Tyko Vylka ( Nenets name Тыко Вылка, russian: Илья Константинович Вылка; 28 February 1886 – 28 September 1960) was a Soviet and Nenets painter and author, notable for his Arctic landscapes. He was also active in politics and has been elected the chairman of the Novaya Zemlya Island

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

. Tyko Vylka has been a member of polar expeditions. Tyko in Nenets language means ''baby polar deer''. Ilya is the name he got when he was baptized. His gravestone in Kuznechevskoye Cemetery in

Arkhangelsk Arkhangelsk (, ; rus, Арха́нгельск, p=ɐrˈxanɡʲɪlʲsk), also known in English as Archangel and Archangelsk, is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies o ...

uses ''Илья Константинович Тыко-Вылко'' (Ilya Konstantinovich Tyko-Vylko), which is incorrect.

Biography

Tyko Vylka was born in

Belushya Guba Belushya Guba (russian: Белу́шья Губа́, lit. ''beluga whale'' ''bay''), also Belushye (), is a work settlement and the administrative center of Novaya Zemlya District of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Gusinaya Zemlya p ...

Novaya Zemlya Novaya Zemlya (, also , ; rus, Но́вая Земля́, p=ˈnovəjə zʲɪmˈlʲa, ) is an archipelago in northern Russia. It is situated in the Arctic Ocean, in the extreme northeast of Europe, with Cape Flissingsky, on the northern island, ...

in hunter's family. His father's name was Hanets (Konstantin) Vylka. In 1901, Vylka met Aleksandr Borisov, a pioneer of Russian Arctic landscape painting, who was travelling over the Arctic. Borisov took him into an expedition around Novaya Zemlya and gave him first drawing lessons. In 1903-1904 Vylka also took lessons from

Stepan Pisakhov Stepan Grigoryevich Pisakhov (russian: Степан Григорьевич Писахов; , Arkhangelsk – 3 May 1960, Arkhangelsk) was a Russian Empire and Soviet artist, writer, oral storyteller, and ethnographer. Biography Stepan Pisakhov was ...

, an artist and an author, who was living in Novaya Zemlya. Pisakhov encouraged Vylka to continue with the painting, but discouraged him from travelling to Moscow or Saint-Petersburg and getting systematic art education there, since he was afraid that life in big cities would spoil Vylka's fresh perception of nature. In 1904, Vylka investigated the coast of Novaya Zemlya and created a map of the coast. In 1909, he participated in

Vladimir Rusanov Vladimir Alexandrovich Rusanov (russian: Влади́мир Алекса́ндрович Руса́нов; – ca. 1913) was a Russian geologist and Arctic explorer. Early life Rusanov was born in a merchant's family in Oryol, Russia. His early ...

's Arctic expedition around Novaya Zemlya, and created the map of the archipelago. For his role in the Rusanov's expedition, Vylka was decorated by a medal. He was initially self-taught painting, and then he left for one year (1910–1911) for Moscow where he studied with

Abram Arkhipov Abram Efimovich Arkhipov (russian: Абра́м Ефи́мович Архи́пов; – 25 September 1930) was a Russian realist artist, who was a member of the art collective The Wanderers as well as the Union of Russian Artists. Biogr ...

and Vasily Pereplyotchikov. In 1918, Vylka became the Chairman of Belushya Guba settlement

, and from 1925 to 1956 he served as the Chairman of Novaya Zemlya Island Soviet, the governing body of Novaya Zemlya archipelago. In 1956, the whole civil (indigenous) population of Novaya Zemlya was forcedly relocated to enable the usage of the islands as a military base and a nuclear bomb testing ground. After the resettlement, Tyko Vylka lived in

, where he died in 1960s. There is a street named in his name in

. In 1981, a film ''The Great Sami'' (russian: Великий самоед) appeared, featuring the career of Vylka.

Art

After one of the Rusanov's expeditions, Vylka created a report as an album of drawings, which was presented to Tsar

Nicholas II Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Pola ...

. It is generally accepted however that he produced his best paintings in 1950s, after he retired as a politician. These are oil on canvas works, showing northern landscapes, with the dominance of blue and white colors.

References

External links

Literature

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vylka, Tyko 1886 births 1960 deaths 20th-century Russian painters Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Nenets people Russian male painters Russian landscape painters Soviet painters 20th-century Russian male artists