The meaning of string players Nikolai Vasilyevich in a large encyclopedic dictionary. Sokolov Nikolay Vasilievich

Khudyakov Nikolai Vasilievich Born in 1913 in the city of Tula into a working-class family. He graduated from the 10th secondary school, then the FZO school of the cartridge factory, the Osoaviakhim flying club and the Serpukhov flight school. In 1933, after graduating from the Yeisk Naval Aviation School, he was sent to

ARKHANGELSKY Nikolay Vasilievich

ARKHANGELSKY Nikolai Vasilyevich Nikolai Vasilyevich Arkhangelsky was born in 1922 in the village of Krasnomylye, Shadrinsky district, Kurgan region, into a family of teachers. Russian by nationality. Member of the CPSU since 1943. Since 1937 he lived in Shadrinsk, studied at high school No. 9, where

BUTORIN Nikolay Vasilievich

BUTORIN Nikolai Vasilievich Nikolai Vasilievich Butorin was born in 1912 in the village of Zaykovo, Ketovsky district, Kurgan region, into a peasant family. Russian by nationality. Non-partisan. After graduating from Zaikovskaya elementary school, he worked on his parents’ farm. In 1931

ERMOLAEV Nikolay Vasilievich

ERMOLAEV Nikolai Vasilievich Nikolai Vasilievich Ermolaev was born in 1924 in the village of Malo-Dubrovnoye, Polovinsky district, Kurgan region, into a peasant family. Russian by nationality. Member of the CPSU since 1950. After graduating from six classes of junior high school in 1938

Strunnikov Vladimir Alexandrovich

Strunnikov Nikolay Vasilievich

At the beginning of this post, I would like to immediately thank the authors of the articles on which I relied while preparing this material. And if for journalists Andrei Marin and Alexander Lokotkov this is professional work, then for the librarian of the Maloarkhangelsk City Library Olga Egorova it is real asceticism, an expression of love for their land and famous fellow countrymen. In addition, Olga Egorova, based on memories younger sister the hero of today's post, wrote the most detailed biography of the artist of all.
So, I present a new name for myself in the ZhZL series.

Nikolai Ivanovich Strunnikov

Nikolai Strunnikov Cossack with a pipe. Self-portrait. 1920

Russian and Ukrainian painter, portrait painter and restorer, Honored Artist of the RSFSR.
Nikolai was born in Orel, and spent his childhood in the village of Bogoroditskoye, Maloarkhangelsk district. The artist’s father, Ivan Alekseevich, was a clerk in a village store. There were six children in the family - two sons and four daughters, so the family lived in constant need.
The artist’s younger sister, Maria Ivanovna, who worked for many years as a teacher of Russian language and literature at the Maloarkhangelsk secondary school, recalled that “their mother Alexandra Nikolaevna was sensitive, responsive, kind and affectionate. She had artistic abilities and performed magnificent beadwork. Nikolai admired them and sketched them with watercolors. When the father scolded his son, the mother stood up for him and said: “You, Kolya, don’t be offended by dad, he’s sick and nervous. Help him with his work, and draw in his free time. You are good at it"".

In people

After completing three years of study at primary school Nikolai had to go to work, as Gorky wrote, “for the people” in order to support his family.
The boy went to Orel, where he began to serve in the warehouse of the merchant Konkov. It was a harsh school: always hungry, always ready to get hit on the head, because both the older boys and the clerks beat me. But, despite the adversity, Kolya was confident that he would grow up and become an artist. At night, by the light of the smokehouse, he drew on scraps of paper.
Again, my sister recalled: “He loved to illustrate art books. At one time, he fell in love with the stories and stories of N.V. Gogol, especially the story “Taras Bulba”. The owner and clerks liked his drawings, and they often said: “Well, boy! Well done!". This turns out to be where the artist’s love for the Cossack theme comes from.

Moscow

In Orel Creative skills one of the local artists noticed, in addition to kind words like, “You definitely need to study, you have a talent for painting!”, this nameless artist advised me to go to Moscow and gave recommendations to his friend, the artist Gribkov.

For reference:

Sergei Ivanovich Gribkov

Russian genre painter.
He came to painting late, in 1844 he began studying artistic skills at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. While still a student, in 1852, for the painting “A Spanish Woman Praying in a Church,” he received the title of non-class artist from the Academy of Arts. He graduated from college in 1856.
He worked in various genres: paintings on household topics were combined with historical paintings, portraits were adjacent to illustrations literary works. IN last years During his rather long life, Gribkov worked on the paintings of a number of churches in Moscow (Paraskev Pyatnitsa, Archangel Michael in Ovchinniki, St. Nicholas on Maroseyka) and the Cathedral in Kursk.

So, Nikolai decided to go to Moscow to receive initial art education in the studio of the artist Gribkov.
The historian V. A. Gilyarovsky, who became a long years friend and patron of the aspiring artist.

