Balduugiin Sharav

(nickname, Marzan [jester]). Born 1869; died 1939. First Mongolian painter to deal with contemporary subjects.

Sharav founded a Mongolian school of art that combined the traditions of Lamaist miniature painting and Chinese painting with elements of Western European art, such as chiaroscuro. He is noted for his inexhaustible powers of observation, bold imagination, sense of humor, and satirical manner. In addition to paintings on extremely large canvases, such as The Events of One Day and Holiday of Abundance (both at the Museum of Fine Arts of the Mongolian People’s Republic, Ulan Bator), his works include ethnographically accurate sketches, illustrations, and political posters. Sharav also painted portraits; of particular note is his V. I. Lenin (1922, Museum of Fine Arts of the Mongolian People’s Republic, Ulan Bator).