In the second half of the 1950s, a new artistic movement known as the austere style appeared in Soviet painting. It glorified the strength of humans, their struggle with the elements, and the harnessing of nature for the purposes of technological progress. The characters of the new movement included oil rig workers, construction workers, miners, and geologists.
As a young boy, Stanislav Torlopov became fascinated by the romantic air that is inherent to the profession of a geologist. Later, the artist himself participated in expeditions that helped him create true-to-life images and fill them with metaphors. Stanislav Torlopov said that the Institute of Geology had greatly contributed to his creative development,
“It was the Institute that helped me graduate from the Universities of Life and Art. It is only now that I fully grasp that I have worked in the field with the greats of science… In their company, I have walked, driven, flown, and sailed thousands of kilometers, getting to the most remote, untrodden places where a tent is the main criterion of comfort. Working side by side with them, I have experienced what they call ‘the dangers of the field’… Any difficult work situation is like a sieve that sorts the wheat from the chaff.”
Stanislav Torlopov’s paintings inspired by geological expeditions became classics of Komi fine arts. A significant part of his creative legacy is dedicated to the Russian North with its mountains, snow, ice, and brave people. In his works, Torlopov organized a new environment of human existence with its own special internal relations. His paintings combine a recognizable subject matter with the emotional intensity of colors and light.
Stanislav Torlopov dedicated more than a dozen works to Vaygach Island which he visited with a group of geologists in the 1960s. His creative journey resulted in a series of sketches, including “Vaygach. Cape Greben”, “Vaygach. Utinaya Bay”, and “Vaygach. Cape Bolvansky”. In his later works, the artist accumulated his travel impressions.
Stanislav Torlopov said,
