Azat Galimov’s Art: Changing Consistency
Azat Galimov belongs to the generation of
Azat Galimov spent his early years in the northern town of
Basing himself upon traditions of his predecessors, representatives of the Russian Realistic School of Art, the painter often works ‘en plein air’, trying to reproduce the mood of the place, to catch its character and spirit as accurately as possible, measuring it with his own feelings and his approach to the particular subject. Working with fine and elusive material of nature’s impressions he manages to preserve the keenness of vision and not to lapse into banality. Occasional “change of scene” is the condition that probably helps him to avoid persistence of vision and keep his reaction very personal and substantial. He travels a lot, visiting different corners of the world, constantly refreshing his impressions and gaining experience in feeling the landscape, literally ‘touching’ the world around him with his brush.
The mature art by Azat Galimov is marked by free, emotional painting. Energetic pastous brush, based on true and skillful proficiency in drawing, keeps close to impressionistic technique. A talented colorist of great originality, he deliberately confines the colors of his palette. His coloring is usually thoroughly thought-out and is based on development of rather restrained color gamma.
Speaking about shaping and plastic structure of his works, the early paintings are marked by well-defined graphic basis. The painting style in Letny Sad (The Summer Garden), 2001, seems to be more restrained and austere than in his later canvases. In the latter it’s picturesqueness that prevails. They tend to be as close to the state of life as possible, to its vibrant atmosphere, its ‘temperature’. This fully shows itself in the paintings drawn in
Adherent mostly of the urban landscape, Azat Galimov paints with rapture the views of St. Petersburg, the city that became his home - its embankments, bridges, cathedrals, admiring them in different times of the year. These landscapes have a sincere, heartfelt streak, with subtlety and nuances of impression. Series of canvases with the city views are infused by recently gone winter, such as The Griboedov Channel.
The
The landscapes of Russian countryside are painted with more fractured, staccato strokes and contain more lyricism and poetry. Some works remind of Vassily Polenov’s art. The canvas Nemyatovo. Warm Evening pictures cozy village log huts on the hillock, frail little bridge descending to the sparkling river, with a white-and-blue cutter moored at its bank. The sense of elegiac tranquility is opposed by the anxiety of piercing blue of the grayish-azure skies, reflecting in the water.
Due to the constant work with natural surroundings the painter has created a specific, individual vision. In his works made en plein air this personal author’s intonation is particularly obvious; it becomes apparent not only in his landscapes but also in landscape-looking still lives with flowers. He rarely draws flowers as bouquets in vases. The artist is looking for the unusual points of view and that’s why the flowers are often presented as the landscapes of some sort, painted in a close-ups which are brought as near to the spectator’s eye as possible, so that he/she could have a pretty good look at the beauty of details. The flowers are not cut, they grow in natural surroundings - in the grass, on the riverbank leaning towards the water, against the background of sky, fence or a house wall (Turkish Peonies, Wild Roses, At the Garden Fence.) Expressively and finely painted canvas Among the Roses is so sensual that almost seems to ooze fragrance.
Regardless of his subjects and locations, the artist captures and conveys emotionally the sense of life with his inherent keenness of color vision.
Tatiana Nesvetailo
Art critic, Senior staff specialist of The State Russian Museum,
Member of St. Petersburg Union of Artists.
Galimov Azat
- painting: 843
- copies: 522