Baqi Urmançe

Ğabdelbaqi Urmançe was a Tatar artist who engaged in everything from painting and sculpture to graphic arts and even Arabic calligraphy. He didn’t just keep his skills to himself: he shared his wisdom as a teacher and left behind a legacy of professional Tatar painting.

He was born on February 10, 1897, in the family of the Kül Çerkene village mullah, he got his early education at home. After studying at the "Möxəmmədiyə" madrasa in Kazan, he took up teaching in the Tambov province. In 1916-1917, while serving in Kazakhstan, he received his first painting and drawing lessons from Austrian prisoners of war. These early lessons set him on a creative path that led him to study painting, sculpture, and graphic arts in both Kazan and Moscow.

Urmançe was on a mission to improve the Arabic graphic font. He developed new fonts, penned scientific articles, and even dabbled in the design of vases with Arabic inscriptions.

In 1927, he signed a letter to Stalin on behalf of 82 people urging against the cancellation of the Arabic script for the Tatar language. Unfortunately, this act led to his arrest in 1929 and a subsequent 5-year imprisonment for “inciting national enmity.” He served his sentence on the remote Solovki Islands until 1933, only to be vindicated and acquitted in 1990.

Urmançe’s creativity was an intriguing blend of Tatar tradition and European artistic techniques, making him a true bridge between cultures.

In the 1920s, Urmançe’s artistic endeavors expanded to the realms of canvas and book illustration. His "Near the Separator" (1927), "Portrait of Bikbulatov" (1927), "Girl in Yellow Dress" (1928), not only found a place in the treasure trove of Soviet and Tatar paintings but also etched his name in art history.

Baqi Urmançe came to Kazakhstan in 1941: he was invited to Almaty by the committee to prepare for the 100-year anniversary of Abay and commissioned to work on painting and graphics. And the artist stayed in Kazakhstan. It is believed that Urmançe created the best works of painting and graphics of that time in Almaty: his famous portrait gallery of figures of the history and culture of Kazakhstan, historical canvases, landscapes, sketches of nature, and still lifes.

A sculptor Çıñğız Әxmәrov, who was born in a Tatar family and moved to Uzbekistan at an early age, was one of those who invited Urmançe to the Tashkent Institute of Arts in 1952. In Uzbekistan, Urmançe created beautiful paintings, portraits, landscapes, and sculptures such as "Grape Harvesting" (1951), "Banu" (1952), and "Portrait of Old Mirab" (1952)

The Kazan period in Urmançe’s life marked a significant step forward in the art and culture of Tatarstan. He melded the essence of Tatar folk art and miniatures into his work, bringing a fresh perspective to the canvas. And in the late 1970s, he reached the pinnacle of his craft with works like “Tatarstan” (1976, 1985) and “Hay Market” (1975), the cycle of paintings "Memories" (1978-1979) that includes "At the Foot of the Ural Mountains" and "Bathing Horses".