TRENDS IN THE FINE ARTS OF TATARSTAN IN THE 1970-1990S ON THE EXAMPLE OF NARKIS PONOMAREV’S CREATIVITY

Abstract

he article is devoted to the late Soviet period of fine arts in Tatarstan — a republic with rich avantgarde traditions, which was characterised by extraordinary intensity of artists’ creative life during the 1970–1990s. Today, this period of art, as a regional version of the second wave of the avant-garde, still remains insufficiently studied and requires more detailed and scrupulous study and understanding. The topic is considered on the example of one of the most original painters of Kazan of the second half of the 20th century — Narkis Ponomarev (1946–1996), who is considered by the author to be among the unofficial circle of artists. The study introduces the personality of Ponomarev as a self-taught artist and autodidact into the scientific context for the first time. It is argued that, despite the lack of the master’s professional art education and the resulting difficulties (lack of recognition in the artistic community, criticism from official art critics and officials, inability to exhibit, and so on), he managed to form and develop a self-sufficient and original art. Avant-garde tendencies in the artist’s work are identified and substantiated based on an analysis of more than 60 Ponomarev’s works mainly from private collections. Turning to the heritage of Matisse, Picasso, Chagall, German expressionists, etc., without copying, only focusing on them, Ponomarev developed his own artistic concept. Using a variety of bright colours, free volumetric strokes, turning to marginal subjects or lyrical landscapes and fantastic images, he imbued his works with simplicity and primitiveness, in the good sense of the word, of the image itself. It is noted that creativity, which gained its fame and recognition only in the post-Soviet period, was necessary for Ponomarev as a way of understanding the world around and oneself, as a therapeutic impulse for one’s own alienation. The purpose of this article is to trace the evolution of the artist, to reveal the role and significance of Ponomarev’s creative activity in the artistic life of Tatarstan in the 1970–1990s. The presentation of new trends and the introduction of new names into scientific circulation will help to identify paradoxes and facets in the history of the second wave of avant-garde in the era of the USSR.