Anna Grigoryeva

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Anna Grigoryeva
Baky Urmanche. A World of Poetic Association

№2 2005 (07)

The name of Baky Urmanche (1897–1990) is one of the most interesting new discoveries of the 25th exhibition organised at the Tretyakov Gallery within the project titled "Russia's Golden Map". A cult name in Tatarstan, the artist remains almost completely unknown outside the republic. At that exhibition the works of Urmanche are displayed in the Tretyakov Gallery for the first time ever, alongside the works of acknowledged classics of Russian art. Urmanche is considered to be the founder of Tatar art on a professional level. He was the first of the Tatar artists to receive professional training. At first he studied at Kazan's VKHUTEMAS institute, and later on at its Moscow branch. But no matter where he lived he never lost touch with his national tradition, a factor that became dominant in his mature years. His talent was universal: he was a painter, a sculptor, a graphic artist, a calligrapher and a teacher. His creative work successfully combined highly professional skills with the basics of Tatar national culture.