European form and Asian images: where in Astana you can see the works of Kazakh artist Yerbolat Tolepbay

Pygmalion Gallery has been working for almost three years for connoisseurs of the works of great masters, classics of the XV-XX centuries and modernists. This is the first place in Central Asia where perfect creations, masterpieces of classical Western European fine art from private collections, auctions and narrow-profile famous European galleries have been collected for more than a quarter of a century. The founder of the exhibition space is the collector Danagul Tolepbay.

The mission of the art gallery is to allow art lovers to touch the work of the great masters of painting and graphics, without going to Europe for this. 

The love of art has always distinguished refined and purposeful people. Such people have a subtle ability to feel harmony and feel the need to be not just a casual witness of the beautiful, but to become a part of this story..

Gallery Pygmalion

Over the years, the Pygmalion Gallery has become a place of inspiration, discovery and communication for the most passionate connoisseurs of masterpieces of world painting: from art historians to painters, from collectors to investors who understand that art is eternal.

A significant section of the gallery's collection represents the art of Western Europe. The printed graphics of outstanding masters reflect a wide range of creative searches of artists of different generations — from the classical canons of the Renaissance to the avant-garde trends of modern times. The starting point of the evolution of artistic thinking on the example of the collection is the work of Albrecht Durer, who combined the discoveries of the Italian and Northern Renaissance and brought the technique of engraving to perfection. 

The turn of the 19th-20th centuries marked the birth of a new era, different from all the art that preceded this moment. One of the founders of Cubism is Picasso; Matisse, without whom it is impossible to imagine the birth of Fauvism; Chagall, whose style cannot be confused with anyone; Dali is a great hoaxer and provocateur, an eccentric and enthusiastic researcher of the human subconscious. These and other names presented in the Pygmalion collection have become starting points, turning points in the history of art, which makes this exhibition so interesting, so fascinating for art lovers.

The Pygmalion exposition is represented by paintings and sculptures by many world-renowned authors, but the real heart of the Gallery is the collection of the Laureate of the State Prize and Honored Artist of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Knight of the Order of Arts and Literature of France, Yerbolat Tolepbay, whose works are not only in State Museums of Kazakhstan and Russia, but also in private collections of true connoisseurs from all over the world the world.

Yerbolat Tolepbai graduated from the Art and Graphic Faculty of the Abai University in 1977. Since 1974, he has been a regular participant of republican, All-Union, and international exhibitions.

In his works, the artist combines the European and Asian manner of performance with the preservation of the national Kazakh flavor, the works of Yerbolat Tolepbai are not just distinguished by the brightness and depth of colors — they give an idea of different stages of the history and spiritual development of the Kazakh people. He began his creative career with a respectful attitude to the realities of life and natural forms. However, he gave them a special sharpness of expression. The artist aspired to create large-scale canvases reflecting the spirit of the time. The images were the result of deep thoughts about a person, a country, and the world. Every detail of the composition carried a special semantic load. Objects of art and events of past times, introduced into the space of compositions, contributed to the deepening of the meanings of the present. 

Tolepbai felt like an heir to world culture. And that's why he had the audacity to create a kind of diptych-dialogue within the canvas “The Artist's Youth” (1983), in which he compared his portrait with a girl on her knees and a confident replica of the great Rembrandt's self-portrait with Saskia..

Gallery Pygmalion

During his long career, Yerbolat Tolepbay has participated in exhibitions in 35 countries, including France, Italy, Germany, India, China, Egypt, the Philippines and many other countries. Today the artist's works are in Moscow in the Tretyakov Gallery, major museums of the Russian Federation, the State Museum of Arts of the Republic of Kazakhstan named after A.Kasteev, regional museums of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Directorate of art exhibitions of the Ministry of Culture of Kazakhstan, private collections of Kazakhstan, CIS, Europe, America and Asia. 

Each new work became an illustration of time, history, epoch. That is why the value of the artist's works is presented not only from an aesthetic point of view, but also from a historical point of view.

Geography really does not limit us – we are open to residents of any countries from East to West, because art and love for it have no borders..

Gallery Pygmalion

At the moment, the works of Yerbolat Tolepbay can be seen by residents and guests of the capital in the Pygmalion Art Gallery at 16 Dostyk Street, Astana city.

Working hours: Mon-Sun — from 10.00 to 22.00, admission is free

contacts — +7 701 300 01 10

Material prepared by Zarina Kusanova