Eternal Russia Metal art by Victor Morozov. Russian artist Victor Morozov was born in 1949 in Nizhny Novgorod region. From early childhood he has a passion for drawing. In the children’s age he was fond of compositions with ancient warriors, knights and portrayed the battles. Today Victor Morozov is a recognized master of the author’s coinage, metal stamping with many years of experience and awards. The artist follows the ancient tradition of decorating churches, icons and manuscripts. This is an amazing quality, ancient masterpieces of our time are almost lost. But Victor Morozov succeeded in his work to reach the top skill comparable to that artistic and technical level of stamped pieces that are in Armory of the Moscow Kremlin and the State Hermitage.
As for peculiarities of technology and skills of easel stamping, Victor Morozov studied all this by himself, with the help of special literature. He had been collecting books on art, history and mythology for many years and studied the history of art, costume, arms etc.
His main peculiarities are epic themes and diversity of works with a strong decorative component. They are: triptychs “Medieval ballad”, and “Battle of Kulikovo”, panels “Battle of the Catalaunian Fields”, “Farewell of King Arthur with Ginevra”, “Pharaoh and Princess”, “Song of Solomon”, “Nizhny Novgorod epic”, decorative shields “Old-Russian”, “Old Rus” etc.
All the above-mentioned and many other works were purchased by big state and commercial companies.
Victor Morozov achieved perfection in his craft. Metal is manageable in his hands as well as clay or plasticine in the hands of a sculptor that allows him to solve the most complicated artistic tasks. Nowadays in Russia there are no artists engaged in easel stamping who can rank with Morozov.
Panel ‘Horned Beast’. From the series ‘Russian antiquity’. Indrik beast in Russian legends is considered “the father of all the beasts”. Indrik – the mangled name of the god Indra. Options “inorog”, “inrok” may cause association with the unicorn, but Indrik is described with two rather than one horn. Indrik attributed to the properties of other fantastic creatures of medieval books – king of water, snake and crocodile opponents, fabulous fish. According to Russian folklore, Indriks – underground beast, able to “walk through the dungeon, like the sun in the sky”, he is endowed with features of host of water, but acts as the enemy of the serpent.
Panel ‘Kitovras’. From the series ‘Russian antiquity’. Kitovras – The image of a fabulous monster of Slavs, identified with the Greek centaur. His has features of traditional werewolf that at a day time appears as a wise man, and rules the people, and at night as a “beast – Kitovras” – the king of beasts. Probably in Kitovras is evident notion of fantastic peoples supposedly inhabiting the outskirts of the world. In the composition is a schematic and decorative images of fantastic creatures with human head and torso connected to four-paws torso with fluffy tail. On Kitovras’ head – a crown of ruler, and in the hands a stone ax and caught hare – symbols of power over animals. Behind him are fantastic trees with lush foliage.
