The life of caught illusions or a tour of the museum. A. Kasteeva in Alma-Ata

What to do? – emotions are free birds, we only follow their flight.

We are talking about Sergei Kalmykov , an artist who probably stayed in the House of the Deaf (Francisco Goya) before a long journey to the frontiers of only available lands to him.

I don’t know anyone else who would paint images of Pure Reason so fearlessly and sincerely . Calling Kalmykov’s works the life of illusions caught, we also do not sin against the truth, his canvases live their own, let’s say not protein, but no less natural form of life, these are not paintings in the usual sense of the word .

As for illusions, chimeras and visions , it is simple and clear here. They are natives of a space that is always with us, but where we rarely go. Very few dare to meet them with their eyes open, even fewer who present what they see to the outside world, except to recall Pier e Paolo Pasolini with his final scenes of the Canterbury Tales.

Bosch? – more illustrative scholasticism than in reality known things , there was such a time and maybe someone will remember Dali . Also exactly past, after all , Salvador Dali in his apparent stream of images is a rather bright and naive boy.

There are few works of Kalmykov in the museum, each of them is a head of the Necronomicon or images of Cthulhu and sorting through in memory , the question remains – would you really like to see everything?

 

It is best to come to the Kasteev Museum in a drizzling morning rain , ideally in April, when it looks especially elegant.

The Soviet Art Nouveau of the 70s, a direct successor of the Art Nouveau of the beginning of the last century in the architectural design of the museum, is as expressive as an Egyptian obelisk and harmonious as a sonata by Gustav Mahler . The concept of fashion or modernity applies to him exactly as to the Parisian Beaubourg:

– before us is a work of art intended for displaying and storing works of art.

Beaubourg, aka Center Pompidou, is not a random association.

Despite the geographical difference and the otherness of architectural solutions , both museums are similar as cousins ​​and, moreover, they are almost the same age. State Museum of Arts. A. Kasteeva was founded in 1976, the National Center for Art and Culture of Georges Pompidou in 1977 .

Beaubourg, of course, is a world exposition center (Paris, do not forget) , but first of all it is the French State Museum of Modern Art . And in this world of beautiful forms and embodied dreams , you can talk about anything, except for accidents and coincidences, they live at a different address.

 

About in ostorg e as a form of knowledge.

Far from being the rarest feeling in these museum halls, it’s as sudden and overwhelming as the collapse of an elevator in the Empire State Building . Exaggeration , we do not deny , nevertheless it is quite suitable for describing the tenderness of the given, and the artist Bulat Toguzbaev is absolutely unexpected , first visually, then mentally.

Firstly, dramaturgy, each work is a theater of miniatures , or a wandering farce, a matter of taste. You should not guess the plot, just watch , applause according to your mood.

Secondly, associative collapse, turning into insight.

The first glance – Niko Pirosmani, by the artlessness and materiality of what is written, but already at the second glance, the Georgian is replaced by a Frenchman with the surname Matisse, brothers of the same palette.

Then, the bright madness of each work, combined with the finest lyrics of the plot, informs – the phenomenon is unique and unique, and leave the anatomy to the profane.

As befits everything real, there are not many paintings by Bulat and Toguzbaev , not every tracker will find, but believe me, the find is worth the search.

Let’s leave the details, let’s talk about the general.

Of course, the State Museum of Arts . A. Kasteev is completely academic, not accidental, but immanent to the concept of ” academicism ” .

Eleven permanent exhibitions of the museum will leave almost no gaps in the content of the lofty word “art”, no matter what content you fill it with . There is no perfection in the world (especially in art), but why not create an image close to him ?

Here the performance starts from the hanger and the dressing room, we are talking about the collection of Kazakh folk arts and crafts located right at the entrance, and here it is, the beginning of the performance , which is definitely worth watching to the end.

The main thing is not to feel constrained in the expenditure of time, the latter does not generate fuss, which reduces the perception of an arbitrary masterpiece to the level of a comic book.

