Art knows no boundaries. It speaks its own special language, which is understandable to everyone, and to each he will say something of his own. However, every national art school has some unique features that are unique to this culture.
That is why it is so interesting for us to get acquainted with the works of authors of a different nationality. I want to plunge into the atmosphere of their creativity, try to penetrate into the depths of the national spirit. That is why every art museum in one country will be different from that in another state. What is the difference between Kazakh art and the Kasteev Museum in Almaty? Read the article to the end and learn everything.
History of the A. Kasteev Museum of Art
In 1935, in the capital of Kazakhstan, the city of Almaty, an exhibition was organized in honor of the fifteenth anniversary of the formation of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic. This year is the beginning of the foundation of the modern Kasteev Museum. At first it existed as the Kazakh State Art Gallery named after Taras Grigorievich Shevchenko. Its employees carried out work on the collection of works of art, both domestic and foreign masters.
In 1976, the gallery's collection was supplemented by the collection of the Museum of Folk Applied Arts of Kazakhstan, presented by the works of national Kazakh artists. This institution was founded in 1970. It moved to a new spacious building and became known as the State Museum of Arts of the Kazakh SSR. After how many years, in 1984, he was given the name of the famous and respected artist in the Republic, Abilkhan Kasteev.
Who is that?
Kasteev Museum in Almaty bears the name of the artist for a reason. It was this master of watercolors that became the founder of the national direction of painting in Kazakhstan. A student of the no less famous artist Nikolai Gavrilovich Khludov, he wrote unique works in the spirit of socialist realism himself and sought to convey his skills to his followers. For his contribution to the development of national art, Albihan Kasteev was awarded the honorary title of People's Artist of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic.
Visiting the master
By the way, at the Kasteyev Art Museum in Almaty there is another small building - the house of A. Kasteev. It was built in 1955 by a special decree of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Kazakh SSR Dinmukhamed Akhmedovich Kunaev specifically for the artist’s large family, who lived and worked here until the end of his days. The house recreated the atmosphere that was here during the life of Albihan Kasteev: furniture, household utensils, art tools - everything seems to be waiting for its owner.
Presented in this museum are early, youthful works of the master, archival documents, photographs. Here they will talk about his life, career, style and iconic works. By the way, the Kasteyev Museum is located in Almaty at the address: md. Koktem-3, Satpayev street, 22/1. You can visit it from Tuesday to Thursday, from ten in the morning to five in the evening, on Thursday the museum closes earlier - at four.
Main building
State Museum of Art. A. Kasteeva is not just a picture gallery, but a major research, cultural and educational center in the field of fine art. In addition to the exhibition halls, there is its own scientific library, a department of innovative technologies. Organized at the museum and its own art studio. It regularly hosts master classes for adults and classes for children.
According to reviews, the State Museum of Art. A. Kasteeva is a huge multifunctional center in which everyone can plunge into the atmosphere of creativity.
About the collection
In the fund of the museum. A. Kasteev is more than twenty-three thousand pieces of art. Of course, not all are exhibited - for this even the huge building in which the exhibition is now located will not be enough. However, from time to time, some canvases and sculptures are still taken out of the storerooms, put up at temporary expositions, and replaced with other works.
The museum is divided into several departments. The first of them presents the fine art of Kazakhstan - paintings by local artists of different times. The second is devoted to the arts and crafts of the republic - the authors of the works exhibited in this room are also Kazakhs. But in the department "Foreign Art" you can see canvases, both by Russian artists and Western European masters.
Thus, in the Museum of Arts of the Republic of Kazakhstan named after Kasteev collected a unique collection of fine art, which is definitely worth seeing in person.