Essay based on Bogdanov-Belsky's painting "New Masters". Description of the painting by Bogdanov-Belsky new owners

Most of the works are famous, but for some reason forgotten artist Nikolai Bogdanov-Belsky, is dedicated to the life of a simple peasant, his way of life, customs and traditions. The paintings of this artist are extremely talented, however, last years few people remember their existence. And completely in vain.

For example, I really like his canvas “New Masters”, the year of which was created in 1913.

Enough is depicted before the viewer common occurrence, which took place in Russia at that time. Rich nobles loved to play cards, argue, and, as a result, lose their estates and beautiful estates. This is what happened in this picture. A family of peasants was able to buy such a thing from a nobleman beautiful house and move into it.

What do we see? Regular, simple people, in poor clothes, in frayed shirts, they had a tea party for round table. They sit modestly. It is clear to the viewer that everyone present in the room is not very familiar with such a rich environment. After all, the chairs in the house are made of mahogany, and on the wall hangs a painting with a gilded slave. And what a gorgeous clock is located by the window.

All this went to the peasant family from former owner. Previously, rich people sat at this table, and family members served them. They served tea and poured it into expensive tableware.

However, everything has changed. Now on the same table there are simple earthenware and glassware. Among the treats we see bagels that were baked especially for tea drinking. All family members sit quietly. They still can't get used to their luxury home. However, now, everything will be new for them, everything will change for the better.

Essay based on the painting by N. P. Bogdanov-Belsky “New Masters”

Nikolai Petrovich Bogdanov-Belsky is a talented Russian artist. He was born on December 8, 1868, and was illegitimate son farmhands. He received an excellent education, studied painting at the Imperial Academy of Arts.

A significant place in the work of this outstanding artist The theme of the peasantry is occupied: family life, traditions, the life of children. His paintings “Oral calculation. At the public school of S. A. Rachinsky", "At the school door", "Sunday reading in rural school"are dedicated to this very topic. It was no exception famous painting“New Owners”, in which the artist reflects the life of a peasant family in a former landowner’s house. The picture reflects that period of time in the history of Russia when widespread ruin of the nobles took place, and merchants or wealthy peasants, who had once been servants of their masters, became the new owners of the master's chambers. The prototype of the estate depicted on the canvas was the Ushakov estate in the village of Ostrovno, located on the shores of Lake Udomlya.

The painting depicts a large peasant family having tea. On a round table covered with a snow-white tablecloth with light blue stripes, there is a samovar polished to a shine. Besides him, there are simple glasses of tea next to each family member. Only a little boy drinks tea from an expensive porcelain cup. There are bagels in the middle of the table.

In the center is the head of the family - an elderly man, with gray hair and a large beard, wearing a burgundy blouse and a black vest. He sits confidently and sedately drinks tea from a saucer. To his right, apparently, his sons, the eldest and the youngest, were seated on mahogany chairs. They drink tea from saucers and are dressed in simple peasant clothes: cloth jackets, shirts, and trousers. The men sit hesitantly, their postures show stiffness, a sense of discomfort and unfamiliarity with the situation. To the right of the head of the family sits a middle-aged woman in a pink blouse with beads hanging around her neck. Her head, covered with a blue scarf, is lowered: the woman is pouring tea from a small white teapot. She looks serious, with only a faint smile on her lips. To her right sit two young women, probably the wives of her sons. They are also dressed in traditional peasant clothes of the time: simple jackets and long skirts.

In addition to the adults, there are two more children sitting at the table: a blond girl of about six and a boy, a little older than her. He is dressed in a plaid shirt, secured at the waist with a belt, and simple short pants. The boy's bare feet rested precariously on the crossbar of the chair. The children are shackled more than others: the boy depicted in the foreground bent over, tucked his bare feet under him and seemed to be hiding from everyone. Perhaps earlier he did not dare to enter the master’s chambers, doing work in the yard, but now he sits at the former master’s table and feels insecure.

Despite the simplicity of the clothes, one cannot help but notice that they are of good quality, clean and neat, without holes or patches. Apparently, before us are wealthy peasants who were able to buy out the former master's chambers and are now full-fledged new owners. However, even such attire is in contrast to the rich decoration of the room with columns. There is a painting in a thick gilded frame hanging on the wall, to the left of it there is a beautiful grandfather clock, the furniture is solid, refined and expensive. The wide casement window lets in plenty of light. There are no curtains and you can see that it is a clear autumn day outside: the sky is blue, clear and cloudless, there are few leaves left on the tree, the ground is covered with a yellow-green carpet.

