Trescheva S.P.
Senior Researcher
CSPE "The Local History museum of Temirtau City"
This year marks the 100th birth anniversary of the famous Temirtau city’s artist- Mikhail Stepanovich Podlesnykh. He is a talented artist, a wonderful teacher, who raised a large galaxy of creative people, a man, who went through the war and never painted a picture about it. He is the only one who received the title “Honorary Citizen of the City” for his contribution to the development of Temirtau city’s culture.
His life is closely intertwined with Temirtau city, although he was born in the Chaplygin city, Lipetsk region. He and his family were repressed and exiled to a special settlement in Kazakhstan in the 30s.
In 1942 he was drafted into the Red Army. He fought on the Volkhov and Leningrad fronts. He suffered wounds and had eleven military awards.
During the war years he developed a passion for drawing. He worked as a graphic designer in the 36th reserve rifle division. And he became a participant in the exhibition of front-line artists of the Leningrad Front in 1945.
After the war, he studied for three years at the Leningrad Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture of I. Repin. But life circumstances were such that in 1950 he came to Temirtau city. This city truly became home to him. He lived here for over 65 years.
Mikhail Stepanovich stood at the origins of the artistic life formation of the city. Working as a graphic designer at the Kazakh Metallurgical Plant, he organized the first city exhibition of amateur artists, at which he exhibited his works.
He did a lot for the development of art education. It all started with a fine art club of young artists at the Metallurgist’s Culture Palace. Later the club became an art studio. And the artist is its leader. For 40 years he headed an art studio. Thanks to the high level of training, more than 80 students of Mikhail Stepanovich became certified painters, sculptors, architects - Kuat Askarov, Alexander Bolyukh, Yuri Piltikhin, Sergei Torokhov, Bogza Evdokia and many others. His students remember their teacher with gratitude.
Mikhail Stepanovich can rightfully be called an artist and chronicler of the Temirtau city.
He painted a lot of paintings on an industrial theme and devoted to the Karaganda Metallurgical Plant. A distinctive feature of his painting is documentary, as the artist loved to paint from nature, going out into the open air. He walked for many kilometers of the steppe, studying it with a pencil and brush. And this contributed to the authenticity of the plot and the paintings he created. Thanks to these works, we can see how the appearance of the industrial landscape of Temirtau city changes every year.
He said about this: “... As a person living in Temirtau city, I have something to say in my works about our glorious city. I strive to feel the breath of Temirtau city and reflect it as figuratively as possible in my paintings.”
He always dreamed that Temirtau would prosper and be a culturally developed city. Mikhail Stepanovich was one of the initiators of the museum’s opening in the city. And he always supported and was interested in this life. When the opportunity arose, he donated his paintings. They were included in the main fund of the art collection of the Temirtau City’s Museum.
As a painter, he always gravitated towards the classical style of painting. Most of all, the artist loved to paint landscapes and still lifes. I couldn’t write on the topic of war or human suffering, because I was wounded, riddled with shrapnel, and was treating frostbitten legs. These memories were too difficult for him.
Over the years of creative activity, the artist took part in many exhibitions, including republican and all-Union ones. His works were exhibited in Moscow, Leningrad, Alma-Ata, Karaganda cities.
Fruitful work gave him the opportunity to hold more than one personal exhibition. He had five of them. And each exhibited works devoted to his beloved city, landscapes dear to his heart, still lifes he adored, and there was also a place for portraits.
Mikhail Stepanovich passed away in 2015, but his memory lives in the hearts of his students, people who communicated with him, relatives, friends and in his paintings, which are kept in private collections and museums.
