Kyrgyzstan has recently become the proud owner of the most expensive photograph in Central Asia.
The only existing print of this panoramic photograph, measuring 220 by 78 centimeters, was appraised by recognized art critics in the amount of three hundred thousand US dollars.
“The Land of the Kyrgyz” was privately commissioned as a souvenir to the President of the country, Kurmanbek Bakiev, for his birthday on August 1, 2009.
This exclusive piece of art “The Land of the Kyrgyz” represents a panoramic mountain landscape in pastel shades, with some light golden gleams of sun rays in the lower right portion of the photograph. In the foreground, there is an alpine meadow, called by local cattle-breeding nomads “djaylau”.
In the halo of the backlight, yellow poppies and edelweiss flowers are glittering below the cut of the frame. Behind the blooms, a steep rocky slope chivalrously bows down to a thin ribbon of the river that playfully runs away, splitting in the distance. The background of the panorama reveals a think blanket of broody clouds that envelope the snow-steeped mountain peaks and their glacial cirques in hues of blue.
This is the true land of the Kyrgyz people. A masterpiece created by a talented Wizard of Light who manages to reflect the deep essence of Nature in this heavenly place on Earth.
The mounting of the photograph is in itself worth its appraised value. The art print, produced in polychromatic printing, is stretched on a heavy duty art canvas and incased into a luxurious frame made of prized varieties of walnut burl of complex coloring. The hues on the frame change from light amber toward dark brown, exhibiting some veins of black and dark cherry. Its intricate coloring seems to emulate the color palette of the autumn hues in the photograph.
The frame contains a thick plate made of pure gold bearing the Kyrgyz Republic’s coat of arms. Additionally, the plate includes dedication in the Kyrgyz language:
To the Manas of our times
President of the Kyrgyz Republic
Kurmanbek Bakiev