An essay based on the painting by N. P. Bogdanov-Belsky “New Masters”.
N.P. Bogdanov-Belsky is one of the outstanding Russian artists. His name was unfairly forgotten. Now it rightfully stands on a par with such names as I. Repin, I. Shishkin, V. Vasnetsov and others.
In his work N.P. Bogdanov-Belsky very often turns to the topic of the peasantry. He paints peasant children and the life of a peasant family. The painting "New Masters" is a reflection of the realities of the time when former slaves became the owners of the estates of squandered nobles.
The painting depicts a peasant family drinking tea. They sit at a round table on mahogany chairs. The rich furnishings of the living room contrast with the clothes of the owners of the house. Expensive, exquisite furniture, a painting in a gilded frame, a clock on the wall - all this was inherited by the new owners from the previous owners of the estate. The new owners are dressed in simple peasant clothes: shirts, simple trousers, cloth jackets.
The whole family sat decorously at the table. They drink tea from a samovar. Almost everyone has saucers in their hands, from which they loudly sip tea poured into simple glasses. Only the younger boy on the left has tea poured into an expensive porcelain cup. There are bagels right on the tablecloth - a favorite delicacy for tea in a peasant family.
When looking at the picture, you notice that the peasants are sitting at the table somewhat constrained. They probably still have fresh memories of how they entered this living room at the call of a lady or gentleman, and stopped hesitantly at the door. And the landowner's family was sitting at the table. There were expensive silver cutlery on the table.
Now the previous owners are gone, and they - simple peasants - are sitting at this expensive table in a room that once filled them with awe. They have not yet gotten used to their position as owners of the landowner's estate. And the autumn garden peers out with curiosity through the uncurtained window.

Description of the painting by N. P. Bogdanov-Belsky “New Masters”.
The name of the outstanding Russian artist Nikolai Petrovich Bogdanov-Belsky was unfairly forgotten. But nevertheless, now it quite rightly stands alongside such names as Shishkin, Vasnetsov, Repin and others.
Often in his work the artist touches on the theme of the peasantry. He depicts the life of a simple peasant family and peasant children. The painting “New Masters” reflects the realities of those times when nobles squandered their estates, and their former slaves became masters of them.
The artist painted the painting “New Owners” in the Udomelsky region, in the village of Ostrovno. And as a background for depicting the events, the artist painted the hall of the estate of the former landowners Ushakov. The events taking place in the picture occur everywhere throughout Russia. Having gone bankrupt, the nobles sold their family estates to wealthy merchants and peasants. The disappearing world of noble estates is the theme that Bogdanov-Belsky addresses in his film.
The interior carries a huge meaning in this picture. The remnants of former luxury and splendor are depicted here: a painting in a heavy frame hanging on the wall, a large grandfather clock, expensive furniture - everything remains from the previous owners of the estate. But now the owners here are simple peasants - in a place that once awed them. They are now the owners of the landowner's estate, but they have not yet gotten used to this situation.
In the picture we see a family of peasants drinking tea. They sit on mahogany chairs at a round table. Their simple peasant clothes contrast with the rich furnishings of the living room: exquisite furniture, a painting in a gilded frame. The whole family of former peasants sat decorously at the table. Everyone drinks tea from a large samovar. Almost everyone holds a saucer in their hands, from which they loudly sip tea, which is poured into simple glasses. Only the youngest boy drinks tea from an expensive porcelain cup. And right on the tablecloth lies the favorite delicacy of the peasant family - bagels.
Looking at the picture, you immediately notice how stiffly the peasants are sitting at the table. Surely, they have not yet forgotten how not so long ago they entered this room only at the call of a master or lady, stopping at the door in indecision. And through the window, not covered by curtains, the autumn garden, clear air and bare tree trunks peer in with curiosity. It is the contrast of the interior of a noble estate with the images of heroes in simple clothes that shows the viewer the essence of what is happening and helps to imagine life in this house.

Bogdanov-Belsky chose interesting topic, which he revealed to the viewer on his canvas “New Masters”.
Here is a picture of a family sitting and drinking tea at the table.
It’s an ordinary picture, but there’s something to think about if you take a closer look at it.
So why does the picture seem so special? What is my attitude to the events taking place here?

The family itself does not raise any questions.
You can say about them that they are peasants.
There is a samovar on the table, and simple glasses in front of almost each of them, and ordinary bagels serve as a treat for tea.
But you still feel that these are not ordinary people who sip aromatic drink from saucers in a rural manner.
The ingrained fear that has settled in their eyes draws the attention of the viewer, who notices the inconsistencies.
Why are they so uncomfortable? The picture does not form a coherent whole.
These ordinary people sit on expensive chairs, custom-made from quality materials.
And some of the items from the service, standing right there on the table, and these are porcelain cups and a teapot, say that they were not born and raised in this house.
Everything here is still foreign and unusual to them.
And the house itself somehow doesn’t look much like a peasant’s hut.
Columns, high ceilings, and some furnishings in the house show that they are still guests here.
Perhaps they purchased this estate from a bankrupt former owner, but do not yet feel comfortable in it.

The artist clearly emphasizes all the details that separate the residents from the house in which they are now located.
Its white walls are still cold for them.
Time will pass and they will redo everything in their own way.
The head of the family, with his characteristic owner’s spirit, may start a grandiose renovation here, which everyone will be happy about.
And then they will begin to get used to the housing, and the house will “register” them as its owners.
Then the picture will sound harmonious.

