Zufar Bikbov
Zufar’s interest in painting came early in life from the influence of his father, a well-respected specialist in engineering. His father’s dream of becoming an artist was not realized in the post-WWII Soviet Union during Stalin’s regime. Although his father was accepted to Nicolai Fechin's Art school in Kazan (Russia), he had to switch to the School of Engineering and Architecture. “My dad never pushed me into an art career,” recalls Zufar, “however, albums of my father’s watercolors and a library of Russian Fine Art at our home, along with my father’s paints and brushes – this environment became fertile soil for artistic talent to grow."
Zufar began drawing and painting classes at age nine. At eleven, he painted his first plein air pieces, depicting nearby village cottages and a horse resting next to a carriage delivering pies to the local market. He found this painting more immediate than painting a still life or a model in the studio. He fell in love with landscape painting and started exploring the language of direct expression— of what was before him.
When choosing a college and profession, his need to help people led Zufar to a medical career. During his studies in medical school, residency, and finally, his move to the United States, art was never left behind and continued to be an essential part of his life. Zufar was honored to participate in the “Doctors Paint” exhibit at the State Museum of Fine Arts in Kazan and Yale Medical School.
Zufar’s landscape style leans towards Russian and Soviet-Era Impressionism. For him art is a continuous experimentation and growth area. More than a decade of traveling and painting in the US has brought his painting palette to a higher key and forged friendships all over the country.
In 2012, he entered the world of competitive plein-air painting in the United States, winning numerous awards. Among those, Zufar treasures most the Artist Choice Award at Plein Air Easton (Maryland), a "Medal of Honor and Merit" from Kent Art Association (the first art organization in the US he joined), the Hudson Valley Art Association Gold Medal, and The Irvine Museum Award, received during the Laguna Plein Air national competition (Laguna Beach, California). He has continued to be invited back to these and many other prestigious competitions year after year and plans to continue competing in 2022.
About the EPAT Ranch Fellowship...
Having lived on the East Coast in New England for over 20 years, I still remember traveling with my family at nine to a place of vast open spaces, an unforgettable sky, and scattered hills and waterways. What draws me to Texas is its unique spirit of freedom, which I have sought to express in my landscapes while painting en plein air in San Angelo. Life on a ranch is a life closer to nature, the land, and our roots. There is something timely and deeply familiar in it.
- Zufar Bikbov
Head of the River Ranch, Christoval TX
'Quiet Hour', Concho Street, San Angelo TX
'Twin Buttes', EPAT 3rd Place Award, 2019
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