Why the artist Nesterov changed the face of his beloved model on his frescoes and other interesting facts

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Revival through personal tragedy, favorite muse Lela Prakhova, criticism of the best masters of Russia and the best religious works of the artist - all this is about him, about Mikhail Nesterov. He was a painter whose works overcame both great transformations in Russian society of the 20th century and personal tragedies. And only by overcoming all these obstacles, Nesterov became a famous artist, one of the best in his era.

1. Will the merchant's son be a merchant?

Nesterov was born into a merchant's family and had to follow in his father's footsteps, but it soon became clear that he was not destined to become a successful entrepreneur. Helping his father's shop, the future artist "felt alienated and useless, unable to sell anything except dolls and foil to decorate icons." Apparently, from that time his love for religion and icons was manifested. He will soon discover that he is interested in art.

2. Poor training influenced the fact that Nesterov became an artist

When Nesterov was ten years old, he attended a local gymnasium and studied there for 2 years. However, low grades and poor behavior were the reasons why his parents eventually sent the boy to Moscow to study at a technical college. The parents were sure that independence would make Mikhail more responsible. They were mistaken, and if not for this mistake, we would never have seen the famous painter. Nesterov failed all of his exams except drawing, calligraphy and religion. Then he entered the classical high school. There, one of the teachers noticed Nesterov's gift in painting and persuaded him to enter the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. There, Nesterov's favorite teacher was the master painter Vasily Perov.

3. The death of his beloved wife revived talent in Nesterov and determined his style

Having talent, Mikhail Nesterov still felt lost during 9 years of study at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. He did not know what to write, what his soul gravitated towards and how to develop his artistic style … And only after a deep personal tragedy (in 1886 his beloved first wife Maria died), Nesterov's voice as an artist begins to sound louder and louder. He wrote: “My love for Masha and her loss made me an artist, brought a meaning to my art that was not there before, gave him a feeling. In short, everything that people appreciated and that is still valuable to me."

4. Young Nesterov was criticized by the best artists of Russia

In the early years of his work, Ivan Kramskoy and Ilya Repin, the leading masters of painting of that time, criticized the lack of talent of the young Nesterov. The famous artist Ivan Kramskoy criticized Nesterov's paintings, stating that history is not Nesterov's vocation, and that he should not continue the artist's path. However, Kramskoy was wrong. It was after the death of his first wife that Nesterov found his vocation - religious art. This tragedy forced Nesterov to rethink his life, his art and go through a spiritual transformation.

5. First significant work

The first critically significant painting by Nesterov was The Hermit (1888-1889). It depicts an elderly monk walking cautiously along the shore of the lake. The landscape is late northern autumn. The lake is calm and clean. The first snow lies on the ground, and a bright red cluster of mountain ash can be seen on the dried yellow grass - a challenge for the coming winter. Seeing The Hermit, critics recognized Nesterov as one of the best artists of his time. The painting was bought by the art patron and famous collector Pavel Tretyakov, the owner of the Tretyakov Gallery. With the money he earned, Nesterov went to Europe, visited Italy, was inspired by the art of the Renaissance, and wrote his most famous painting.

6. "Vision to the youth Bartholomew" - the most famous work of Nesterov

The plot of the picture is based on a Christian legend about a boy who really wanted to, but could not read. One day, his father sends the boy in search of escaped horses. On the way, a young man meets a monk. Bartholomew greets him and asks him to teach him how to read and write. The monk blesses the boy. After this meeting, Bartholomew not only learned to read, but also became a saint. He went down in history under the name of Sergius of Radonezh. This work became a sensation and was bought by Tretyakov immediately after the exhibition. The picture is part of a series of works that made Nesterov famous throughout the country.

7. A cycle of works about Sergius of Radonezh made the artist famous

A series of paintings about Sergius of Radonezh made him famous. The cycle is a reconstruction of the so-called "Nesterovskaya Russia". Here the artist explores the religious ideal of the Russian soul, inseparable from nature. His Christian interpretation of Rus was centered on the Monk Sergius of Radonezh (a saint known as the monastic reformer of medieval Rus).

8. Mikhail Vrubel and Viktor Vasnetsov had the greatest influence on Nesterov

Nesterov spent the second half of his life painting frescoes for cathedrals. Here, Mikhail Vrubel (whose painting is similar to the fresco style) and Viktor Vasnetsov (with his fabulous motives) greatly influenced his work. However, if Vrubel's work contains the emotions of inner demons, then Nesterov's work, on the contrary, is soft, delicate and mysterious. And only in the later years of Nesterov's work, when he focused on portrait painting, we see the emergence of the skills of a real master. Especially, the embodiment of the inner deep qualities of a person on the canvas.

9. The girl whom Nesterov did not marry, and the Kiev ladies refused to pray to her

In 1890, Nesterov moved to Kiev, where he spent twenty years painting frescoes for various cathedrals. He was invited to take part in the painting of the interior of the Cathedral of St. Vladimir. In the same period, he met Lela Prakhova, with whom he had a relationship for 10 years. It was in Kiev that he became close to the family of Adrian Prakhov, who was responsible for the work on the cathedral. His daughter, Elena Prakhova (1871-1948), nicknamed Lelya, became a dear friend to the artist.

Nesterov recalled Lyolya as incredibly talented, unusually pure and kind. It is thanks to these qualities that the artist chose her as a model for the depiction of St. Barbara in the cathedral. As a result, the image of the saint on the fresco was so similar to Lelya that one of the Kiev society ladies, recognizing the girl, announced: "I cannot pray to Lelya Prakhova!" And Nesterov had to recolor the image, changing the face and posture of the saint. The artist was convinced that Lyolya Prakhova was that rare person for him who always understood him.

"She is that part of my soul that was the source of my art, the source of Bartholomew, Tsarevich Dmitry and my other paintings." In 1899, Nesterov proposed to Lehle after ten years of friendship, and she gave him consent. However, it did not come to the wedding … The reason will remain a mystery to us. Lyolya Prakhova was also known for her personal talents - she was a skilled embroiderer. For example, the shroud for the Vladimir Cathedral was embroidered according to a drawing by Viktor Vasnetsov, but all the embroidery in silk and silver was done by Prakhova. Lelia Prakhova learned to create silk embroidery using a special embroidery technique from the 16th century. Her works were so beautiful that they were indistinguishable from watercolors.

10. Nesterov refused to paint a portrait of Stalin

According to legend, the leader repeatedly offered the artist to paint his portrait. However, Nesterov refused every time and once did not even hesitate to say: "I like your face less and less."

M. V. Nesterov. "Holy Russia". Under Stalin, this picture was removed to the storerooms of the Russian Museum.

11. The last picture of the artist - "Autumn in the village"

The Bolshevik regime banned religious art. After the revolution, Nesterov painted portraits and self-portraits - a genre that he also loved. The last work of the artist was the landscape "Autumn in the village". In recent years, Nesterov worked on a book of memoirs, which was published several months before his death.