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Lot Essay
Evgenii Sidorkin is widely regarded as one of the most accomplished graphic artists from Kazakhstan. He not only represented the Kazakh Republic at numerous international biennales and exhibitions but was also instrumental in establishing the Art Fund of Kazakhstan through which artists were provided with the opportunity to develop more sophisticated printing techniques, such as lithography.
Having graduated from the Leningrad Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture of Ilya Repin in 1957, Sidorkin, together with his artist wife Gulfairus Ismailova, moved to Alma-Ata. Here he became fascinated with the Kazakh literary tradition and the applied arts. The first body of work Sidorkin produced included a series of colour lithographs depicting Kazakh folklore characters entitled Happy storytellers.
In his second lithograph series Kazakh epic, the artist explored the links between Kazakhstan's past and present. The series won a bronze medal at the 1959 International Exhibition in Leipzig. In 1965, Sidorkin exhibited in Leipzig again and was awarded a gold medal for his Reading Saken Seifullin series, which was exhibited in the USSR pavilion at the Venice Biennale a year later.
Sidorkin also produced illustrations for a number of books including Hans Christian Andersen's Fairytales (1954), Mikhail Saltikov-Schedrin's Story of a City (1979) and Mukhtar Auezov's Abai's Way (1997). Lots 140 and 141 are from Sidorkin's final series consisting of four lithographs conceived as illustrations for Francois Rabelais's Gargantua and Pantagruel. These large-scale lithographs display Sidorkin's favoured technique of grotesque realism and exemplify the artist's great sense of humour. While Sidorkin's subjects are consistently inspired by Kazakh ancient art, in his illustrations for Saltikov-Schedrin and Rabelais, a reference to Russian 'lubok' prints is also apparent.
Works by Evgenii Sidorkin are held in the collections of the State Russian Museum, St Petersburg, the State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, the State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow and the Kasteev State Museum of Arts, Almaty.
Having graduated from the Leningrad Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture of Ilya Repin in 1957, Sidorkin, together with his artist wife Gulfairus Ismailova, moved to Alma-Ata. Here he became fascinated with the Kazakh literary tradition and the applied arts. The first body of work Sidorkin produced included a series of colour lithographs depicting Kazakh folklore characters entitled Happy storytellers.
In his second lithograph series Kazakh epic, the artist explored the links between Kazakhstan's past and present. The series won a bronze medal at the 1959 International Exhibition in Leipzig. In 1965, Sidorkin exhibited in Leipzig again and was awarded a gold medal for his Reading Saken Seifullin series, which was exhibited in the USSR pavilion at the Venice Biennale a year later.
Sidorkin also produced illustrations for a number of books including Hans Christian Andersen's Fairytales (1954), Mikhail Saltikov-Schedrin's Story of a City (1979) and Mukhtar Auezov's Abai's Way (1997). Lots 140 and 141 are from Sidorkin's final series consisting of four lithographs conceived as illustrations for Francois Rabelais's Gargantua and Pantagruel. These large-scale lithographs display Sidorkin's favoured technique of grotesque realism and exemplify the artist's great sense of humour. While Sidorkin's subjects are consistently inspired by Kazakh ancient art, in his illustrations for Saltikov-Schedrin and Rabelais, a reference to Russian 'lubok' prints is also apparent.
Works by Evgenii Sidorkin are held in the collections of the State Russian Museum, St Petersburg, the State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, the State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow and the Kasteev State Museum of Arts, Almaty.