Paintings and photographs dedicated to the beauty of the Arctic presented at an exhibition in Arkhangelsk

The State Museum Association "Artistic Culture of the Russian North" and the National Park "Russian Arctic" have prepared a joint exhibition project "Following the footsteps of the great with a camera." In the exposition, which opened at the Arkhangelsk Museum of Artistic Exploration of the Arctic,
the works of Alexander Borisov, Stepan Pisakhov, Ilya (Tyko) Vylka and Nikolai Gernet are presented.

“For the first time, the Museum of Artistic Exploration of the Arctic named after A.A. Borisov presents a unique symbiosis of painting by the oldest artists of the North and modern photographs, separated by a century, but inspired by the same eternal beauties of the Arctic,” the museum association’s website says.

The first painter of "eternal ice" was Alexander Borisov (1866-1934), through whose eyes the world first saw the Arctic in color. However, not everyone believed the artist - there were critics who claimed that there were no and could not be bright colors beyond the Arctic Circle, the report says.

The artist Stepan Pisakhov (1879-1960) visited the Arctic in 1905. The first trip to Novaya Zemlya grew into a great love for the Arctic expanses, which he carried through his whole life and preserved for future generations.

“The artists Borisov and Pisakhov, during their wanderings, managed to kindle the talent of the young Nenets hunter Ilya (Tyko) Vylka (1886-1960). Having received artistic and civic precepts from the great "singers" of the Arctic, Vylka devoted his entire life to the development of the polar lands. From his paintings, it is no longer a harsh and dangerous land that looks at us, but multi-colored inviting spaces ready for development and waiting for a person, ”the museum association said.

Today, the Arctic remains a place difficult for the average traveler to reach, but there are people and organizations that are trying to make it closer. Among them - Nikolai Gernet, photographer and employee of the Russian Arctic National Park.

According to the organizers of the exhibition, in his photographs there is a surprising resemblance to the paintings of Borisov, Pisakhov and Vylka.
“Sometimes the same places are filmed, sometimes natural phenomena. The angles, colors, impressions match. At the exhibition, you will have a rare opportunity to see A.A. Borisov and S.G. Pisakhov, which we supplemented with professionally taken photographs of N.S. Gernet.
Together, these works, complementing each other, reveal the artistic world of the Russian Arctic,” the message says.

 The exhibition will run until April 14.