The North is harsh and unfriendly but people living there know how to stand up to the challenge, while their own life becomes a source of inspiration for artists in search of new themes and types. An exhibition of the so-called ‘Northern Artists’ &nd

Curators joke that they almost turned into archeologists organising this exhibition. Indeed, some of the rare or even previously unknown canvases were found in odd places, including the dusty closets of the artists' friends and acquaintances.

Everything was taken into consideration during the exposition set-up. For instance, Pyotr Mironov's painting was found to be too dark, so a special frame was chosen to make the image stand out. 

Pyotr is a rare case among the ‘Northern Artists’, who prefer to use a narrow range of soothing colors. Born in Kazakhstan, he spent a lot of time in the Caucasus before exchanging the mountains for the great northern plains.

Artist Sulo Yuntunen traveled extensively across Karelia looking for suitable models and motifs. While Rem Yermolin went beyond the Arctic circle for inspiration.

“While some artists worked just to get their job done, people like Yermolin created sharp psychological portraits,” says the exhibition’s curator Mikhail Barinov.

Many more canvases depicting the daily life of truck drivers or mine and oil workers can be seen at the exhibition. Realistic and convincing, they recreate vividly the image of a bygone epoch.