Arnold Sergeyevich Zobolev — a painter, an artist and a teacher — was born into a family of a railroader in Belogorsk, the Amur region, in 1934. His talent for painting manifested itself quite early, and after school, Zobolev entered the Birobidzhan School of Art and Graphics. He was later assigned to work in Komsomolsk-on-Amur and spent thirty-five years in this city.
In 1959, Arnold Zobolev’s landscapes started to regularly participate in regional and personal exhibitions. His favorite genre was cityscapes with their modest provincial beauty and unassuming romantic nature of everyday life. Between 1961 and 1974, Arnold Zobolev managed to realize his talent for teaching: he became the second director of the first art school opened in the Russian Far East.
In the mid-1980s, Zobolev went on a trip down the Amur River on a catamaran that he built himself. The landscape painter brought many studies back from this creative trip, which were later used as a basis for large-scale works. They are distinct for their emotional intensity and soft, delicate color palette. One of these studies became a full-fledged painting called “Sun Rising Over the Amur”.
The composition of the landscape is quite traditional and depicts a view of the horizon from the middle of a summertime river. The landscape before the viewer’s eyes is unassuming at first, but little by little it captivates the attention with its naturalness and poetic touch, the milky-white and silvery smooth surface of the water, the distant hills and especially the sky which occupies two-thirds of the pictorial space. Dense brushstrokes with light impasto quality to them, gray and purple clouds against the pink and lemon background convey the freshness of a warm and quiet morning.
Arnold Zobolev was also interested in embossing and artistic metal forging. He created the metal masks on the facade of the Drama Theater and decorative railings of the health clinic and the hospital in Komsomolsk-on-Amur.
In 1990, the artist left Komsomolsk-on-Amur, went to Vladivostok and then the Kaluga region. His artworks are still exhibited in many museums.
In 1959, Arnold Zobolev’s landscapes started to regularly participate in regional and personal exhibitions. His favorite genre was cityscapes with their modest provincial beauty and unassuming romantic nature of everyday life. Between 1961 and 1974, Arnold Zobolev managed to realize his talent for teaching: he became the second director of the first art school opened in the Russian Far East.
In the mid-1980s, Zobolev went on a trip down the Amur River on a catamaran that he built himself. The landscape painter brought many studies back from this creative trip, which were later used as a basis for large-scale works. They are distinct for their emotional intensity and soft, delicate color palette. One of these studies became a full-fledged painting called “Sun Rising Over the Amur”.
The composition of the landscape is quite traditional and depicts a view of the horizon from the middle of a summertime river. The landscape before the viewer’s eyes is unassuming at first, but little by little it captivates the attention with its naturalness and poetic touch, the milky-white and silvery smooth surface of the water, the distant hills and especially the sky which occupies two-thirds of the pictorial space. Dense brushstrokes with light impasto quality to them, gray and purple clouds against the pink and lemon background convey the freshness of a warm and quiet morning.
Arnold Zobolev was also interested in embossing and artistic metal forging. He created the metal masks on the facade of the Drama Theater and decorative railings of the health clinic and the hospital in Komsomolsk-on-Amur.
In 1990, the artist left Komsomolsk-on-Amur, went to Vladivostok and then the Kaluga region. His artworks are still exhibited in many museums.
