Alexander Illarionovich Ignatiev — one of the leading artists of the republic

Alexander Illarionovich Ignatiev — one of the leading artists of the republic — also achieves the greatest success in landscape painting. At the creative conference of the Union of Artists of Kyrgyzstan, held in Moscow in 1946 during the opening of the All-Union Exhibition, G. Aitiev spoke about Ignatiev's works: "I consider Ignatiev's thematic landscapes... Such small landscapes can stand alongside large thematic works."
In his paintings, man and nature live in harmonious unity. For example, in "Spring in the Tian Shan Mountains" (1955) — one of the artist's remarkable works — the spring awakening of nature in the harsh mountains is conveyed very subtly. Heavy leaden clouds slowly drifting across the sky, painted in cold tones, accurately depict the arrival of spring in the mountains. The figure of a woman sitting in a cart, horses peacefully grazing on fresh green grass, and the chains of blue mountains in the distance — all of this merges into one, creating a general mood of the arrival of early spring. Ignatiev is particularly skilled at conveying the state of nature ("Before the Rain," 1945; "After the Rain," 1945; "Morning on the Pasture," 1945; "The Moon Has Risen," 1945; "Spring Has Come to Chon-Kemin," 1956; and others).
The artist is also not averse to celebrating the role of human labor in transforming nature. Hence his fascination with the industrial theme in a series of landscapes, which began with the painting "At Orto-Tokoe" (1954). The further development of this theme is associated with the construction of the Toktogul Hydroelectric Power Station.