Portrait Monument of Toktogul.
In the 1970s and 1980s, the portrait monument developed more multifacetedly in various sculptural materials. Monuments were created for revolutionaries, public figures, labor heroes, scientists, and writers, in whose images the main features of our era, its ideological and creative pathos, are concentrated.
The issue of erecting a monument to Toktogul in Frunze was raised again. As a result of a republican competition, the authors of the monument became G. Aitiev, a prominent master of painting who had repeatedly shown interest in sculpture, and architect A. Isaev.
The monument was opened in 1974. It was successfully integrated into the center of the city, among a small square formed by the buildings of the Kyrgyz State Opera and Ballet Theater, the Museum of Fine Arts, the N. G. Chernyshevsky Library, and the Russian Drama Theater. This location, besides visual harmony, serves as an image, emphasizing the multifaceted talent of Toktogul.
Toktogul is depicted sitting, with a komuz in hand. The bronze figure, located on a low pedestal, dressed in a chapana and tebete, is rendered as a solid volume, highlighted by a few large folds of clothing. The monumentality of Toktogul's image is enriched by the light form of the komuz and the texture of the sculpted fur tebete.
Using simple, traditional means of plasticity in characterizing the image, G. Aitiev embodied the people's representations of the akyn as an expresser of the people's thoughts and aspirations. The monument is human, as it is endowed with the traits of a specific personality, clarity of expression, and accuracy of the psychological state of Toktogul, immersed in thoughts about the fate of the people. But it is also monumental. The liveliness and specificity in the interpretation of the akyn's appearance are combined with the generalized nature of the plastic form, taken broadly, without distractions to details. The special artistic charm of the monument is given by the folkloric immediacy contained in the author's interpretation, easily recognizable as a connection to the people's moral and aesthetic representations.