The collection of Western European classics occupies a fair amount of space in the museum space and the assortment presented is good, but what is actually the classics of those countries of that period ? Free interpretation: its presence in every self-respecting museum from Fiji to Oslo , as well as a verified set of genres, plots, and so on . , reduces it to the level of a bathroom in an apartment – it is essential , and yet our main focus is on the kitchen, bedroom and living room.

Of course, classicism, baroque and further by genre, it is necessary to know, it is not necessary to remember. The genres are surprisingly similar to themselves and to themselves, the skill of performing this or that Venice, Roman ruins, Hercules and Parthenons, not every connoisseur will determine, just as the palette is not much different from Italy to Westphalia . Perhaps the only striking exception of those times and colors is the Little Dutch and the adjacent Flanders, with an undoubted similarity of genres and styles, they are surprisingly national and individual, just as one cannot find a master who even slightly repeated the palette or manner of his brother in the workshop. Phenomenally and inexplicably everyday lifeoh logic and , in my opinion, just Apollo and Calypso in those days sat down tightly on Dutch and Flemish dark beer (dobbelkuyt) .

In the halls of Russian art, Aivazovsky is unusually good, although Aivazovsky is good everywhere, where you don’t exhibit him. It will also look great in the collection of Turner William , since all the elements are marine, differences in palette and expression. And if you add Rockwell Kent to this imaginary collection, then the fullness of harmony will be unusual. The cold calm of the Arctic waters will encircle the transparent fury of Aivazovsky’s ramparts and the waves of Turner washed out by the wind, fog and sun .

Distracted, it happens.

Returning to the subject, the museum can rightly be proud of the collection of Russian art, it included almost all periods of the genesis of this phenomenon of world culture and every name presented here would cause a stir at Sotheby’s. Nevertheless , the Wanderers look organically on Yamal , as well as Kustodiev and Petrov-Vodkin, whom I adore, will feel great in the Musée d’ Orsay . Therefore , I admit to considering this collection as a baguette of marvelous beauty, but the canvas itself will be discussed below.

P. _ S. _ I was struck by the portrait of an officer painted by Konstantin Korovin. As an image of the entire Russian officer corps of that era, one face – and all Kuprin with Sevastopol stories to boot.

Painting, gentlemen, painting..

Now let’s ask ourselves an infrequent question , is it possible to reflect the national idea with canvas and paint ?

Answer? – of course , yes.

A priori : the role of Edouard Manet , Renoir , Claude Monet , Camille Pissarro and Edgar Degas ( see Impressionists ) in the creation of French identity is no less important than the well-known song of the Marseillaise, General Charles de Gaulle , croissants , cigarettes Gauloise and a lamppost named after the engineer Eiffel.

A posteriori: Without a national palette, the real one is always unique ! – the image of the country and the citizens living in it will remain incomplete .

Personal opinion, I think that the completion of the images of France and the Frenchman belongs to the brush of Fernand a Léger. Incredibly French (color!) canvases create a canon perceived by any viewer , much like any Citroen canonizes the image of a “French car”. Others , including the famous French chanson and the unique cinematograph – details and decor near the main masterpiece.

Between words:

— I can’t help but like the Sagrada Familia, and there are no more boring places than Park Güell in all of Barcelona , ​​but what am I with the glance of a casual spectator , a hitchhiker ? A feast not for my eyes, but for the country of Cataluña , her soul soars here at the behest of Antoni Gaudí and in his name. Let us assume that both in the Gothic Quarter and on the Rambla, a local resident is as rare as a truffle in the tundra , but this is not important . Everything around you is natural He will tell you about the country and those living in it in a language that is more accessible to the eye and ear than any encyclopedia.

Ergo: having made a mental flight from the capital of Catalonia to the southern capital, we will inform the weary reader without delay –

– the national palette of Kazakhstan exists and it was created in the world by the painter Abilkhan Kasteev .

The case is widespread, the things that exist in the world are created by loners and usually for centuries. These are Buddha, Confucius, Octavian August, Alexander Pushkin , Edgar Allan Poe, Abay and Christopher Columbus, as a symbol of the eternal thirst for discovery.

