Likim Ibragimov: Paintings of the Horse and the Steppe

Likim Ibragimov paints the steppe the way a musician plays it: in rhythm, in motion, with the horse at the centre of almost everything. A painter and sculptor of Kazakh origin, he is one of the artists whose original oil paintings now hang in the MySafe Retail gallery, and his canvases are among the most energetic works you can collect in the UAE today. This spotlight looks at the themes that run through his work and at the paintings of his available on our site.

From Almaty to his own practice

Ibragimov studied within the painter and sculptor circles of Almaty before establishing his own practice. That double training shows. His figures have the weight of something modelled in three dimensions, yet they are set down with a quick, assured brush. He works in oil on canvas, and his compositions are built from line and rhythm rather than from detailed narrative.

The horse remains the central motif of his work. For Ibragimov it is a symbol of the steppe and of movement itself, and it returns across scales and moods, from a single animal drawn in a few lines to crowded scenes of ceremony and contest.

The horse as subject: three ways of seeing it

The Horse 1 is the purest statement of the theme. A horse is shown in profile, painted with the economical line that defines Ibragimov's animal studies. The canvas is left open around the figure, so the animal carries the whole composition. It is the most accessible way into his work, priced at AED 26,000.

Conquering a Horse turns the same animal into drama. A rider brings a rearing horse under control at the centre of the canvas. The theme of the tamed horse runs through Kazakh visual culture, where horsemanship carries both practical and ceremonial meaning, and Ibragimov paints it as a moment of balance rather than struggle. The painting measures 80 × 70 cm and is offered at AED 110,000.

Fight with a Lion takes the contest further. On a square 100 × 100 cm canvas, a struggle between man and lion is rendered in swift, angular strokes. The square format gives the confrontation no escape route, and the scene belongs to the tradition of the epic cycles that run through Central Asian art. It is available at AED 75,000.

Ceremony and celebration

Ceremony and celebration recur throughout Ibragimov's work, drawn from the traditions of the Kazakh steppe. In The Wedding, a wedding procession is compressed into a dense frieze of figures, painted in warm reds, ochres and whites. The figures are simplified into rhythmic shapes, so the painting reads as movement rather than story; the whole composition travels across the canvas like a single continuous gesture. At 115 × 85 cm, it is priced at AED 55,000.

Melody Kurmangazy: painting music

The most ambitious work in our gallery is Melody Kurmangazy, a monumental oil on canvas measuring 200 × 120 cm. Its title comes from Kurmangazy, the Kazakh composer whose kui form reshaped the music of the steppe. Ibragimov translates the structure of the kui into painting, treating rhythm as a spatial rather than a temporal device. Colour is laid in broad planes, and the scale of the canvas lets the composition breathe at architectural width.

This is a painting for a large wall: a majlis, a double-height entrance or a long dining room, where it can be seen from a distance and then up close. It is offered at AED 150,000.

The animal as memory

Ibragimov returns repeatedly to the animal as a carrier of memory. The Last Tiger, a 140 × 120 cm oil on canvas, gives a lone tiger a monumental stillness that sits somewhere between monument and elegy. It shows how far his subject matter reaches beyond the horse while keeping the same loose, energetic brushwork.

What to look for in Likim Ibragimov paintings

If you are new to his work, three qualities are worth noticing in person:

• Line before detail. Whether it is a single horse or a procession, the drawing does the work. Detail is kept to a minimum so the gesture stays clear.
• Rhythm across the canvas. His wider compositions move from one side to the other like a phrase of music, which is why they suit long walls and corridors.
• Steppe themes. Horsemanship, weddings, epic contests and the music of Kurmangazy place his work firmly in Kazakh and Central Asian tradition.

Living with a large oil painting in the UAE

Large original oils reward careful placement. Hang them away from direct sun and from the airflow of an AC vent, give them enough wall around the frame to breathe, and light them with a warm, indirect source. Every work in our gallery lists its medium and dimensions on its product page, so you can plan the wall before you buy.

Collecting from MySafe Retail

MySafe Retail is a UAE online store for original paintings, sculpture and certified safes. Every painting is shown with its artist, medium and size, and we deliver by courier across the UAE and internationally, with secure checkout via CC Avenue. If you have a question about a specific work, our team is a message away. You can read more about who we are in our launch article.

Ibragimov is one of several artists in our growing collection of original paintings, alongside a sculpture gallery that includes gold-plated bronze works such as Karen Terzyan's Golden Pomegranate.

Explore

Browse the Likim Ibragimov works and the rest of our original paintings, and find the canvas that fits your wall.