He paints a portrait of Belarus

Artist Victor Barabantsev — about creativity, travel and love for his native country

He studied with folk artists Gavriil Vashchenko and Vladimir Stelmashonok. He travelled with an easel all over the country, and almost half of the globe with exhibitions. If to collect all the paintings of the Honoured Art Worker of Belarus Victor Barabantsev, one can make the most detailed portrait of our Motherland. The author passed his every stroke and every flake through a heart filled with sincere love for his native land, interest in the historical past of Belarus and the cultural traditions of our people.

Photo: www.yandex.ru

From one hero of the day to another 

Victor Barabantsev turns 75. He has been living and working in Minsk for a long time, but the artist was born and raised in Gomel. Therefore, it is no coincidence that he presents his anniversary exhibition at the museum of the Palace and Park Ensemble in Grodno. The title of the exposition is based on the words of the author himself: ‘Feel the Motherland in your soul’. The hero of the day not only accepted congratulations, but also came to his hometown with a gift. However, it was also for the anniversary — Gomel turned 880.
Victor Barabantsev says with a smile, “Of course, I am a little younger than my hometown. I want to donate 30 of my works to the Museum of the History of Gomel City. Here is the Chernobyl cycle, and landscapes with views of Pripyat River and Sozh River. Let them be stored on their native land in a permanent exhibition. Well, I’ll fill it up as best I can.”

The path of the artist

Victor Barabantsev is not just an outstanding artist, but also an interesting storyteller. Each painting has its own story. However, the very question of the reasons that prompted him to take up painting, at first really confuses the author. But suddenly he remembers an episode from childhood, “I had a picture hanging over my bed with a fabulous winter landscape and a path leading into the forest. I later found out that my uncle painted it. He was a sailor, but he painted pictures just for passion. Well, in the fifth grade I already consciously took up drawing, I even bought a self-instruction manual in Gomel.”


Victor Barabantsev graduated from the Minsk State Art College in 1968, and from the Belarusian State Theatre and Art Institute in 1978. Soon came appreciation. He has many awards: for example, in 2001 he became a laureate of the Presidential Prize for Spiritual Revival, in 2010 he was awarded the Francysk Skaryna Medal. But it was not for their sake that the author travelled around Belarus for so many years. He watched, listened, absorbed, so that later he could share the soul of the native land with his descendants. 

‘Jesus Christ, it looks like it’s alive!’ 

Continuing the traditions of the Belarusian realistic school of painting, Victor found himself in chamber painting filled with metaphors and symbols and became known for his detailed landscapes. Each picture stands out not only for its plot, but also for its depth, format, and space. The artist admires nature, singing its beauty. His portraits are also lyrical and warm. Heroes sometimes literally ask for a canvas. Barabantsev recalls, 

“I was walking through the village of Krasnoozernoye in the Smorgon District, when a simple village peasant was sitting on a bench. He was picturesque, with his face red from sunburn. He called me and asked: ‘Could you paint me?’ I agreed and began to paint a portrait right there. While I was working, he called his wife to show her his portrait. She began to lament: ‘Jesus Christ, it looks like it’s alive!’”

By the way, this picture is still in the collection of the author.
 

Portrait of a teacher and an unexpected meeting

The artist paints only from nature. Before portraying a person, he studies him for more than one year. Alexey Dudarev, Ivan Misko, Olga Ipatova, Nil Gilevich, Valentin Elizariev posed for the master. There is also a portrait of his teacher — Gavriil Vashchenko.
“Gavriil Kharitonovich agreed easily, although he had just left the hospital. Summer, heat — and he is in a sheepskin coat. The portrait was painted in his studio for an hour and a half a day, so as not to tire too much. He came once, twice and third. I didn’t show him the work. Finally, he could not stand it and asked how long I would torture him. He asked me to show what I managed to paint, and said: ‘Victor, the first commandment of an artist is to stop in time. Enough, the portrait is ready’,” tells Barabantsev.
The artist offered the Vashchenko Art Gallery in Gomel to purchase the work, but so far it is kept by the author.
The seeking soul of Barabantsev also led him to the Zhirovichi Monastery.
“I felt ill after the Chernobyl accident. I lived with the monks for ten days. During this time, I was healed, cleansed. I have the portrait of one novice at that time as a keepsake. I was looking for a couple of days to approach him. He went to his cell, and I met him. We talked, it turned out that he was the son of the famous Belarusian sculptor Andrei Bembel. That’s how interesting fate brought us together. Now he is already a monk, so he has a different name, a church one,” the artist recalls.

From England to China

Ancient cities, historically significant places, churches and monasteries regularly find their embodiment on the canvases of the master. Victor Barabantsev also takes part in the painting of Belarusian churches. He created complex multi-colour frescoes on the scenes of the Holy Scriptures on the walls in the church of the village of Lebedevo in the Molodechno Region, labour-intensive, professionally made mosaics in the Joy of All Who Sorrow and Mary Magdalene churches of Minsk, as well as in the House of Mercy. The artist is also in demand outside of Belarus. There is his mosaic panel in the Church of the Holy Spirit in Polish Bialystok.

The works of Victor Barabantsev are kept in the leading museums of the country. A lot of the painter’s works are also found outside of Belarus: in private collections in England, Belgium, Cyprus, Poland, Sweden, Holland, and the USA. Now the Gomel museum has joined the list. 

There is also a series of works devoted to travel. One can see sea and city landscapes with views of Provence and Madrid, Barcelona and Jerusalem. A trip to China was a true test, “I wanted to look at the Great Wall of China four years ago. I travelled by roundabout paths over stones, climbed a rope ladder. It was 36 degrees; it was really hot. So, I spent the whole day there. It’s hard, but you don’t feel time at work. Going down was even more difficult. In the evening, I came to bed more dead than alive.”

The strength of the native land

The author admits that it is more comfortable to travel around Belarus. Native places fill the soul of the artist with their unique energy, allowing to create for hours in nature, forgetting about fatigue, heat, cold and other hindrances, which at once become insignificant even at the age of 75. The master admits that the creation of one picture can take both several weeks and several years. But the portrait of his native land has not yet been completed. More and more colours, details, images are added to it. Thus, Belarus looks at its children from Barabantsev’s paintings, telling its story through landscapes and portraits, church domes and blue lakes. 

On the Sozh River

“I see Belarus as open, kind and hospitable country. In my paintings, it is filled with the feelings of the people living here. Love for your home, respect for work, care for loved ones, joys and sorrows. It is filled with the ability to preserve its culture and traditions, to honour its history. And most importantly — beauty, which can not be found anywhere else,” explains the artist.

By Dmitry Boyarchuk
Photos by Tata Kaverina