Russian landscapes of Alexander Afonin, who is called modern Shishkin

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

Examining the artist's work Alexandra Afonina, does not leave the feeling of déjà vu, as if I had seen something like this before. Nevertheless, they beckon and attract the viewer's eye and do not let go for a long time. The familiar style and landscape theme are already painfully impressive. And the thing is that Alexander's painting is often compared with the works of the eminent landscape painter of the 19th century Ivan Shishkin. And how much this corresponds to reality you can see for yourself by looking at a selection of works by a modern master.

Alexander Afonin (born 1966) inherited the gift from his father, a drawing teacher, and developed his skills at an art school and a college in his native city of Kursk. After graduating from the Moscow Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, he remained within the walls of the University as a teacher at the Department of Landscape Painting. He was awarded the title of Associate Professor, Professor of Painting, and later Honored Artist of Russia. And today he is the head of the landscape workshop at the Academy of Painting. Glazunov and a member of the UNESCO International Federation of Artists.

An important role in the formation of Afonin's natural talent was played by the meter of Russian painting Ilya Glazunov, the rector of the Academy, where Alexander studied. He instilled in his students a love for Russia, for its cultural and spiritual values. And among the best students of Ilya Sergeevich, who responded to the idea of reviving the Fatherland, was Alexander Afonin.

The diploma work of the graduate of the Academy in 1995 was the painting "There is a cliff on the Volga …", which showed his true skill and talent and, which became the starting point to the pinnacle of recognition and popularity.

To all his merits, Alexander Pavlovich is a constant participant in domestic and foreign art forums and exhibitions. Reproductions of his canvases have been published in the personal albums Modern Russian Realism and Alexander and Sayda Afonins. New names of Russian realism”.

And there were times when, as a student, Alexander, in order to get an album with reproductions of Shishkin's works, and it cost much more than his scholarship was, got a job at a construction site to bring concrete. During the shift I was so tired that I fell off my feet. However, the album was bought and the happiness of the student Afonin knew no bounds.

Alexander Pavlovich's painting is surprisingly simple and realistic. His creations are a hymn to wildlife and its beauty. He, like Ivan Shishkin once did, in each of his creations elevates the beauty familiar to everyone to a worthy place in contemporary art. The immense expanses of the Russian landscape will captivate the viewer with its scope and panoramic view. And in order to convey the familiar simplicity of the surrounding world so magnificently, the artist must not only masterly master the technique, but also put in a piece of his soul, his worldview.

The artist has always preferred to work in the open air, since nothing can replace the master with direct communication with nature. - Alexander Pavlovich once said.

And what is interesting, the painter constantly finds such images in typical Russian landscapes that are difficult to describe in words, they can only be felt with every fiber. The greatness of nature, recreated on canvases, makes the heart sink and plunge headlong into its vastness, breathe its atmosphere and enjoy the skill of a talented painter.

Especially for fans of the work of the great Shishkin, a story about what personal dramas drove the artist to despair.