The contradictory search for Sapara Torobekov. In his painting, two lines develop: tonal-plein air, lyrical, and decorative-formal, in which he addresses figurative tasks through the means of textural painting, with an overt aestheticization of the color layer. The first line, close to the formal-figurative system of the founders of Kyrgyz painting, is characterized by independence and completeness of artistic solution, while the second, to which he gives preference, has a more experimental character. The first manner is represented in the paintings "Mother" (1969) and "Evening on the Pasture" (1969), "Evening on the Jailyoo" (1971), "Time for Haymaking" (1975), while the second includes "Corn" (1974), "Sowers" (1975), and others.
In the painting "Mother," depicting the interior of a yurt, the artist expands the space by introducing a landscape revealed through the door. The contrast of the warm lighting of the yurt from the kerosene lamp, intensified by the red color of the woman's dress, and the cold twilight enveloping the high mountain valley creates a sense of harmonious calm and grandeur, further enhanced by the image of the young mother with a child — a unique interpretation of the classical theme of motherhood. The paintings "Evening on the Pasture" and "Evening on the Jailyoo" are landscape-oriented. The painting in these works is smooth, the color is subtly modeled and subordinated to the expression of a state of silence, openness, and freshness. All these paintings are executed in an airy, light manner, with softened contours, and volumes revealed delicately through color, without disturbing the overall color scheme. They convey a keen vision of living nature and love for it.
The paintings of the second line are characterized by pronounced decorativeness. Typically, human figures are composed statically in the foreground, in various poses. The color, shaping the form, also emphasizes the statism of each object, including the landscape environment. In the sculpting of mountains, the artist strives to reveal their geometric nature.
Despite the bright decorativeness of the paintings, the colors appear separately, not creating a harmonious whole. These paintings are created without preliminary sketches, and the themes are resolved abstractly, which sometimes affects not only the quality of the color solution but also the drawing.
In Torobekov's work, there are a number of paintings that have an intermediate character ("Silence," 1975; "Road to the Collective Farm," 1976). The space of the landscape is modeled in a specific palette, the rhythm of the planes is harmonious and musical in its plasticity and color; however, the objects depicted in them are treated statically, although they are integrated into the environment with a high degree of tonal authenticity.
