Chuykov Semyon Afanasyevich

Chuykov Semyon Afanasyevich

(1902 -1980)
Painter. People's Artist of the USSR. Full member of the Academy of Arts of the USSR, laureate of the State Prizes of the USSR, the State Prize of the Kirghiz SSR named after Toktogul, Indian Jawaharlal Nehru Prize.

The name S. Chuykov is associated with the emergence, development, and highest achievements of visual arts in Soviet Kyrgyzstan. S. Chuykov had a deep understanding of the life of the Kyrgyz people since the pre-revolutionary period and celebrated it for more than sixty years. His creative and social activities played a decisive role in choosing specific paths for the formation and development of Kyrgyz professional visual arts—orienting towards the progressive traditions of Russian and Western European realistic art.

S.A. Chuykov was born on October 30, 1902, in the city of Pishpek (now the city of Bishkek). In 1920-1921, he studied at the Tashkent Art School, and from 1921 to 1929, he attended the Higher Art and Technical Workshops (VKhUTEIN) in the studio of R. Falk. From 1929 to 1932, he taught in Moscow, then at the Art Institute in Leningrad. Throughout these years, the artist worked on Kyrgyz themes. In the 1930s, his organizational talent was directed towards creating a fundamental base for the development of artistic life in Kyrgyzstan. He was the chairman of the Organizing Committee of the Union of Soviet Artists of Kyrgyzstan, established in 1933, and the organizer (along with artists V. Obraztsov, L. Kasatkin, A. Ignatiev) of the first republican art exhibition in 1934, as well as the first chairman of the Union of Soviet Artists of Kyrgyzstan (1934-1937; 1941-1948).

At the initiative and with the active participation of S. Chuykov, an art gallery was opened in 1935 (now the Kyrgyz National Museum of Fine Arts named after G. Aitiev). S.A. Chuykov created significant historical and genre compositions, portraits, and landscapes that deeply convey the fullness of life.

The outstanding creative achievements of S. Chuykov brought him recognition in his country and abroad. His works are housed in major museums in Russia, the CIS countries, and far abroad, as well as in private collections. The artist's canvases were presented at international and foreign exhibitions of Soviet art.

He was awarded the Orders of Lenin, the Order of the Red Banner of Labor (twice), the "Badge of Honor" (twice), the Bulgarian Order "Cyril and Methodius," and honorary certificates from the Supreme Soviet of the Kirghiz SSR.

MAIN WORKS

View of the Valley from the Mountains. 1917. Oil on canvas. 9.5x15.3.
Poor People's Yurts. 1918. Oil on canvas. 11x18.
Yurt. 1919. Oil on canvas. 12x17.3.
Stream. 1917-1920. Oil on canvas. 16x22.3.
In the Mountains. 1925. Oil on canvas. 35x45.
Boy with a Fish. 1929. Oil on canvas. 103x61.
Kyrgyz Motif. 1935. Oil on canvas. 20x41.5.
Kyrgyz Uprising of 1916. 1936. Oil on canvas. 165x220.
Komsomol Member. 1936. Oil on canvas. 60x45.
Poor Ail. 1936. Oil on canvas. 74x93.5.
From the Colonial Past. 1936. Oil on canvas. 95x120.
Happy Motherhood. 1937. Oil on canvas. 110x145.
Boy with a Watermelon. 1937. Oil on canvas. 33x27.
Hunter with a Golden Eagle. 1938. Oil on canvas. 66x77.
Portrait of Kalik Akiev. 1939. Oil on canvas. 117x88.
Toktogul among the People. 1939-1941. Oil on canvas. 180x276.
Autumn Jailoo. 1945. Oil on canvas. 110x135.
Daughter of Soviet Kyrgyzstan. 1948. Oil on canvas. 120x95.
On the Embankment in Bombay in the Evening. 1954. Oil on cardboard. 41x84.
Black Madonna. 1962. Oil on canvas. 145x117.
Morning in Kyrgyzstan. 1971. Oil on canvas. 90x118.