#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. Taimyr and the Arctic became his creative homeland. He traveled with a sketchbook to Dikson, Severnaya Zemlya, Franz Josef Land, and many polar stations.
When the artist was asked: “Is the northern nature as colorful as you depict it on your canvases?” – he answered:
“Having visited different parts of our vast Motherland, I now have some right to compare and I can assert that only the Pamirs and its high mountain regions can compete with the Arctic in terms of saturation and richness of the color range. I had to paint a sunset in the Laptev sea. The pure orange-red colors of the palette looked dirty compared to what was happening in the sky. Writing it was a difficult task, but also a rare, incomparable pleasure.
With Nikolay Loy’s participation, a fine arts studio for adults at the Norilsk nickel combine’s Culture Palace and a children’s art school were opened in Norilsk – he became its first director, now the school bears his name.
He also initiated the creation of art and production workshops and organized galleries in schools and enterprises.
For many years, Loy was the chairman of the city arts council and the exhibition committee, as well as a deputy of the Norilsk city council.
Loy led a team of Norilsk and Krasnoyarsk artists who were the authors of the mosaic panels on Komsomolskaya street.
On the first mosaic, which, unfortunately, has not survived – Talnah – All-Union Shock Komsomol construction – there was a triple author’s signature: N. Loy, G. Nikiforov, P. Krasnoyarov.
Nikolay Loy participated in the People’s Art Gallery opening (later it became the Norilsk Art Gallery). The artist’s farewell exhibition coincided with the opening of the new gallery building at 78 Talnahskaya street. Before leaving, Loy donated 89 of his works to the city.
The USSR Artists Union member was awarded eleven government awards, a Peace Fund medal, the Honored Artist of Russia and the Russian Federation People’s Artist titles.
Loy’s paintings are in private collections and national museums in France, Canada, USA, Holland, Japan, Austria, Finland, Cuba. Loy’s works were also presented as a gift to the Norilsk guest Canada prime minister Trudeau and the French communists’ newspaper Humanite.
In the History Spot’s previous publication, we told about what 1997 brought to the history of Norilsk.
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Text: Svetlana Ferapontova, Photo: Nornickel Polar Branch archive
