Abilhan Kasteyev is an outstanding Kazakh painter, the founder of the Kazakh fine art. He was born and raised in the Jarkent area of Almaty region and buried in Almaty. In 1944 A. Kasteyev was awarded with the title of People's Artist of Kazakhstan. In the years 1945-1956 he was a chairman of the Union of Artists of Kazakhstan. He started his career working on the construction of the Turksib railway. In Moscow, the future artist took lessons in the art studios with N.G Khludov and Brodsky (1929-1936). A. Kasteyev created thousand works depicting the various manifestations of popular life. When he was a child, Abilhan loved to draw and make various crafts. His mother, Aygansha, used to weave carpets, felting, alashu, syrmaki, different yurt stuff; she inflicted patterns on them, and made woven mats from the osier bed and cheegrass. He watched all these processes and helped his mother to cut the ornament as well as to select the images for ornament. Abilhan is an artist who has managed to portray the beautiful nature of his native land, the changes that were made by the human. His works: "The Highland rink" (1954), "The Flower of apple" (1958), "My Country" (1959), "The mobile store in Zhailau" (1963), "Kapchagay HPS" (1972), they all drew the attention to themselves by the truthfulness of image. Abilhan Kasteev is an original artist, who has his own style and the ability to draw the pictures with the love for his native land. The great achievement of the Kazakh fine art is the fact, that the 100th anniversary of the artist was noted by UNESCO. Abilhan Kasteyev did not recognize the settled canons; he went his own creative way. Others were shocked by the endurance and performance of the artist. When he began painting, he did not get up until the picture was finished. The picture could be understood by anyone, there is no need for a language. A. Kasteyev translated what he saw by himself into the language of art; how he perceives the world. The future belongs to the great paintings, since they do not die. In this sense Abilhan Kasteev is a unique personality, a talented artist who made a huge contribution to the development of the Kazakh fine art.
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