The Russian painter, archeologist and collector, Igor Savitsky, first visited Karakalpakstan in 1950 to participate in the Khorezm Archeological & Ethnographic Expedition and later moved to Nukus, Karakalpakstan's capital, and continued living there until his death in Moscow in 1984.
It was not until perestroika in 1985-the year after he died-that Savitsky's remarkable achievements and collections were truly acknowledged, and not until 1991-when Uzbekistan became independent-that Nukus, a remote 'closed' city during the Soviet Union, became accessible to the outside world [REF].