Borisov: painting beyond the Arctic Circle
His work is unique inasmuch as it was written in arctic conditions, some at temperatures below 20 degrees.
The stories of famous people who have achieved a lot are always inspiring. When you get acquainted with the biography of any interesting representative of the human race, you think about the number of obstacles he overcame to achieve his goal. Sometimes it is even difficult to imagine how people perform certain actions. There is an explanation, though. The call of the heart, for example.
In Arkhangelsk, the capital of Pomorye, in an old mansion on the waterfront, there is the Museum of Artistic Development of the Arctic, largely dedicated to the work of the Russian artist Alexander Alexeyevich Borisov.
He went an amazing way for the sake of his calling: from the age of 15 he worked in the Solovetsky monastery, where he began to learn painting. But his paintings of that period were unfinished and incomplete. He used to say that his calling was to draw nature, the rest was secondary.
His works are unique in that they are painted in arctic conditions, some at temperatures below 20 degrees. More like sketches, they attract with their originality and atmosphere.
Talent helped the artist to become noticed - he entered the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg. The works of Borisov's period of study there are somewhat reminiscent of the stylistic masterpieces of Kuindzhi and Shishkin, his teachers and masters.
The northern latitudes always attracted Borisov and gave him no rest. In the summer of 1894, he accompanied Sergei Witte on his trip to the North. During the trip, the artist made sketches and sketches of what he saw. At the beginning of the 20th century, he joined the expedition to the Novaya Zemlya archipellago. The trip was difficult, the crew had to overcome many difficulties. The result - in addition to his life experience, Alexander Alekseyevich brought with him a huge number of sketches, which later became the basis for his monumental works.
Gradually he began to attract more attention and at exhibitions in St. Petersburg and Moscow he was noticed by representatives of the art world in other countries. Thus began the journey of his work around the world: Paris, London, Vienna, Berlin, Oslo...
A brilliant man is brilliant in everything, isn't he? In addition to paintings, he wrote travel notes and was one of the developers of the Ob-Murmansk Railway project. Borisov loved Russia so much that after his death he bequeathed all of his works to the state. Many canvases were returned to his homeland after long wanderings in the West.
Today his works can be found in Russian collections, some of them are in the Russian Museum and the Tretyakov Gallery. In the artist's house-museum near Krasnoborsk, the walls are covered with his paintings, and the Museum of Arctic Art in Arkhangelsk owns a rather extensive collection of his paintings.
In the latter once a week is a guided tour, during which you can learn about the life and work of the genius of Russian northern painting closer. So, if you happen to be in this remote region of our country - be sure to stop by.