The magical and humorous world in the paintings of the "Dutch surrealist" from Russia: Why Valery Bagaev is compared to Bruegel

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Today we will again talk about contemporary art and present to the public an amazing gallery of works by the Nizhny Novgorod artist Valery Bagaev, who skillfully combined Western European classics, surrealism, and symbolism in his work. The magical picturesque world, subtle kind humor and ingenuity are miraculously intertwined in his works not only with the skill of the artist, but also with his gift of a storyteller, like Bruegel's.

In his unusual works, the master, creating an extraordinary, colorful painting in the spirit of fantastic realism, tells us new fairy tales about us, sometimes ridiculous and stupid … Because, often the plots of the artist's paintings are allegories to real life. And even in the smallest of his works, you can find a whole ironic story, or even a novel from life itself …

Many consider Valery Bagaev to be an artist who inherited the style of the old Dutch genre painters of the 17th century, bringing their sad and ironic mood to contemporary art. The author himself has long defined his style as "Dutch surrealism - periodically leaving the Russian-Siberian distance." Of course, the influence of the Dutch school of painting on Valery's work is obvious, but, according to experts, such imagery and mythology of plots are most likely characteristic of symbolism.

What is very interesting, Bagaev often uses the basis for his painting, in addition to canvases, objects of unusual shape and origin: tree cuts, cupboards, troughs, old chests, frames for mirrors, iron plates, and sometimes completely unexpected things. … You can list it endlessly. And this, most likely, is not only a search for novelty or a desire to prolong the existence of antiques or simply old, memorable things, but also a reverent, individual attitude to the creation of each new work.

Weaving the stories of these things into the general atmosphere of his work, the artist expands the depicted plot so that the image can go beyond the canvas, not only in meaning, but also in space. At the same time, the master sometimes adds verses and parables to the image. By the way, quite often Valery accompanies pictures with his own amusing texts.

As for no less amusing plots of paintings, they always come to the author from life. Each new idea, falling into the field of vision of the fabulous imagination of the painter, develops by him and continues one storyline after another, creating extraordinary cities and chamber genre scenes.

It is thanks to the Dutch style of painting, which is distinguished by the subtlety and expressiveness of writing, an abundance of details, that in many works of the Nizhny Novgorod master one can observe miniature figurines of mysterious characters that bring an element of special subtle humor to the plots of his works.

So, the adventures of colorful tiny heroes, placed in still lifes, landscapes and everyday scenes that are classic for Holland in the 17th century, give viewers the opportunity to plunge into the space of magical dreams and fabulous secrets

Valery's paintings are so interesting in their content that they can be viewed and studied with great pleasure for a long time, each time finding new and new details and plot threads. "Unrolling" this or that picture of Bagaev, one never ceases to be amazed: how all this could have been invented and so skillfully depicted! Finding quotes and allusions. They return to childhood and promise a bright, no - a fabulous future.

- this is how Bagaev himself characterizes his work.

This is how the artist's main philosophy is revealed: the painting itself is the main character in communication with both the artist and the viewer. - says Valery.

The path to creativity

Artist Valery Bagaev was born in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, currently lives and works in Nizhny Novgorod. He did not come to the art of painting right away, but now we can confidently say that in it he found his "I", which he devoted without reserve to creativity. The path to it turned out to be quite long, but the artist himself says.

When Valery graduated from school, and very well, his mother said: But his son, considering the profession of an artist frivolous, dismissed this idea. Then there was study, the army, a special police detachment, powerlifting (power triathlon), the Academy of Physical Education and Sports. Nevertheless, artistic creation has always been going on in parallel. Often Valery had to draw wall newspapers, war sheets, and much more.

As Valery himself recalls:.

Valery's exhibition artistic activity dates back to the 2000s. His first personal exhibition "Something Human" took place in 2006. Since then, Valery Bagaev is known both in Russia and abroad. About five hundred of his works are in private collections of collectors.

It is not surprising that Valery Bagaev has many constant admirers, including among well-known figures of Russian show business and in the diplomatic environment. His paintings decorate the interior of the house of Oleg Mityaev, Brothers Kristovsky, Sergei Svetlakov, Yuri Galtsev, Valery Syutkin, as well as ambassadors of France, Italy and Holland. It should be noted that almost every owner of a painting by Valery Bagaev must return for at least one more.

Summing up the above, I would like to say that it is precisely such an unusual combination of composition, technique and manner of writing that distinguishes the artist among Russian authors. And if we talk about the "visiting card" and "author's handwriting" of the master, then the recognizability of the artist's paintings is indisputable. Each of his works is unique in its own way.

Continuing the theme of unusual subjects in the work of contemporary artists, read: Charming girls from the world of dreams of the Belarusian surrealist: Pictures that are called kitsch.