The painter specifically uses cold tones to show coolness and lack of comfort.
And he shows some embarrassment on his faces.
Thanks to this, the picture looks believable.
I would even like to come up with a continuation of the story, the plot of which the author begins to tell with his work.

Local history at the origins of Russian culture

Definitely, the name of the artist Nikolai Petrovich Bogdanov-Belsky was forgotten, although many of his paintings: “Oral Account”, “New Masters”, “Essay” and others became textbooks, were often reproduced and are being reproduced.
There are no serious studies or art albums on the life and work of Bogdanov-Belsky. Bogdanov-Belsky didn't even hit the " encyclopedic Dictionary. Russian artists" (St. Petersburg, 2000). Probably, such oblivion occurred for several reasons. Until 1917, despite the fact that the artist wrote a lot on the topics of the life of the people and, above all, the Russian peasantry, liberal criticism (and another practically was not) did not favor him, because there was no so-called “social protest” in his paintings. Moreover, Bogdanov-Belsky himself was a true Orthodox man and did not hide his convictions. Liberals and revolutionaries viewed the Russian peasant. of course, Orthodoxy) as a reactionary force, which hampered the development of revolutionary processes with its traditional way of life and long-suffering, and therefore creativity that poeticized, rather than denounced, the life of the Russian village was also considered reactionary. In addition, Bogdanov-Belsky was a truly successful salon artist, a lot. He portrayed members of the imperial family and “high society.” This also did not add to his sympathy with the “progressive public.”
For the same reasons, after the revolution, Bogdanov-Belsky fell “out of favor” with the new government and was forced to emigrate to Latvia. An emigrant for the Soviet state is a cut-off piece. The streak of oblivion continued. And although some of his paintings were used by Soviet agitprop to expose the “dark past” and were actively reproduced (the artist himself put a completely different meaning into them), others that poeticized the peasant and the life of the Russian pre-revolutionary village were excluded from cultural circulation by the same agitprop. The long-term oblivion was probably influenced by the fact that in recent years the artist lived in the territories occupied by the Germans and in Germany itself, where he died and was buried in Berlin in 1945.
But oblivion continues today. Firstly, because in previous periods, apparently, the primary biographical material, secondly, by inertia, and thirdly, today’s agitprop political system also completely ignores the creators who affirm the national identity of the Russian people.
In this material, an attempt is made to bring together scattered biographical sources and outline the main (and above all Udomelsky) periods of the artist’s life and work.
Nikolai Petrovich Bogdanov-Belsky was born on December 8, 1868 in the village of Shitiki, Velsky district, Smolensk province (today Oleninsky district, Tver region). The surname contains a history of origin - the God-given (illegitimate) son of a poor little woman from Velsk district. The artist received the second part of his surname when he became an academician in 1903:
“My common surname was, as it were, ennobled by the sovereign himself (Nicholas II. - D.P.), having entered it with his own hand into the diploma with a hyphen - Velsky.”
Bogdanov-Belsky began learning to read and write from a bell-ringer using church books, and continued at the 2-grade Shopotovsky primary school. Artistic ability began to appear in a boy from 6-7 years old. He was noticed by Sergei Alexandrovich Rachinsky, founder public school in the village of Tatevo, and from the autumn of 1878 to the spring of 1882 Bogdanov-Belsky attended this school.

