Аркадий Ескин

 T he exhibition discovered for us a wonderful artist from Orsk — Arkady Yeskin. In our times, when every bit of truth is dear, where spellbound crowds rush to any deceptive light promising to reveal truth, such artists like Yeskin are double as precious: he has a capacity of seeing life without fakes, without distorting or dimming spectacles, without a need to foist something on yourself. Yeskin’s art is full of impulsive sincerity, bold straightforwardness. The artist splashes onto the canvas his fascinated impressions of boundless steppes, of villages, meandering roads, trees broken by winds, rose evenings and violet twilight. Everything lives an exuberant life in this land — the steppe itself, its grass and villages, horses, cows and dogs, and all this is seen by an instantanous, sharp and unexpected look. Yeskin’s painting with all its fast, cursory, impetuous nature is very fundamental and delicate in subtle colour hues. The artist always seeks to grasp in the human behaviour that spontaneous, uninhibited feeling, that natural flowing movement; that unprettified image of steppe peasants is done with colours of ironical grotesque, but behind this visible being unseriousness, profound interest, spiritual sympathy and cordiality are concealed; however this humanistic, loving key rarely becomes overt and dominant. A K , Pres ident of the Rus s i an academy of ar t cr i t i cs