The Art of Western Europe is presented in the A. Kasteyev State Museum of Arts of the Republic of Kazakhstan as a collection of 16th -19th century paintings, graphics and sculpture. It includes about 1000 exhibit items and reflects different periods of art development of leadin. European national artisti schools of Italy, Holland,, Flanders, Germany and France.
In view of the distance from European cultural centres, Kazakhstan paid special attention from the start to the acquisition of western European art. In 1936, the first exhibit items of 85 art works were donated by the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow. They included Perseus and Andromeda by French artist S. Bourdon, Holiday parade by Flemish artist M. Pepeine, and Infant by an unknown Spanish master. In the following years art works were purchased from private collections.
The pride of the collection is its Italian pictorial art. Nobility of Distinctive colour distinguishes the painting Golden age (1550) by Genoese master Luca Cambiaso. An ancient myth about the first people on Earth forms the basis for the image. The art of the Ferrarian School is represented by the work of an unknown master of the 150s, Madonna and the Sanctified. A painting may be attractive for its harmony and cleanness of form or by its use of biblical personages to depict an ideal of beauty and morality. The museum possesses a few works of the Venetian school distinguished by emotion, real surroundings, and distinctive use of color. A wonderful example is Susanna and Old Men, 16th century, by Jacopo Palma Junior.
The merciful Samaritan, ‘Created by an unknown Italian master of the Bolognese school of the 17th century from the Circle of Guercino, demonstrates the basic principles of academic direction firmly established in Italy by that time. This painting made a long journey getting to the museum, which purchased it in 1937 from the family collection of the Beloslyudovs, who lived in Semipalatinsk. They had bought it from the Siberian gold industry entrepreneurs F. Stepanov and S. Popov, who in their turn had brought the art work from Rome in the first half of the 19th century.
The art of German, Dutch and Flemish painters gives an idea of the world view and artistic language of the North Renaissance. The collection of Flemish paintings is not large. but valuable for its quality. It included great painters such as Denis Franc, Martin Pepeine, Saverey Roland Jacobs and Franken Franc. Portrait of Henriette Mariya French, painted by the brush of Poyrbus Franse Junior, is considered one of the best works of the collection. It combines typical lines and deeply felt individual characteristics. The baroque style grew in 17th century Flanders; Saint Sebastian by an unknown Flemish artist captures the style – tense dynamics, energy, color and light contrasts, dramatic plot, and evoking the immense and monumental.
Dutch painters of the 17th century felt attracted by ordinary episodes of daily life among nobles, burghers, and peasants. Quiet intonation, attention to detail, ability to show the beauty and poetry in routine life are common to their work. The major artist of the peasant genre is Adrian Van Ostade.
The modestly sized Rural market for his later work is of golden hue and makes soft transitions from light to shade, showing the influence of Rembrandt, his famous contemporary. HaIs Dirk’s Card players combines features of conversation and a group portrait and typifies Dutch realist preoccupation with believability. Dutch interest in our natural environment was reflected in still-life, Still-life painting with wine glass by an unknown artist being an example. Realistic landscapes of the 17th century are one of the greatest achievements of the Dutch school. Favorite subjects included grazing sheep and cows, sailing vessels under gloomy skies, and views of Dutch cities. A landscape with cows by Albert Cape, influenced by Jan Van Goyuen, is a classic example of this.
The museum’s German artists are represented mainly by a portrait genre popular in the 18th — 19th centuries. This genre reaches high quality in Denner Baltazaire and Jacb Schtuder; Franz Xavier Winterhalter was much admired for his technique of introducing spectacle into a portrait or presenting a model in a favorable light. His Lady with Carnation brilliantly creates a ‘social animal’, a brilliant and beautiful woman, but does not forget to carefully finish the entourage. Classicism, based on rationalist philosophy, led the way in 17th-century France in. Serenity and harmony reign in Heroic Landscape by Gaspard Dughet, a student of Nicolas Poussin. All is strict and proud, the composition proportionate and carefully thought out. Nature is elevated and separated from everyday working life.
The collection from 19th century France is varied. In an attempt to make art more lifelike, a group of artists-realists settled in the village of Barbizon, not far from Paris. They started to create pictures directly outside. Camille Corot occupies a special place for emotional perception, such as in his study Gloomy Day. Another famous artist showing notes of romanticism was Dias de la Pegna, nicknamed Korredgeau of Barbizon, for his predilection to emotional tension of color. He was skilled in uneven, glimmered illumination as in Before a Thunderstorm, which also connotes mystery and danger. An animal painter, engraver and illustrator Charles Emile Jacques, joined the Barbizon group and produced Landscape with Sheep,whose coloration is achieved by combining silvery and green tinctures. The museum’s western European holding is notable for its quality andquantity. Asel Tatayeva,Research Officer, Centre of Classical Foreign Art Oriental, art from the East has always attracted lots of attention. This can probably be explained by the complicated semantics of forms, variety of shapes and convincing arsenal of techniques. The collection of eastern art in the A.Kasteyev State Museum of Arts of the Republic of Kazakhstan comprises about 2000 works from China, India, Japan, Korea and other countries. Collecting Eastern art started with inception in 1935 and continues today. In addition to pieces donated by the ‘Hermitage’ and the State Museum of Arts of Eastern Nations, privately-held works have been purchased.
A valuable exhibit from the ‘Foundation of Arts of the East’ is a silk scroll by an unknown 16th-century Chinese artist using coloured vegetable ink. It is a virtuoso work and also characterizes women, a popular theme during the Ming dynasty. Many works were purchased between 1960 and 1980. For example, in 1986 The oval mirror, made from a red tree a encrusted with pearls and white nephrite, came into the hands of the foundation. It is of interest not only as an object of decorative art, but also for reflecting the religious beliefs and social status of the owner. The birthplace of china, which still rightfully occupies a leading position as an elegant art form. The perfection and variety of technologies used by Chinese craftsmen are still kept secret today. The museum’s exhibits are made not only by Chinese potters, but Indian and Japanese too. Most date back four centuries. The museum’s chinaware demonstrates a variety of constructive and decorative forms, evidence of the professionalism of the artists and their sensitive treatment of this natural material. From earliest times, bronzes of Eastern craftsmen have been famous for their excellence and finesse. The technology used in their production and their special elegance make them a distinct art form. In the ritual object Altar, dedicated to Shiva and his elephant – headed son, the sculptor’s composition is unerring, and successfully balances the mass of elephantine feet with the graceful running of a deer. Varnished pieces, cloisonné enamels, objects of wood, elephant ivory and semi-precious stones, textile and fancywork — are remarkably all objects for home decoration. To this day they tease us with ‘art secrets’ and a need to understand. We still marvel at the brilliant knowledge of these unknown craftsmen whose hands fused a thorough command of material, technicalprecision, deep culture and a transcending spirituality. Art studio “Harmony” The Studio of Graphic Art “Harmony” was established in the A. Kasteev State Museum of Arts of the Republic of Kazakhstan in October, 2009. Classes are held two times a week of duration – -1.5 hours.
Head of the centre -Satybaldy Nurzhan Nursultanuly
Designer – Akhmetov Dauren Akmoldinovich Chief specialist, Nenasheva Olga Andreyevna
Interpreter – Kishkayeva Kenzhetay Balkaykyzy Engineer-programmer Sirazhetdinov Bakhtiyar Jusupdzhanovich