Page 21 - Живописи

important anniversary exhibitions «Forty Years of Soviet Power» (1957), «Forty Years of Soviet
Power in Kazakhstan» (1960) and «The Decade of Kazakh Literature and Art in Moscow» (1958)
encouraged artists to produce grandiose thematic canvases. Those works were characterized not
only by their sophisticated execution, but by the breadth of artistic vision, strength of reflection,
boldness of artistic ideas, and ability to generalize and select, i.e., to construct an artistic-pictorial
picture of the world. In genre painting, these criteria were vividly displayed in subjects based on the
examination of the life and traditions of the Kazakh people, the great heritage of folk art, modern
literature and other forms of art. Artists also actively engaged the landscape, lending it distinct
meaning In particular, the Kazakh steppe became the main site of action. It appeared as both a
natural human environment and at the same time, as a symbol of ecumene and the philosophical
world outlook of the nomads.
The outstanding works in the museum’s collection have since become the classics of Kazakh
painting. These include ‘The Portrait of Amangeldy Imanov’ by Abylkhan Kasteyev, ‘Chasing a
Horse’ by Moldakhmet Kenbayev, ‘Kokpar’ by Kanafia Telzhanov, ‘Kurtogay’ by Aubakir Ismailov,
‘The Composers of Kazakhstan’ by Leonid Leontiev, ‘Girl at the Window’ by Sabur Mambeyev,
‘Kazakh Waltz’ by Gulfairuz Ismailova, ‘In the Ili River Valley’ by Nurlan Tansykbayev, ‘Noon’ by
Kamil Shayakhmetov, ‘Night at Zhailau’ by Ariy Shkolny and the ‘Women of My Motherland’ by
Ali Jusupov.
Along with official canvases that artists produced for government commissions and to reflect
the pathos of socialist construction, the collection was enriched by avant-garde paintings that did
not quite fit into the prevailing ideological frame. However, thanks to the initiative of then-Director
Lubov Plakhotnaya, the collection incorporated impressionist paintings by Vladimir Eifert, an artist
who was repressed in the 1930s and survived the Gulag. The collection also boasts a unique collection
of works by Sergey Kalmykov and several expressive landscape studies by the avant-garde painter
Valery Kapterev.
The emergence of a young generation of reformers during the Soviet “Thaw” period marks
a turning point in the history of Kazakh painting. They tried to comprehend global changes in
the policy and public consciousness by involving themselves in the search for a national cultural
code in art. A spirit of investigation and innovation was in the air. Also developing at that time
was a new interest in figurativeness, as Kazakh artists strove to find the original national language
of Kazakh painting. A breakthrough generation of young artists of the sixties, led by their leader
Salihitdin Aitbayev, appeared. Shaimardan Sariyev, Tokbolat Toguzbaev, Bakhtiyar Tabiyev and
Abdrashit Sydykhanov all raised reality to the symbol of epic sounding. Their art was characterized
by the dramatic quality of images, emotional tension, the desire to reveal the color’s decorative
opportunities, and tendencies towards generalization and allegory.
In 1912, Fernand Leger wrote: «A work of art must be significant in its own time, like any
other intellectual manifestation. Because painting is visual, it is necessarily the reflection of external
rather than psychological conditions… The existence of modern creative people is much more
intense and more complex than that of people in earlier centuries. The thing that is imagined is less
fixed, the object exposes itself less than it did formerly. When one crosses a landscape by automobile
or express train, it becomes fragmented; it loses in descriptive value but gains in synthetic value. A
modern man registers a hundred times more sensory impressions than an eighteenth-century artist;
so much so that our language, for example, is full of abbreviations.» /1/
In the 1960s, the museum’s collection was systematically expanded annually by 300 to 500
new works. The main acquisitions came through the Ministry of Culture of the Kazakh SSR, the
Union of Artists of Kazakhstan, and the Artistic Fund of the Kazakh SSR. After being exhibited at
travelling exhibitions, the works of art entered the museum from the Directorate of Art Exhibitions.
The museum also acquired works directly from artists’ studios. In 2014, the premises and funds of
the Directorate of Art Exhibitions of Kazakhstan were transferred to the Kasteyev State Museum of
Arts. As a result, the Museum acquired 2,000 works, including paintings, sculpture and graphics.
Currently, this branch of the museum is called the Central Exhibition Hall, which hosts temporary
exhibitions.
On September 23, 1976 a landmark event has occurred in the cultural life of the Republic:
the opening of a new museum. It was established according to a government decree that combined
the Shevchenko Art Gallery and the Museum of Kazakh Decorative and Applied Arts into a single
museum: the Kasteyev State Museum of Art.
The architectural design of the building meets all functional demands of the museum. It is
fitted with beautiful, light exhibition rooms, facilities for storage, restoration and research, a library,
an inner yard and even a gym, i.e., matched to the advanced standards of the museum building.

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