Professor of botany at Moscow University Sergei Aleksandrovich Pachinsky (1833-1902) left his scientific department in 1867 and created a school for peasant children on his estate in Tatev. His mother was sister poet E.A. Baratynsky and in her youth danced at balls with A.S. Pushkin.
Baroness Delvig, sister of Pushkin's friend Anton Delvig, often came to visit the Rachinskys. Rachinsky was familiar with the composer P.I. Tchaikovsky, with the German teacher Humboldt, corresponded with Franz Liszt. Was best friend and was in long-term correspondence with the Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Synod, K.P. Pobedonostsev, who repeatedly petitioned Alexander III and Nicholas II for material support for Rachinsky’s efforts. Much attention in schools was paid to raising children in the spirit of Orthodoxy.
In addition to 30 rural schools, which educated about 1,000 children, Rachinsky also maintained a hospital for peasants at his own expense. “I owe much, if not all, to this family,” Bogdanov-Belsky would later write. “My entire upbringing passed under its cover.”
In 1881, Rachinsky sent a thirteen-year-old boy to receive primary education. art education to the icon painting workshop at the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, where the boy studied for two years. In 1884, Bogdanov-Belsky entered, and in 1889 he graduated Moscow school painting, sculpture and architecture, where his teachers in the landscape department were artists V.D. Polenov, V.E. Makovsky, I.M. Pryanishnikov.
At the age of 16, in 1884, Bogdanov-Belsky first took part in an exhibition with the painting “Spruce Forest,” which was praised by Polenov and Levitan. “What captivates me in your painting is the simplicity and inner beauty of the landscape,” Polenov commented on his impression. “Your forest lives and breathes. This is the main thing.”
The painting was bought by the famous manufacturer and collector Sapozhnikov.
From the age of 18, Bogdanov-Belsky began to live by his own labor, although Rachinsky continued to send him 25 rubles monthly.
The diploma work at the school was the painting “The Future Monk” (1889): “Everything that I lived with was resurrected in my soul long years childhood and adolescence in the village... Before the end of the work, I even fainted." While working on a painting in Tatevo (it was Lent), an incident that shocked everyone occurred in the village.
After the service in the temple, on the way home, a peasant youth disappeared. It was severely frosty. They found him two weeks later deep in the forest, where he had built a hut and ate only bread.
He told those who found him that he wanted to become a hermit. It should be noted that the choice of topic for, which took place with the direct participation of Rachinsky, was not accidental. Orthodoxy generally played a significant role in the life of Bogdanov-Belsky at all stages of his life. Of course, this was facilitated by the example of a mentor, in whose family religious rituals were strictly observed, and by spiritual education at school. The fact that Rachinsky was a close friend of Pobedonostsev also speaks volumes. Konstantin Petrovich possessed a true Christian consciousness, which gave him the opportunity to deeply delve into the essence of the events taking place in Russia and foresee future social upheavals. The basis of the relationship between the two great people was, of course, the similarity of views on the difficult spiritual state of the Russian people and ways to overcome it. Unfortunately for Russia, they were in the minority.
There is no doubt that Bogdanov-Belsky was a deeply religious man. Unlike many of his contemporaries, and especially the god-fighting so-called “creative intelligentsia,” he never hid his convictions. In the memoirs of his contemporaries, which are published below, almost everyone notes his love for church singing, his ability to lead a church service when necessary (“he could do it for a deacon”), and he painted icons for churches. All the artist’s work is deeply imbued with Orthodox consciousness - love for man, peace, affirmation of beauty, harmony of man and nature. Orthodoxy and good mentors formed the real qualities of a Christian in Bogdanov-Belsky:
exceptional friendliness, willingness to help, ease and gentleness in communication, hospitality...
In his persistent desire to write children, the world of childhood, where everything is real without guile and falsehood, is also clearly visible: “If... you are not like children, you will not enter the kingdom
heavenly" (Matthew 18:3). And those around him responded to this call.
Already an accomplished master, Bogdanov-Belsky received a letter from one teacher: “You are the only one we have!
Many artists know how to paint children; only you can write in defense of children..."
For the painting "Future Monk" Bogdanov-Belsky received a large silver medal and the title " cool artist". Soldatenkov bought the painting for 300 rubles.
In 1890, she participated in the exhibition of the Association of Itinerants and was highly praised by the famous critic and art historian V.V. Stasov: " Talented artist straight from school." After the exhibition, the painting was transferred to Empress Maria Feodorovna. The painting was repeated for P. M. Tretyakov and V. V. Stasov.
After graduation, the artist traveled a lot, visited Moldova, the Middle East, Europe, and Constantinople. In 1889, on Mount Athos in the Panteleimon Monastery, Bogdanov-Belsky met the novice “god-writer” Philip, later the artist F. A. Malyavin.
In his letter to Rachinsky, Bogdanov-Belsky wrote that he stood in a daze throughout the entire service from 6 pm to 6 am and was shocked when 60 elder hieromonks with lit candles came out to the litany in the middle of the monastery cathedral.
While working in the cold wind on the rocks of Athos, the artist became seriously ill and seriously thought about becoming a monk.
In 1894-95, Bogdanov-Belsky studied at the Higher art school at the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg in the workshop of I. E. Repin, and later in the workshop of Carmona in Paris. In the 1890s, he created a series of paintings about Rachinsky’s school: “Sunday reading in a rural school” (1895), “Oral calculation” (1896), “At the school door” (1897), “At the sick teacher” (1897), “Test of Voices” (1899), “Essay”, “Between Lessons” (all 1903), etc. Apparently, on one of his visits to Tatevo during breaks between studies, Bogdanov-Belsky met and showed interest in the nurse of the Tatev Hospital Olga Lvovna – goddaughter of Rachinsky’s sister Varvara Alexandrovna. Varvara Alexandrovna, having learned about the relationship between her spiritual daughter and a rootless artist, was extremely indignant. After a face-to-face conversation, Bogdanov-Belsky left Tatevo. The artist’s pride was dealt a serious blow, and he stopped coming to the Rachinskys. His next visit to Tatevo after a long break took place only on May 4, 1902, when Sergei Alexandrovich was buried. Subsequently, Olga Lvovna studied in France, became a doctor in St. Petersburg and married Efim Solomonovich Kanzel. Bogdanov-Belsky nevertheless continued to maintain relations with the Kancel family, as will be known below, met with them in St. Petersburg, and they even came to see him in Udomlya.
In 1898, with the money earned from paintings, 12 kilometers from Tatevo, Bogdanov-Belsky bought the Davydovo estate (according to another version, Rachinsky gave the estate to Bogdanov-Belsky’s mother).
In 1899, at the request of Empress Maria Feodorovna, the artist painted her portrait.
On October 27, 1903, Bogdanov-Belsky was awarded the title of academician. From 1907 to 1921 he headed the Kuindzhi Society, which supported young artists. In St. Petersburg, Bogdanov-Belsky lived in the very center of the city near the Alexandria Theater and the monument to Catherine II and was, as they recall, a very hospitable host.

