Saint Petersburg 1913-1983 Almaty

(1913, Saint-Petersburg – 1983, Almaty) A Soviet painter and educator, Leonid Leontiev’s artistic journey reflects the complex path of an artist navigating academic painting heritage and personal freedom within the official aesthetics of Socialist Realism. Educated at the Ilya Repin Leningrad Institute of Arts, Leontiev absorbed academic discipline while his interest in experimentation was fueled by an acquaintance with the Russian avant-garde. His move to Kazakhstan in 1939 marked a creative transformation amidst a new cultural environment, unburdened by canons. The artist built a visual language in which his landscapes and genre scenes became spaces of interaction, drawing the viewer into the depicted world. From the 1970s, Leontiev moved further away from illustration, intensifying the expressiveness of colour, line and rhythm. Leontiev also profoundly influenced Kazakh art, shaping a new generation of artists through teaching at the Alma-Ata Art School, with students such as Aisha Galymbayeva and Zhanatai Sharden, also part of the exhibition. His painting In the Mountains, shown in Qonaqtar, demonstrates a shift from classical composition to a more dynamic, impressionistic style.