The extensive and vividly original portrait art of Turgunbai Sadykov captures the social and spiritual atmosphere of modern Kyrgyzstan. Through images of strong, integral characters—talented individuals known for their labor achievements, scientific or artistic endeavors—the artist affirms the significance of a personality shaped under socialism, embodying a high social and moral ideal.
From his early works in sculptural portraiture, characterized by narrative quality and meticulously crafted form (such as “Hero of Socialist Labor Telegey Sagynbaev,” 1961, marble; “Portrait of D. Chyngyshbaev,” 1965, wood; “Portrait of Professor Kruglov N.,” 1966, wood), Sadykov progressed toward a generalized monumental depiction of humanity, while preserving the charm of individuality and the uniqueness of his emotional and plastic perception of nature. His ability to immerse himself in the image of a person, to see the essence and uniqueness of their nature, is evident in “Portrait of Academician Shcherbakov D. I.” (1965, plaster), where the head of the scholar is sculpted with particular inspiration, illuminated by kindness, intelligence, and humanity. Even his earliest portrait works elicited a warm response from critics, who noted his ability to “see precisely those characters and faces that embody the best traits of the people, their aspirations in the modern world.”
Sadykov depicts a strong and bold character in the granite portrait of the activist of the collective farm movement in southern Kyrgyzstan, Urkui Salieva (1965), who perished in the 1930s at the hands of bandits. The head of Salieva, a beautiful face recreated from a photograph, is carved with decisive succinctness and plastically conveys the fervor of her nature and the steadfastness of her communist beliefs. The image, organically infused into the stone form, resonates weightily and monumentally. It is no coincidence that this portrait was later used by Sadykov in his work on the monument “To the Fighters of the Revolution.”
In terms of the truthfulness of the people's appearance and character, and the search for sculptural fullness of form, Sadykov's works resonate with the initiatives of Mesarosh, particularly evident in the portraits “Dairymaid” (1961, granite), “People's Artist of the USSR D. Kuyu-kova” (1967, bronze), “Woman in Elecheke” (1967, wood), “Portrait of a Dairymaid” (1969, chamotte), “Dairymaid Anipa” (1969, wood), “Beetroot Woman” (1980, wood). At the same time, Sadykov's heroes, weathered and sun-scorched, inseparable from their mountainous homeland, are sculpted with a softer, more lyrical touch—within them lives the poetic, freedom-loving soul of the people, organically understood by the artist and conveyed through the language of plasticity.