For the first time, Bogdanov-Belsky came to the Udomlya region in 1907 at the invitation of the artist A.V. Moravov, who in turn was invited by V.K. Byalynitsky-Birulya: “Being in great friendship with the artist Bogdanov-Belsky, Moravov wrote to him, colorfully describing the local places and wonderful working conditions, so Nikolai Petrovich and his wife Natalya Antonovna soon joined the group of assembled artists" (E. A. Birulya).
A close human and creative community arose from the former students of the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture A. S. Stepanov, N. P. Bogdanov-Belsky, V. K. Byalynitsky-Birul, A. V. Moravov and S. Yu. Zhukovsky. Initially, the artists lived with the Kolokoltsov nobles. Voronikha on the lake. Kezadra, and Bogdanov-Belsky rented rooms all over the place. Reapings from the St. Petersburg artist Ilya Savvich Galkin (from the theater " false mirror") four kilometers from Voronikha.
“Alexander Viktorovich Moravov and Nikolai Petrovich were very sociable with people,” Elena Alekseevna Birulya recalled from the words of her husband. “As soon as they appeared somewhere with their boxes of paints, they were immediately surrounded by people, from children to old people.
A heart-to-heart conversation ensued."
Nikolai Petrovich arrived with his wife Natalya Antonovna (Totosha called her Bogdanov-Belsky, and she called him Petrovich) settled on the estate of the artist Galkin Ilya Savvich Pozhinka.
The distance of four miles (between Voronikha and Pozhinki) gave them the opportunity to often communicate with Moravov and Byalynitsky-Birulya, and most importantly, go hunting together.
Bogdanov-Belsky, or “Bogdasha”, as his comrades called him, was a very kind and cheerful person. He paid especially much attention and love to peasant children, for whom there was always a large amount of candy and nuts in the deep pockets of his jacket. And the children, having gotten to know him better, greeted him especially warmly, asking: “And when will we write, we are always happy to stand for you and can come to you in Pozhinki in new shirts. My mother sewed a pink shirt for me, and a blue sundress for Irishka, and my mother told me not to get dirty, otherwise Nikolai Petrovich would certainly copy it from you.”
Vitold Kaetanovich Byalynitsky-Birulya remembers that the first strawberry harvest was brought by the children, first of all, to him, Nikolai Petrovich. Possessing good voice, Bogdanov-Belsky loved to sing, he played the balalaika well and a little on the piano. The song “My green willow made noise all night” was especially good, which Bogdanov-Belsky and Moravov performed as a duet and accompanied themselves on balalaikas (there is a photograph taken during the performance of such singing).
While living in Pozhinki, Nikolai Petrovich painted the interior “Summer” (a room with a window into the garden, a cat lying on the windowsill), “Village Ustye”. In addition, he wrote sketches of village children and drew a lot.
Bogdanov-Belsky did not make a cult out of hunting, like Zhukovsky, for example, and besides, he was an average shooter.

Byalynitsky-Birulya admitted that “he (Bogdanov-Belsky) knew and understood nature better than all of us.” The statement is very unexpected, considering that in addition to Byalynitsky-Birul himself, a master of lyrical landscape and a passionate hunter, the colony of artists also included one of the strongest Russian animal painters, Alexey Stepanovich Stepanov.
Subsequently, artists began to stop in their tracks. Garusovo on Lake Udomlya. The estate belonged to Nadezhda Mikhailovna and Mikhail Mikhailovich Arakcheev, distant relatives of Count A. A. Arakcheev (1769-1834), who spent his childhood years in Garusovo. In 1893-1895, I.I. worked at the estate. Levitan (including above the painting “Above Eternal Peace”): “In the Garusov house where the artists settled, there were eight rooms - six below and two above, on the mezzanine. Moravov settled in the mezzanine, Bogdanov-Belsky in the first room at entrance to the house, the rest were occupied by Byalynitsky-Birulya and his family. In Garusovo, the artists lived in the winter, usually coming for the Christmas holidays, organizing a Christmas tree, which was attended by peasant children and adults" (E. A. Birulya).
But, judging by the paintings and their dating, already in his first visits Bogdanov-Belsky worked at his best. Ushakovs on the lake. Ostrovno. And after Byalynitsky-Birulya built in 1912-1914. dacha "Chaika" on the shore of the lake. Udomlya, Bogdanov-Belsky began to stay in Ostrovno constantly.
Bogdanov-Belsky himself talks about the Udomelsky period of his work as follows: “After Paris, I became interested in “plein airism.” Air, figures in the landscape, light - that’s what I began to devote my attention to since 1905. In the Tver province, in the Vyshnevolotsk district, there is a whole colony artists like Zhukovsky, Stepanov, Byalynitsky-Birulya, Moravov, even before them Levitan, and in the end, in October revolution, K. Korovin, I - from 1907 to 1920 - lived and worked together in nature, leaving the workshops. In 1910 I painted the painting “Name Day of the Teacher”, noted both by the seal and even more by the impressionist artists for the impressionistic achievements that I achieved in it. The painting was at the world exhibition in Rome (1911) and Munich (extended to London)."

