Where does the Motherland begin? Automatic translate

The Russian Academy of Arts presents an exhibition of works by People’s Artist of the Russian Federation and Academician of the Russian Academy of Arts Anton Vyacheslavovich Stekolshchikov “Where the Motherland Begins.” The exhibition will showcase several dozen paintings, graphic sheets and objects of decorative and applied art from the author’s collection.

Anton Stekolshchikov is a worthy representative of the famous painting dynasty. He was born and spent his childhood in the Town of Artists, behind the scenes of creative workshops on Maslovka. He received a classical academic education at the Surikov Institute under the guidance of Ilya Glazunov. As the bearer of the “gene” of the Moscow school of painting, he adopted the basics of the emotional coloristic writing of Mikhail Abakumov, Nikita Fedosov, Pyotr Petrovichev, Arkady Plastov, Leonard Turzhansky and others. Significant influence undoubtedly belongs to his family and, first of all, to his parents, bright, recognizable masters - Vyacheslav Stekolshchikov and Mlada Finogenova. Rich experience in studying fine arts, annual trips to ancient Russian cities allow him to appreciate the concept of “quality” in painting, playing with imprimatures, corpus writing and glazes. For each canvas, he looks for unique shades, so that in one work they become the mother-of-pearl lace of the sky, in another - the silver of the green noise of birches, in the third - the shimmering aroma of night lilacs. The author believes: “The job of an artist is not to imitate, but to believe. For the sake of live action on my canvas, I literally hold my hand so as not to dry it out or plaster it. Painting must live!

The focus of Anton Stekolshchikov’s art has always been and remains a person. The genre of self-portrait, which the master repeatedly turns to, the signs of the passing of time and the motif of the road - life’s path, often found in his works - all this is a search for the answer to the question: “Who am I?” Thus, the self-portrait “From Exhibition to Exhibition” (2024) rethinks everyday life, the purpose of the artist and the functional and philosophical role of the mirror - how much it witnesses. He unmistakably guesses the state of inner trepidation and even in the most austere paintings creates a feeling of continuity of life. These are “Fellow Soldiers” (2010) - a departed warrior of the Great Patriotic War and a “warrior of the spirit”, dressed in a priest’s cassock, silently talking in prayer for eternal life. Behind the pictorial and plot signs of the picture space - lightning striking the ground, a gust of wind or the smoke of a fire - there is a personal experience and an additional semantic dimension. The bent figure of a retreating elderly woman in a headscarf becomes a symbol of “The Departing Borisogleb” (2010), and the red star on the grave of the Unknown Soldier (“Nameless Star”, 2015), as well as the barbed wire “On the Bug River” (2024) are sad witnesses of their time.

Important themes in the master’s work are the resurgent Russia and the life of its small towns. They are embodied in a philosophical landscape that conveys that mental pain and involvement in the fate of their homeland, which has long troubled more than one generation of artists. Keenly observant and demanding of himself in everything, the artist elevates even a small theme to a large image. Saturated with targeted details, the works are devoid of reportage - both the flash of lightning and the ray of sun on a swaying blade of grass have independent meaning and serve as a bright chord.

Anton Stekolshchikov freely expresses himself in graphics, decorative and applied arts, and restoration. Experimenting with the form of artistic expression, he can complement the painting canvas with a forged metal structure. In the artist’s work, it is important for him not only the “body” of the work itself, but also its logical continuation - “talking” frames, which viewers will also see at the exhibition in academic halls.

The text is based on articles by Vera Lagutenkova and Vyacheslav Stekolshchikov.