Arts (ref. Uchilishche of Arts) laid the foundation for the future preparation of artists in the Republic. Between 1925–32, in Ufa, there functioned a branch of the Association of Artists of Revolutionary Russia, in the exhibitions of which there participated artists from other regions of Russia who contributed to exchange of experience with local artists. In these years, the regulatory measures of the government demanded a certain thematic direction in the arts, and the dominant theme was Soviet Realism and depictions of Soviet reality. There developed historical and relatedto-daily-life genres, landscape art, portraits, certain unique graphics; as well as satiric and book graphics, and set designs. Artists of Bashkortostan participated in the AllRussia Exhibition dedicated to the 10th Anniversary of the October Revolution (Moscow, 1927), in The Artists of the Outlying Regions of Soviet Russia overseas exhibition (San Diego, USA; 1929).
During the Great Patriotic War, a series of drawings, which became a chronicle of the war timeline, were created by Devletkildeyev, R.G.Gumerov, G.Sh.Imasheva, G.V.Ogorodov, K.E.Orlov, A.T.Platonov, S.V.Shishkov, and N.M.Chaplygin.
In the postwar years, in Bashkortostan the leading themes became various depiction of local heroism and the beauty of the native land. The artists who dedicated their creative efforts to these themes were: V.P.Andreyev, N.N.Anisiforova, B.D.Yezhov, R.U.Ishbulatov, G.S.Mustafin, Platonov, Tyulkin, A.V.Khramov and others. In 1955 in Moscow, there was an official promotional activity called the Decade of the Bashkir Arts and Literature, the participants of which became both the masters of the older generation and the younger artists: A.D.Burzyantsev, B.F.Domashnikov, F.A.Kashcheyev, A.A.Kuznetsov, A.F.Lutfullin, R.M.Nurmukhametov, V.A.Pozdnov, P.P.Salmasov and others. Between 1950–60s, one can observe the formation of the field of monumental and easel sculpture; among the leading masters of which were Z.R.Basyrov, G.I.Mukhametshin, T.P.Nechayeva, and B.D.Fuzeyev.
The 1960–70s was a period when Bashkir F.a. began to truly flourish. All its types and genres developed, acquiring particular distinctive features of Bashkir schools, which were characterized by spiritual depth while emphasizing decorativeness and emotionality. The genre-related paintings, as well as portrait, and landscape painting also experienced a great deal of growth and development. A new stage in the development of the Bashkir graphics was associated with the beginning of creative activities of the masters of print (R.M.Agishev, A.G.Korolevsky, B.Ya.Palekha, E.M.Saitov, Sh.G.Chanyshev) and poster arts (A.A.Astrakhantsev, V.Ya.Batishchev, S.A.Fadeyev, and A.A.Holopov). With the development of urban planning, artistic design is increasingly applied to public, residential and industrial buildings which stimulated the development of various types of monumental art. Much attention is paid to art education and professional training of artists.
In the 1980–90s, the artists of Bashkortostan strive to express a deeply personal perception of reality, their worldview position changes which is associated with the gradual democratization of public life. New forms of creative activities are addressed in the works of E.A.Vinokurov, E.O.Kleymenov, S.B.Krasnov, M.D.Kuznetsov, U.G.Mukhametshin, M.G.Spiridonov, I.Kh.Nasibullin, I.I.Fartukov, R.S.Khabirov; and in graphic works of R.R.Abdullin, V.N.Lesin, R.R.Magliyev, O.A.Samosyuk. Traditions of the Russian avant-garde in the early 20th century and Western European cultural influences are creatively combined in the paintings of R.Kh.Gaitov, R.Z.Garifullin, M.I.Davletbayev, S.N.Ignatenko, R.F.Ismagilov, S.A.Lebedev, M.A.Nazarov, N.A.Pakhomov; in a number of sculptural compositions by N.A.Kalinushkin, V.G.Lobanov, F.S.Nuriakhmetov; and in the wall paintings of R.Ya.Minnebayev and A.R.Teregulov.
Mutual influence of Eastern and Western cultures determines thematic and stylistic orientation of the creative works of R.Kh. Akhmetvaliyev, N.G.Baiburin, N.S.Latfullin, V.M.Khannanov, and R.Z.Kharisov. At the end of the 1980s – beginning of the 1990s the people who were especially active in the field of F.a. were R.S.Zainetdinov, F.A.Ismagilov, D.N.Ishemgulov, L.F.Mugtobarov, F.S.Shaimukhametov, Kh.S.Fazylov and others. Theater-related decorative art in this period is associated with the creative works of R.M.Arslanov and T.G.Enikeyev. From the beginning of 1990s, one can observe the expansion of creative contacts of the artists of the republic with the wider art world. They are involved in All-Russian and international exhibitions and projects. Creative works of Bashkortostan artists are now in the art collections of the Tretyakov Gallery (Moscow), the Russian Museum (St. Petersburg), the BSAM, various Russian and Republican museums and galleries, as well as in private collections in Russia and abroad.