In 1996, the author of these lines met the oldest resident of the village of Ostrovno, Agafya Nilovna Ivanova.
Agafya Nilovna was born in 1903 in Zatishye on Lake. Moldino, Vyshnevolotsk district (today Udomelsky district). Orphaned early, she was given up to be raised in orphanage at the Vyshnevolotsk Kazan Convent.

From there it's ok. In 1908, she was sent to live with the family of the priest of the Church of the Holy Martyr. Dm. Solunsky village of Ostrovno. OK. In 1909, a parochial school teacher, D. M. Benevolensky (1883-1937), came to Ostrovno, who was ordained to the priesthood in 1911. In the 1920s, Agafya Nilovna lived with the Benevolensky family.
Despite her venerable age, Agafya Nilovna remembers well the events of her childhood: “Artists came to Ostrovno for the summer. They rented rooms on the second floor of the Ushakov landowners’ estate. Nikolai Petrovich Bogdanov-Belsky often painted me. I remember he painted the picture at night. I should use a lantern was holding. He said: “We’ll work tonight. Take a rest during the day, be sure to rest." He tied the lantern to a branch, I just raised my hand (painting "Girl with a Lantern", 1908 - D.P.) He felt sorry for me. We had lunch together. He was also given mowing for the cow. I came to him professor of medicine Kancel. He also wrote to Anya Zolnikova near the pond where they just took water for drinking, near the Ushakovs’ house. She was reading a book, I was embroidering, Nikolai Petrovich dressed us in Russian costumes - blue sundresses, white jackets. , and Nikolai Petrovich came towards me. He stopped me at the birches and began to write (“Girl among the birches,” 1919 - D.P.).
Nikolai Petrovich painted the painting “Teacher’s Name Day” (1910) on the balcony of the Ushakovs’ house. He told me: “Run to Klopinino (it was such a poor village), call the kids to pose.”
They changed them into clean shirts. They gave me a note and money to buy a bagel for the children. Natalya Antonovna, Nikolai Petrovich’s wife, told me: “Get a samovar for the guys.”
We all sat together at a round table, drinking tea and bagels, so that later we would not be distracted by hunger. There were funny kids. If you show your finger, they laugh. “At least don’t make them laugh,” Nikolai Petrovich told me. (This picture also depicts Agafya Nilovna. - D.P.)."
On November 19, 1914, Bogdanov-Belsky became a full member of the Imperial Academy of Arts.
“Natalya Antonovna, Nikolai Petrovich’s wife,” Agafya Nilovna continues to recall, “took me to Moscow.
She gave a lot of outfits and altered them from her own. They took cucumbers and apples from priest Benevolensky.
Nikolai Petrovich was very friendly with the priest (the family of D. S. Benevolensky, the grandson of the priest, keeps three paintings by Bogdanov-Belsky, including a half-length portrait of D. M. Benevolensky, a portrait youngest son artist, sketch of a standing boy. – D.P.). Together with the local school teacher Nikolai Semenovich Zolnikov (1860-1917) they sang in church. They sang very beautifully. He painted icons for the church.
I often went hunting to Moravov in Garusovo. He was friends with Nikolai Anatolyevich Zvorykin (1872-1937, writer-naturalist, born and lived in the Udomelsky region, in the 1920s on Lake Ostrovno. - D.P.).
For two years I served the Bogdanov-Belsky family - I looked after their cow (1919-1920 - D.P.). In 1920 the Belskys came to last time. They invited me to come with them to Petrograd.
Nikolai Petrovich once showed me a pack of “kerenoks” and said: “Now we have a new tsar. The old Nikolaev money is gone.” And I had Nikolaev money. When they left, They left me a cow and a lot of things. Benevolensky left a corduroy suit, a gun and paintings. I wanted to come back."

