Mikhail Nesterov

In this name that followsEastern Slavic naming customs,thepatronymicisVasilyevichand thefamily nameisNesterov.

Mikhail Vasilyevich Nesterov(Russian:Михаил Васильевич Нестеров;31 May [O.S.19 May] 1862 – 18 October 1942) was a Russian and Soviet painter; associated with thePeredvizhnikiandMir iskusstva.He was one of the first exponents ofSymbolistart in Russia.

Mikhail Vasilyevich Nesterov
Portrait byViktor Vasnetsov(1926)
Born	31 May 1862 Ufa,Orenburg Governorate,Russian Empire
Died	18 October 1942(1942-10-18)(aged 80) Moscow,Russian SFSR,Soviet Union
Education	Member Academy of Arts (1899) Full Member Academy of Arts (1910)
Alma mater	Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture Imperial Academy of Arts
Known for	Painter
Movement	Russian Symbolism Peredvizhniki
Patron(s)	Savva Mamontov

Biography

He was born to a strongly patriarchal merchant family. His father was a draper andhaberdasher,but always had a strong interest in history and literature. As a result, he was sympathetic to his son's desire to be an artist, but insisted that he acquire practical skills first and, in 1874, he was sent to Moscow where he enrolled at theVoskresenskyRealschule.

In 1877, his counselors suggested that he transfer to theMoscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture,where he studied withPavel Sorokin,Illarion PryanishnikovandVasily Perov,who was his favorite teacher. In 1879, he began to participate in the school's exhibitions. Two years later, he entered theImperial Academy of Fine Arts,where he worked withPavel Chistyakov.He was disappointed at the teaching there and returned to Moscow, only to find Perov on his deathbed, so he took lessons fromAlexei Savrasov.

The Hermit

After a brief stay in Ufa, where he met his future wife, Maria, he returned to Moscow and studied withVladimir Makovsky.While creating a series of historical paintings, he supported himself doing illustrations for magazines and books published byAlexei Stupin,including a collection of fairy tales byPushkin.In 1885, he was awarded the title "Free Artist" and married, against his parents' wishes. The following year, his wife died after giving birth to his daughter, Olga.Several of his works from this period feature his wife's image.

His first major success came with his painting, "The Hermit" which was shown at the seventeenth exhibition of the Peredvizhniki in 1889. It was purchased byPavel Tretyakovand the money enabled Nesterov to take an extended trip to Austria, Germany, France and Italy. Upon returning, his painting, "The Vision to the Youth Bartholomew", the first in a series of works on the life ofSaint Sergius,was shown at the eighteenth Peredvizhniki exhibition and also purchased by Tretyakov. This series would eventually include fifteen large canvases and occupy him for fifty years.

Religious art

In 1890,Adrian Prakhov,who was overseeing work atSt Volodymyr's Cathedral,became familiar with Nesterov's paintings and invited him to participate in creating murals and icons there. After some hesitation, he agreed, then travelled to Rome and Istanbul to acquaint himself withByzantine art.This project would take twenty-two years to complete. Although it brought him great popularity, he apparently came to feel that the images required were too clichéd and beneath his dignity as an artist, so he occasionally introduced some minor innovations, such as setting portraits of saints in a recognizable landscape.

The Annunciation,Marfo-Mariinsky Convent.

Despite this, he undertook other religious commissions. In 1898,Grand Duke George Alexandrovichasked him to work at theAlexander Nevskychurch inAbastumani.He spent six years there, off and on, creating 50 small murals and theiconostasis,but was dissatisfied with the results. He was apparently much more pleased with later work at theMarfo-Mariinsky Convent.He refused to work on theAlexander Nevsky Cathedral, Warsaw,because he did not approve of building an Orthodox cathedral in a predominantly Catholic city.

In 1901, he wanted to deepen his spiritual appreciation of the monastic life, so he spent some time at theSolovetsky Monasteryon the coast of theWhite Sea.He painted numerous works there and the influence of his visit could be seen in his canvases for many years after. He was also inspired by the novels ofPavel Ivanovich Melnikov,dealing with the lives of theOld Believersin theVolga region.In 1902, he married Ekaterina Vasilyeva, whom he had met admiring his works at an exhibition.

