Аннотация
The article examines, from an ethnographic perspective, the works of Abilkhan Kasteev, People’s Artist of Kazakhstan, created between 1927 and 1941 and depicting the everyday life and culture of the Kazakh people. Works of fine art preserved in museum collections are important for the study of traditional culture and everyday life. Through artistic images, they convey the customs of a particular historical period, household objects, clothing traditions, and features of worldview. In this respect, paintings and graphic works may be considered not only as expressions of aesthetic value but also as important visual historical and ethnographic sources. Introducing works of art into scholarly circulation as visual material defines the relevance of the study and helps broaden research on Kazakh ethnography. Although works of fine art have traditionally been examined in art history, cultural studies, philosophy, and other academic fields, their potential as ethnographic sources has not been fully explored. The article analyzes works from the collection of the Abylkhan Kasteev National Museum of Arts of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The aim of the study is to consider the oeuvre of one of the founders of Kazakh national fine art as an ethnographic source for the study of Kazakh culture.