In at least a few more of the artist’s paintings, one can with a high degree of confidence identify Agafya Nilovna Ivanova: “Virtuoso”, “Village Friends” (1912-1913).
Nikolai Nikolaevich Zolnikov (1897-1977), teacher of the Ostrovenskaya school, son of N. S. Zolnikov, left memories of Bogdanov-Belsky: “Nikolai Petrovich Bogdanov-Belsky was the sweetest and kindest person, the children clung to him.
I often gave them gifts. Either he will bring lollipops, sweets, or he will buy bagels and give them to the children. He often painted our school. My father is also depicted on many canvases; he was also a teacher. At our school he also had a favorite desk, behind which he drew the children. That’s what the children called her – Nikolai Petrovich’s desk. The painting “Children in Lesson” (1918) was painted at school - children listen to their father. At home we painted pictures of a girl on a sofa ("Village Friends", 1912-1913), and at the Ushakovs they painted "New Masters" (1913). It depicts villagers.
In the center, with a beard, the healthy one is Stepan Fedulaev, the thin one is Maxim Savelyev, and the red-haired one is Dmitry Klementyev.
Nikolai Petrovich was an avid hunter, but a failure. It happened that he missed with a gun and began to make excuses: either they pulled his arm, or rocked the boat, or the dog barked at the wrong time.
He was angry, and the others laughed at him, well, they say, he missed again. This was told to me by my father, who often went hunting with him. He sang well, you'll listen to him. In our church he sang in the choir bass lines and for a deacon he could."

From time to time, the collector Kreitor came from Petrograd and bought paintings from artists.
His memories also add a few touches to the image of Bogdanov-Belsky: “Nikolai Petrovich also visited us in Garusovo more than once in the 1920s. He used to hunt in the wastelands located between Ostrovno, where he lived at that time, and Garusovo. There, near rather sparse fields, there were plenty of partridges, and in the copses of birch and spruce there were black grouse. He usually came in the evening, always cheerful, in a somehow festive mood, and did not refuse dinner, during which there were long conversations about hunting. local news, about creative plans. Night was falling imperceptibly, he was persuaded to wait to go home until the moon rose and his father and mother accompanied him, going far into the wasteland.
In Ostrovno, Nikolai Petrovich painted the painting “New Masters” (1913). It depicts the same Ostrovno hall as in my father’s painting “The Old Hall. Ostrovno” (1912). Probably, many of his other paintings were painted in the places closest to Ostrovno and Garusovo; he worked a lot then. In the Garusovsky house he painted the painting “Offering”.
Young people, who know that time only from books, may seem deliberate in the long village shirts depicted by Nikolai Petrovich, in the large patches, as if on display. But there was nothing deliberate about it, rather photographic precision. Udomel peasants at that time wore homespun clothes made of sheep wool and flax and bast shoes made of birch bark. So-called urban clothing was almost impossible to find in villages back then. The village children, whom Nikolai Petrovich often wrote, did not know T-shirts and other children’s clothing that is common in our time. Canvas, dyed with locally sourced paint, long trousers, a shirt also made of canvas (tochi) with long sleeves and untucked without a belt. An old faded cap, that’s all that was needed for the summer. In winter, too, canvas pants, onuchi, bast shoes, some kind of shabby, mostly patched, sheepskin jacket, fur hat from the skin of a hare killed in winter. It was all dilapidated, repaired many times, torn, multi-colored. In a short time historical period We have come immeasurably far from the times of poverty and misery.
Therefore, many of Bogdanov-Belsky’s paintings now acquire special significance. Nikolai Petrovich's wife, Natalya Antonovna, was from Ukraine. She knew Ukrainian cuisine perfectly and was a good, careful housewife."

In 1918, Byalynitsky-Birulya and Bogdanov-Belsky, together with other artists, prepared and held a Traveling Art Exhibition in Tver. In the same year, art workshops were opened at the Chaika dacha, where children from surrounding villages were taught crafts (from February 3 1919 State art workshops). Due to conflict with local residents Byalynitsky-Birulya left Udomlya,

and the administrative work on organizing workshops was carried out by the artist V.V. Rozhdestvensky (1884-1963).
The workshop teachers included artists Bogdanov-Belsky, Moravov, as well as K. A. Korovin and A. E. Arkhipov, who arrived in the summer: “Nikolai Petrovich Bogdanov-Belsky neatly comes from Ostrovno,” Rozhdestvensky recalled. “He is a tall, strong man of about fifty with a little, clean-shaven, dressed in winter style, greets everyone, his soft baritone voice is pleasant to hear. They say that in the past Nikolai Petrovich’s baritone filled “The Seagull” with romances and charmed the ladies with Glinka’s “Doubt.” not a pretty bald head."

This interesting episode dates back to the same period.
M. M. Arakcheev, the owner of Garusovo, had a son, Vasily, born in 1907. His father died during the revolution, and Moravov, Byalynitsky-Birulya and Bogdanov-Belsky, fearing for the boy’s fate, corrected his documents in Moscow to the name Kremnev. Vasily Mikhailovich Kremnev died in 1943 on the Great Patriotic War. (A. E. Vasilyeva).

