Translated from Russian.

Nikolay БЕЛЯЕВ, the poet

The newspaper «Soviet Tatarija», on 5th of February,  1988

For admirers of painting

These days canvases of Pjotr Valius are exhibited at two halls of the Museum of fine arts of Tatarija - the moscow artist whose popularity only just begins …

It was not possible to me. Fifteen years ago, having come in his studio in cellar located in one of lanes near to a museum of a name of A.S.Pushkin, I have not found the artist any more, only have heard stories in which the pain of loss was still alive. And nevertheless I was pulled to return in this cellar. I  sat up there not a time before pictures which language strongly differed from prevailing in those years conformism. Each canvas worked, caused need to communicate to it, to think. As a matter of fact, these canvases are the philosophical, poetic images created by means of painting -  modern painting, that speaks with the spectator  with all variety of colors, texture, safely uses the perspective and other distortions, rejects any canons if they prevent to creation of an image.

Simultaneously it is the world of images., close to the spectator by the humanistic orientation, circle of meditations and aspirations. It is the painting that strengthens belief of the person in the future, gives forces, desire to withstand.

Every Saturday the widow of the artist, writer Anna Vitaljevna Valtseva (Valius), opened doors of a studio for all comers, and hundreds, and even thousand the visitors passed through this constantly going exhibition involved by stories of those who has visited the studio earlier. There was no advertising. But people went and went. They faced to canvases for a long, at first amazed by singularity, then - trying to remember and carry away in a soul everything, that became closest…

Years have passed. Talking  have started about artist Valius as about original and serious phenomenon of the Soviet painting. His exhibition took place three years ago in the Central House of writers of a name of A.A.Fadeev. And today pictures of Valius have arrived to Kazan. I think it will be a quite good gift for the kazan admirers of painting besause only the few of them are familiar with creativity of the artist. Certainly, there will be and disputes, and collisions of the extreme points of view at this exhibition. Well, today it is norm of a life. Important that each side has the right to express the opinion, has the right to defend it and to do it not behind closed doors where the opinion of one-two is obligatory for all. It should please.