Label Text:
A Russian-born artist of German descent, Karl Tanpeter is recognized for bringing the landscapes and cultures of Kyrgyzstan, a fellow Soviet republic he visited frequently, into Ukrainian art. This painting most likely depicts the construction of the Toktogul Hydroelectric Station, a massive undertaking that transformed the region’s economy. To this day, it supplies forty percent of Kyrgyzstan’s electricity. Like other hydroelectric
plants built in Central Asia during the Soviet era, Toktogul became a symbol of Soviet technological prowess and enabled rapid industrial development in what had been predominantly rural territory. Tanpeter’s landscape reflects a distinctly colonial
mode of seeing nature, which was widespread in Soviet visual culture. This perspective glorifies human intervention and portrays nature as something to be mastered and transformed through labor and technology.
Tags:
painting; construction; power; workers; labor; mountains Subjects:
Mountains; Painting; Labor; Canvas Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=AC+2020.12 |
