Yuri Petrovich Fedotov is an artist and poet who independently developed his creative abilities. In this he was helped by the northern lands, which he fell in love with and remained to live there. He was called a nugget artist and a master who never aspired to fame and who considered the existence of the sun and a piece of bread on the table for human happiness.
From biography
Yuri Petrovich Fedotov was born in 1928 in the Saratov region. At the beginning of the war, as a thirteen-year-old teenager, he worked as a minder on a fishing boat. Then in his life there was a vocational school and work as a turner at an aircraft factory in Moscow.
The beginning of creativity
In 1957, a graduate of the art studio came to the city of Omsk. Here his career as a painter began. In November 1965, Yuri was on his way to the Barents Sea and stopped in Pechora. As he later recalled:
He was fascinated by the northern landscape. As he said, all this corresponded to his internal energy, because he is not a southern person. Why exactly in Pechora? He answers it like this:
He confessed his love for the North, for simple, ordinary northerners, said that something was left untouched, virgin here.
Yuri Fedotov's career was not easy. Only thanks to his perseverance, he managed to make himself an artist.
Landscape open spaces
Yu. Fedotov loved to paint the harsh, but in his own way, a kind of northern nature. The landscapes are painted in such colors that the weather of those places is almost physically felt - be it a summer or winter corner of nature; and boundless space, and a winter road, and impassable distances. In one of the paintings, night landscapes are sad. In other work on the river surface, the cleanliness and coolness of the water is felt.
He was always stunned by the spring tundra. No matter how much he wrote it, everyone did not find peace.
Portrait painting
Yu. Fedotov created portraits of Pechora men. Journalist E. Lazarev notes that the portraits painted by the artist are
Men of the North: geologists, hunters, reindeer herders, fishermen - people with wind-blown faces, with slightly tired eyes, calloused hands, people who gave their whole lives to hard work. These are strong, courageous natures, living with deep meaning.
Known for his portrait canvases:
Most often, portraits depict men who look into the endless distance and think about something important for themselves.
Still lifes
Yuri Fedotov also succeeded in still lifes. There are quite a few of them.
This is a blooming fragrant lilac, and field bells, and daisies in a wicker basket, and a basket with forest gifts, and a table in a log village hut. There is a traditional samovar, buns, shangi, fish … And from all this an invisible exciting aroma.
The work is as simple as the people living in the North themselves. The table reflects the simple life of the northerners. The angler will prepare the fish soup. His favorite dish will be cooked in a simple fisherman's pot.
In a simple country vase, not roses, not lilies, but the simplest flower of the north - a sunflower. And next to it is that which is always dear to all people - bread. He is a peasant loaf uniform. The decoration of the table is modest.
Poet-nugget
Yu. Fedotov was fascinated not only by painting, but also by poetry. His poems were not published much, and he himself did not offer them to publishers.
As a poet and as an artist, he loved the sun, wind, space. I wrote about this. He wanted to live all the days that there was no sadness in his heart, in order to feel the spring nectar. And most importantly, everything that he did good, he would like to give to people.
In his poems, he sends greetings to people who live far, far in the north, where he has not yet been everywhere, and sends them warmth. What will he become when he finishes his life? What will it become? Part of the ocean? Ear in the field? A distant star? Blooming apple tree? Warm rain? He wants to fly a free bird over his homeland. Whoever he becomes, he wants to not be remembered dashingly.
Here are his unpretentious, but wise desires:
Life credo
Yuri Petrovich was a restless, energetic person. He strove for long journeys. An excellent walker, he knew how to create an atmosphere of comfort in the swamp and in the taiga. He loved to talk by the fire about history, morality, art.
The question - "how we live now" - did not allow Fedotov himself to live in peace. The people around him believe that he is a complete unmercenary. I didn’t make any capital, nor the comfort of everyday life. I did not pursue earnings. He almost did not sell his pictures, he was not seduced by any positions.
He is unconditionally convinced that the human soul is shaped by nature. And the child, in his opinion, should be given this genuine joy, and not left alone with dead electronics.
Life credo of Yuri Fedotov:
From personal life
His wife, Lyudmila Aleksandrovna, often brought flowers to the house, field and meadow flowers. I put it in the jar. And the husband is right behind the sketchbook. The sun shone around. Rather for the brush …
For 30 years he was in the company of hunters, but he killed only a couple of birds, which he always regretted. He always said, if he could, he would forbid to destroy all living things.
Once he arrived in a northern city and saw that they were painting marble busts of Lenin and Marx. Horrified - why? Ostensibly for cleanliness. Then he turned to the highest circles and uttered bad words. He was remembered as a brawler. But the marble was washed after all.
The artist died in 2005 in Pechora at the age of 77. After the death of her husband, his wife, Lyudmila Aleksandrovna, became the initiator of the exhibitions, where she talks about her husband's creative path, his life credo and philosophy, and reads his poems.
Yu. Fedotov is a person who saw the meaning of life in creativity - picturesque and poetic. For more than three decades, he described the northern surroundings, captured the faces of the people who settled this land. This is an artist and poet who never aspired to be famous.
