Figurative and stylistic analysis of Givi Mantkava's work “The Nivkhi Archers” (1974) from the collection of the Sakhalin Regional Art Museum

Abstract

This article presents a figurative and stylistic analysis of Givi Mikhailovich Mantkava's painting “The Nivkhi Archer” (1973), drawn from the collections of the Sakhalin Regional Art Museum. It situates the painting within the context of the development of Soviet fine art between the 1960s and 1980s. The author considers the work of G.M. Mantkava in the perspective of the so-called severe style, which constituted one of the principal trends of Soviet painting during that period. The article elucidates the principal characteristics of the severe style, its evolution and interrelation with cultural and ethnic aspects, as exemplified by the Nivkhi theme in Mantkava's work. Particular attention is devoted to an analysis of the means of expression and compositional solutions employed in the work, as well as its historical and cultural context.