The autumn cultural season in the Emirate capital opened this year with views of nature, reflected on colorful canvases by the imagination and skill of the Rostov artists. The hereditary painter, a member of the Union of Artists of Russia Valery Konstantinovich and his sons continuing the family tradition, Konstantin and Valery for the first time in the Arab region showed their kind, alluring to the natural charms of work.
Fantastic orange pumpkin slices with clusters of dazzling seeds with a sunspot stood out at an exhibition held at the Cultural Fund of the Emirate's capital in October. Each picture with images of the foamy sea, beckoning rocks, sunny and shady parks, flowers of unreal, magical beauty attracted attention for a long time, forced to return again and again to paintings that capture the imagination.
The exhibition, which was visited by many emirate artists, including the winner of the UAE state prize, the Dubai painter Abdel Kader ar-Rayes, featured 50 works by Rostovsky and his sons.
During the 10 days of the exhibition, thousands of Abu Dhabi residents got acquainted with the dazzling watercolors of the head of a talented family of painters - Valery Rostovsky, who finds surprisingly delicate, bright, attractive colors for the image of flowers, trees, mountains, sea landscapes, - poems and songs of nature, pierced love of harmonious earthly beauty in simplicity.
The sons of the master, Konstantin and Valery, were inspired by the nature of the UAE. Visitors to the sparkling exhibition hall found familiar views in it, made by excellent oil painters in Dibba and Fujairah, on the seashores, in the corners of local traditional settlements.
The lyric brush of Valery Rostovsky Jr. is inspired by the views of the Russian and Ukrainian south, the blue warm seas, the Dubai Creek and the fabulous Arabian sailboats that have not changed since the days of the pilot of this place, Ahmed Ibn Majid, the pilot of Vasco da Gama.
Some of the works of Valery Rostovsky Sr. presented at the exhibition, such as, for example, “The Lark Song,” flew to Abu Dhabi literally from space. A special story is connected with the space odyssey of the painter’s paintings. Along with this picture, more than 72 days circled over the earth such sunny and earthly, gentle and good landscapes of the watercolorist as "Bridge", "Golden Evening", "Winter", "Early Morning", "Sea surf", "Bathhouse", "Old well "," Mirage "," Lunar bouquet "," Autumn time "," Falling leaves. "
A historical documentary evidence of this event says that "an exhibition of 12 works of art executed in watercolor, each 160 x 210 mm in size, year of creation - 2000, was during the space flight of the Soyuz-TM-30 and orbital "Mir" manned space station for 72 days 19 hours and 42 minutes and completed 1,140 full orbits around the Earth, flying over the planet at least 48,333,000 km at an altitude of about 400 km. "
The exhibition of Rostov-father’s watercolors was the first and last picturesque exposition that adorned the MIR space station before it rested on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean in March 2001, completing its long-standing space epic.
Residents of Abu Dhabi might not have seen these pictures, since one of the options for the space expedition was to send pictures in capsule to outer space during the departure of cosmonauts Sergei Zaletin and Alexander Kaleri to perform tasks outside the station.
But, according to Kaleri, the crew could not part with the canvases that supported him during his last shift at the MIR station, and the astronauts convinced Valery Rostovsky of the need to return them to Earth.
Emirates joined the paintings that space saw, and were flattered. The exhibition, opened by Russian Ambassador to the UAE Andrei Zakharov, was a great success. The skill and talent of the Rostov artists was highly appreciated by the diplomatic corps of the emirate capital. The diplomats liked the paintings. Apparently it is no coincidence that one of the paintings by Valery of Rostov-Gostarshars decorates the apartments of the Italian ambassador in Russia. They are also in the Athens "Kartashidi Gallery", the personal physician of President Reagan, in private collections of other diplomats and famous actors.
Rostov’s proved that the artist’s skill can be richer and more inspirational than the fantasies of the inanimate nature surrounding us. In works that reflect the seduced vision of artists, this nature is vibrant, tender, seductively beautiful and dear, its own. They have a fantasy of taste. But this fantasy says: "It can be so. It only needs to be peered!"
The local art studio used the exposition for master classes. Capital architect Abdullah al-Shami visited the exhibition to enrich personal experience in his creative work and discuss the possibilities of new meetings. He said that acquaintance with the skill of Russian artists allowed him to rise higher in his architectural studies.
The best Emirate artist, State Prize laureate Abdel Kader ar-Rayes, came from Dubai to greet the artists on the last day of their display in Abu Dhabi. He praised the work of Russian nature singers and shared his dream of showing his canvases in Russia, which also have a lot of natural pictures and images of emirate antiquity.
The magazine "Russian Emirates" wrote about this local artist - a nugget and talented self-taught. He held dozens of solo exhibitions abroad and received many awards - first prizes, "golden pearls", "golden palm branches" and became a state prize winner. The country recognized its great artist only in recent years: there were simply no trained connoisseurs before.
The Dubai ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, is a famous poet and father of the Dubai architectural modernity, who holds the post of vice president and prime minister of the UAE.
About the artist writes the Arabic press. Art masters are interested in art connoisseurs in the country, in the region and in remote capitals.
An exhibition in Moscow or other Russian cities will undoubtedly arouse interest in Russian art circles, which will see the Emirates through the eyes of their son enchanted by their motherland, and will tell him something.
Artists of Russia and the Emirates agreed on tastes and liked each other. The Rostovs will take on the organization in Moscow, perhaps even in Yalta and Kiev, of the first show of the best examples of the emirate's fine art performed by Abdel Kader ar-Rayes.
Expositions of good masters in love with nature are taught to find beauty in everyday life. Thanks to the artists, we see nature with different eyes - their eyes. They open before us open spaces of beauty. At the exhibitions of their works, their vision of the world opens before us. Exchange of exhibitions is an exchange of views, views on life and the world around us. The parade of Rostov paintings in Abu Dhabi and the upcoming Ar-Rayes exhibition in Russia will serve to better familiarize our peoples.
Text: Victor Lebedev
