Stone paintings by Min Klementiev

Stone paintings by Min Klementiev.
By cutting and polishing variegated stones – jasper, marble, porphyry, layered chalcedony or agate, master stone-cutters reveal the amazing world inhabited by real and fantastic images of bizarre lines and spots. Lilac winter morning and red autumn sunset, blue silhouettes of snow-capped mountains and olive expanses of the steppes. Russian artist Min Klementiev from an early age loved the beauty of a polished stone. Original compositions, images, stories were constantly before his eyes. Gradually the idea to create a painting of the stone from the beginning to the end by himself took possession of him.

After a long search and many experiments had been found materials, with properties similar to natural stone. It became possible to create artificial stone surfaces of virtually unlimited size. Min Fedoseevich Klementiev was born in 1929 in Buguruslan, the Urals. He graduated from art school in Sverdlovsk. He took part in the restoration of churches in Miass, Zlatoust, Chelyabinsk, Arkhangelsk, on the New Earth. In parallel, searched and processed stones, trying to understand the patterns in the structure of malachite and jade.

Collecting and processing gems became his passion. The artist experimented with plaster, cement, Florentine mosaic, epoxy resins. Min Klementiev had studied a lot of books on chemistry, mineralogy, studied the natural processes affecting the creation of color and pattern of jasper, malachite and other semi-precious stones. The experiments required constant warm temperature, in the Urals such conditions are for a short time, so in 1958 he moved to and settled in Alushta, Crimea. In the late 60’s his experiments resulted in success: the composition was found.

Klementiev created his unique paintings that received the external similarity with natural semi-precious stones called “rock art.” The artist’s work is multifaceted, it is subject to the portrait, landscape and still life. All exhibited art works by Klementiev received the highest opinion of experts and the audience. Min Klementiev died in 1987 in Alushta. The artistic heritage of M. F. Klementiev is about four hundred paintings. The collection is exclusively owned by the family of the artist.

Stone paintings by Min Klementiev

alushta.org