Petr Gorban got inspired by the surrounding environment and borrowed his scenes from the every-day life of ordinary people. In his painting he pursued to capture various events, ordinary and crucial, tragic and funny, and to express their psychological timeless nature. One may call him “people’s artist”. Yet, in the Soviet time the humanistic philosophy of his images, his expressive interpretation of reality were adverse to the ideology of Soviet realism. The more remarkable became the artist’s identity and the acquired strength of his works, the more difficult they were to display and was the gap dividing him from his colleagues from the Union of Soviet Artists. Gradually, Petr Gorban got renowned as the non-official genius. His studio in Stavropol became a place for pilgrimage, attracting educated people and young artists who followed into Gorban’s footsteps.

Petr Gorban left an enormous heritage that is to take its place in the history of Russian art of the 20th century.