Later years

Portrait of Ivan Pavlov, 1935

In 1905, after theRevolutionbegan, he joined theUnion of the Russian People,an extreme right-wing andantisemiticnationalist party that supported the Tsar.As a result, he was in some danger after theOctober Revolution.In 1918, he moved toArmavir,where he became ill and was unable to work. He returned to Moscow in 1920 and was forced to give up religious painting, although he continued to work on his Saint Sergius series in private. From then until his death, he painted mostly portraits; notablyIvan Ilyin,Ivan Pavlov,Otto Schmidt,Sergei Yudin,Alexey ShchusevandVera Mukhina.

In 1938, toward the end of theGreat Purge,his son-in-law, Vladimir Schroeter, a prominent lawyer, was accused of being a spy and shot. His daughter was sent to a prison camp inZhambyl,where she was brutally interrogated before being released. He was also arrested and held for two weeks atButyrka prison.

In 1941, he was awarded theStalin Prizefor his portrait of Pavlov (created in 1935). It was one of the first given to an artist. Shortly after, he received theOrder of the Red Banner of Labour.As the war progressed, his health and financial situation deteriorated rapidly. He had a stroke while working on his painting "Autumn in the Village" and died atBotkin Hospital.

His unfinished memoirs, which he had begun in 1926, were published later that year under the title "Bygone Days". In 1962, he was honored with a postage stamp. In 1996, his likeness appeared on the 50Ural francbanknote and, in 2015, a monument to him was unveiled at theBashkir Nesterov Art Museumin Ufa.

Gallery

Main article:List of paintings by Mikhail Nesterov

• 
  Holy Rus,1901–06
• 
  The Great Taking of the Veil,1897–98
• 
  The Love Potion,1888
• 
  The Vision to the Youth Bartholomew,1889–1890
• 
  Beyond the Volga,1905
• 
  Philosophers,1917 (Pavel FlorenskyandSergei Bulgakov)
• 
  Tolstoy,1906 (Leo Tolstoy)
• 
  Three old men with a fox,1914

• 
  In Rus. The Soul of the People,1916. The last religious symbolic painting Nesterov painted before the revolution. The Russian people are following a young boy, while an oldholy foolstays aside, praying ecstatically, wearing no clothes and possibly issuing a warning.

Further reading

• Art Masters # 157: Mikhail Nesterov,Kipepeo Publishing, 2016ISBN978-1-52321-093-0
• Art Masters # 158: Mikhail Nesterov 2,Kipepeo Publishing, 2016ISBN978-1-52321-176-0
• Sergei Nikolayevich Durylin,Нестеров-портретист.(Nesterov-Portraitist), Искусство, 1949
• Alexei Ivanovich Mikhailov,М. В. Нестеров. Жизнь и творчество(Life and Works), Советский художник 1958.
• Anna Alexandrovna Rusakova,Михаил Нестеров,Аврора, 1990ISBN5-7300-0015-4
• Ekaterina Malinina,Михаил Нестеров,Masters of Art series, Белый город, 2008ISBN978-5-7793-1467-1

External links

• Articles from theTretyakov Gallerymagazine, in English:
  • "Quiet Truths"by Pavel Klimov
  • "Mikhail Nesterov's Family in His Art"by Olga Ivanova
  • "Nesterov and Ufa"by Svetlana Ignatenko
  • "Mikhail Nesterov in Search of His Russia"by Lydia Iovleva
  • "Mikhail Nesterov as Muralist and Icon Painter"by Anastasia Bubchikova
  • "The Portraits of Mikhail Nesterov"by Lyudmila Bobrovskaya
  • "From Biography to Hagiography. The Russian Intelligentsia in Mikhail Nesterov's Work"by Olga Atroshchenko
• The Alexander Nevsky Church in Abastumani.