According to the recollections of the daughter of radio inventor A.S. Popov, E.A. Popova-Kyandskaya, who was a teacher at a school in the village of Udomlya, in 1920 Nikolai Petrovich took part in an amateur concert dedicated to the first graduation of the school. Celebrations on the occasion of the first graduation took place in the premises where today the House of Culture is located in the old part of Udomlya. The stage was lit by kerosene lamps. Nikolai Petrovich came to the concert in a frock coat and patent leather boots and became the highlight of the evening, delighting everyone with his “excellent baritone.” His young accompanist hid her feet in homemade shoes.
Younger sister writer N.A. Zvorykina Ksenia Anatolyevna (1886-1986) tried to save the mustache from destruction and plunder throughout the 1920s. Ushakov and create a museum in it. She was an agent of the Tver Museum for a number of years, and she succeeded. Through her efforts, a House of Creativity was established on the estate, where artists came from the cities. In 1923, justifying to the Tver Provincial Committee for the Protection of Monuments of Art and Antiquities the need to preserve the estate, she sent it a “Report...”, where she reported on the artists who worked in different time in the estate: “N.P. Bogdanov-Belsky lived the longest in Ostrovno, it seems from 1907, with breaks, and then from 1910 constantly during the summer, and from 1915 to 1921 without leaving.
He painted 375 - 400 paintings here." (It should be noted that in the above memoirs there is some confusion with the year of Bogdanov-Belsky’s departure from Udomlya. Obviously, the reliable year must be considered 1920, which the artist himself names.)
In 1920, Bogdanov-Belsky left for Petrograd, and from there to Latvia. According to Alexey Alexandrovich Moravov, Bogdanov-Belsky was persuaded by his wife to go abroad. He left light, leaving most of his belongings and paintings for storage local residents. It is difficult to say whether Bogdanov-Belsky himself believed in his return, but the reasons that prompted him to leave his homeland were, of course, much deeper than the persuasion of his wife. In the 1920s, cultural policy in painting and in art in general Soviet Russia were defined by supporters of formalism and abstractionism. Adherents of the realistic school of painting had a very, very difficult time, many artists note this in their memoirs.
And besides, Bogdanov-Belsky’s work was deeply national, which also did not find support, to put it mildly, among the leaders of the cultural process of a country changing before our eyes.
In his letter to I. E. Repin about the motives for leaving, the artist writes: “From what I wrote during these four years (1917-1921 - D.P.), nothing was exhibited in Russia. With great difficulties and tricks, everything I managed to take this to Riga, where I have been living since September 15, 1921.”
From the very first days of his stay in Riga, Bogdanov-Belsky developed vigorous activity. In a letter to Repin, he continues that three exhibitions of his paintings have already been held in Riga: the first - “exclusively of things written in Russia”; the second - “half written in the Tver province and half new”; the third is “all new things written in Latvia” (quoted from I. Solovyov).
The artist worked a lot in the vicinity of the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery, which at that time was located on the territory of Estonia.
As noted by Yu. Shumakov, who as a child repeatedly posed for the artist, Bogdanov-Belsky talked with the model during the session and achieved the desired mood and facial expression.
The artist worked closely with the Russian emigrant press, incl. with the magazines "Slovo" and "Perezvony". In the last of them, in the second issue for 1925, an article by N. I. Misheev “Academician N. P. Bogdanov-Belsky” was published.
In 1928, Bogdanov-Belsky turned 60 years old. His activity in promoting Russian art does not subside. On his initiative and with the support of I. E. Repin, exhibitions of Russian painting were held in Copenhagen, Berlin, Stockholm, Prague, Oslo, Amsterdam, The Hague, Belgrade, Gothenburg, Helsinki, Hamburg, paintings to which were presented by Zhukovsky, Korovin, Malyavin, Bilibin and etc. There is no reason to talk about the creative stagnation of Bogdanov-Belsky during this period. He works hard and enthusiastically, his paintings sell well. For the fiftieth anniversary creative activity(probably 1934) Bogdanov-Belsky was awarded the Latvian Order of Three Stars, third degree.
The artist’s 70th birthday in 1938 was also celebrated with a personal exhibition and favorable press reviews.
Nikolai Petrovich Bogdanov-Belsky died in 1945 at the age of 77 in Germany and was buried at the Russian Cemetery in Berlin at Wittenstraße, 37 .

"Offering". 1908. Us. Arakcheevs in Garusovo. Location unknown.
"Girl with a Lantern" 1908. Image. A. N. Ivanova, witness.
A. N. Ivanova. 67x49.5. NHMRB.
"Teacher's birthday." 1910. Us. Ushakov in the village. Ostrovno.
"Village Friends" 1912-1913. Zolnikovs' house in the village. Ostrovno, witness. N. N. Zolnikova.
"New owners". Study for the painting "New Masters" (1913).
123X87. Saratov State Hood. Museum named after A. N. Radishcheva.
"New owners." 1913. Us. Ushakov in the village. Ostrovno.
79.5x98.7. State Museum of the Revolution, St. Petersburg, repetition -
Smolensk State ed. historical and arch.-artist. museum-reserve.
"At the transport." 1915. Study for the painting of the same name, transportation to the lake. Ostrovno between the village. Ostrovno and Sorokino village. 106.5x88.8.
NHMRB.
"At the transport." 1915. Transportation to the lake. Ostrovno from the village. Ostrovno on the village of Sorokino. 139.5x160.5. TOKG.

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