Clio is capricious and not favorable to everyone, but sometimes she knows how to be generous.

The living fabric of the language into world literature – Abay Kunanbaev , from the history of legends to reveal the history of the people – Chokan Valikhanov , the last touch only with paint – Abilkhan Kasteev and the portrait of the country in the interior is considered complete.

It is remarkable that in the Museum, without leaving one hall , you can see the whole history of the appearance of the fine arts of Kazakhstan and the transformation of the gift of the artist Kasteev into the property of world art .

Nature is not exchanged for something else , and the memorial exposition of the classic gives this feeling from the first glance to the last canvas. The colors, the inner rhythm of any picture and the absence of obvious associations with the Russian school of painting , in which Abilkhan Kasteev spent his student years .

The only exception is the portrait of Chokan Valikhanov.

On the one hand, there is an instant memory reference to Ivan Nikolaich Kramskoy’s magical classic “Christ in the Wilderness” , whether by composition, palette , and that inexpressible thing that can be called Aeterna ( eternity ) .

The second unforgettable is Vrubel’s Demon. The relative similarity may not be so obvious , it is not the essence of it. After all, everything is here – with a quiet deceptive peace and an abyss of easy breathing …

The parade of associations is completed by lieutenant Lermontov, almost the same age as his death. It’s amazing how young geniuses sometimes look alike , both in fate and appearance , no matter what land they were born on . On the other hand, Fatum knows no boundaries, in any region he finds his own.

The halls of the Socialist Realism of the Museum are magnificent , not a single random work and, gentlemen, true craftsmanship cannot be ruined by any plot .

Let ‘s put it this way, contemporary formats are a society , but for a true artist , it’s a secondary thing .

The Ghibellines did not devalue Dante, the communists did not raise the artist Gerasimov to Olympus, talent rules the era. Absolute freedom gave us performances and Damien Hirst, in fact, Nothing-with-Ring, and sometimes the emptiness vomits from them.

One of the funniest things about social realism in Kazakh is that any work of the named period contains about 7-12% socialism , like in good beers , the rest is purely national flavor .

And the scales of Kasteev sound in every nocturne embodied to the truth , for all the dissimilarity of the performers.

—

Faust legend.

The spirit of a warlock student knows no boundaries , and before Goethe , the Faust of German legends was just a vagant specializing in Roman law, applied magic and the classification of the spirits of darkness and fire. From the shadow with a spark into the light, the natural tradition of any talent with a minimal thirst to be.

The young force of space and light imprinted in the canvas, like a Homunculus in a flask.

What would be here about her? – probably because eternal youth in love and colors has little to do with the metric. Youth is a transcendent concept , which Salikhitdin Aitbaev undoubtedly understood in the irony of reason and the seriousness of the easel.

Little has been seen , but for understanding it is in abundance – everything is incredibly Kazakh and so on and so extemporaneous painting. She is a sister and the same age as the Fayum portrait, or the Egyptian fresco, which, by a strange coincidence of talent, has come to life in our time. And certainly a manifest relationship with Abilkhan Kasteev, not a student and teacher, but a companion in spirit.

It’s a pity, a few works. Half of the fingers of one hand is enough .

The final chord is like a small explosion of a supernova , about the artist Zhanatay Shardenov .

You freeze at the very first picture with a magical feeling that the landscape is molded on the canvas with colored magma and geodesic layers;

This is the Earth : – the Earth, man – A ll the Old Creative Nature.

Of course, not the first time I met a painting style , but so saturated with tangible nature – it looks like the first time. Not many people are allowed such a scope, in terms of intentions the technique is thinner than with fumato , the whole nature is in plain sight.

Here it is impossible to conceal that the poverty of the idea is the rubbish of consciousness, each movement of the brush opens the one standing wide open at the easel .

Well, you can’t add words to a look, pictures must be seen.

This concludes the first tour of the State Museum of Arts. A. Kasteev, I’m sure – not the last.

Fiat!

Arthur Novikov