Nikolai Strunnikov Portrait of V.A. Gilyarovsky 1924

I quote “Uncle Gilay”:
“Strunnikov entered Gribkov as a student as a fourteen-year-old boy. As well as
that’s all, he was “at the beck and call”, he was a painter, he rubbed paints, washed brushes, and in the evenings he learned to draw from life. Once Gribkov sent his student Strunnikov to an antiquarian behind the Kaluga outpost to restore some old painting.
At this time, P. M. Tretyakov came to buy a portrait of Archimandrite Feofan by Tropinin. Seeing P. M. Tretyakov, the antique dealer rushed to take off his fur coat and galoshes, and when they entered the room, he grabbed Strunnikov, who was working on the painting, and let him bend him to the floor: Bow at your feet, kneel in front of him. Do you know who is it?
Nikolai was perplexed, but P.M. Tretyakov helped him out, gave him his hand and said: “Hello, young artist!”
P. M. Tretyakov bought the portrait of Tropinin right there for four hundred rubles, and the antique dealer, when Tretyakov left, rushed around the room and whined: A-ah, he’s cheap, a-ah, he’s cheap!”

Nevertheless, Strunnikov greatly appreciated his first teacher and subsequently called him father and friend.
Judging by the chronology, Nikolai worked in Gribkov’s workshop from 1885 to 1892, after which his dream of entering the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (MUZHVZ) came true. In 1892, Nikolai entered the MUZHVZ in the workshop of A. Arkhipov and V. Serov and graduated from school with two silver and one bronze medals in 1899.
In parallel with his studies, Nikolai continued to work on the restoration of paintings with the famous Moscow perfumer (?) Brocard, owner of a large art gallery, which we also read about from Vladimir Gilyarovsky:
“Brocard did not give money to Strunnikov for his work, but only paid him fifty rubles to the school and kept him “ready for everything.” And he kept it like this: he gave the artist a bed in the lodge, sharing a bed with a worker, so the two slept on the same bed, and fed him together with his servants in the kitchen. Nikolai worked for a year and came to Brocard: “I’m leaving.”
Brocard silently took twenty-five rubles out of his pocket. Strunnikov refused: “Take it back.”
Brocard silently took out his wallet and added another fifty rubles. Strunnikov took it, silently, turned and left. The life of these aspiring artists without a family, without a tribe, without acquaintances and means of livelihood was not easy.”

There is information that, having learned about Strunnikov’s difficult fate, Gilyarovsky sheltered the poor student and helped him in every possible way.

Nikolay Strunnikov Portrait of N.V. Gilyarovskaya 1904

“I read his poems,” Nikolai Ivanovich recalled, “I listened to stories from his in some parts of the legendary biography, through him I became interested in the heroes of Zaporozhye, a poem about which he wrote at that time... In his prowess, energy, exceptional gaiety, even his stocky figure , as it seemed to me then, there was something from these Zaporozhye heroes.”
In 1900, Strunnikov, influenced by the poetry of V. Gilyarovsky, painted a portrait of Uncle Gilay (as his friends called him) in the image of a dashing Cossack, dashingly sitting on a horse, against the backdrop of a landscape with high southern mountains.

Nikolai Strunnikov Portrait of V. A. Gilyarovsky on a horse. 1900

The basis for the painting was a photograph of Gilyarovsky on a horse, taken during a trip to the Caucasus.

V. A. Gilyarovsky in the Caucasus.

In Gilyarovsky’s house, Strunnikov met in the late 1890s and became friends for many years with the Ukrainian historian D.I. Yavornitsky.

For reference:

Dmitry Ivanovich Yavornitsky

October 25 (November 6), 1855, Borisovka, Kharkov province - August 5, 1940, Dnepropetrovsk

Dmitry Ivanovich Yavornitsky

Russian and Ukrainian historian, archaeologist, ethnographer, folklorist, lexicographer, writer.
Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR (1929), member of the Moscow Archaeological Society, one of the most significant researchers in the history of the Zaporozhye Cossacks.
Graduated Kharkov University(1881), taught at Moscow, St. Petersburg and Yekaterinoslav (Dnepropetrovsk) universities, in the latter he created the department of Ukrainian studies. In 1902-1932 he was the director of the local history museum in Yekaterinoslav (now the Dnepropetrovsk National Historical Museum named after him). In May 1940, Yavornitsky was arrested on suspicion of producing and possessing literature with bourgeois-nationalist content, and a week before his death he was released. In prison, the academician fell ill with pneumonia and soon died.
Yavornitsky wrote “The History of the Zaporozhye Cossacks” in three volumes (1892-97), collected extensive folklore material in the collection “Little Russian Folk Songs” (1906), and also wrote novellas, satirical stories and poems.

While still attending school, Strunnikov in 1899 created the portrait “Zaporozhets (Cossack in battle)”, which has an interesting story.
After a long conversation with Yavornitsky, Strunnikov also became “sick” with Cossack themes. As a sign of deep respect for the historian, Nikolai, at his request, painted a Cossack on the door of the Moscow room where Yavornitsky lived. The figure of the Cossack was depicted in energetic movement, the Cossack’s face was full of anger, there was a bleeding wound on his forehead, and his large eyes protruding from their sockets were bloodshot. Yavornitsky really liked the picture.
When the historian was about to leave Moscow for Yekaterinoslav, he invited the owner to pay the cost of the door, since he decided to take the door painted by Strunnikov with him.
But by chance, the owner of the furnished rooms where Yavornitsky lived turned out to be the famous collector Bakhrushin. Naturally, he protested, since he also liked “Zaporozhets”. Bakhrushin stated that the door and everything on it belongs to him as the legal homeowner. The case went to court, but the judge also turned out to be an original and suggested cutting the doors in half and dividing them by lot - who would get which part. As a result of an unusual decision, Yavornitsky received the upper part of the door with a half-length depiction of a Cossack. “And Bakhrushin got the pants and what was in the pants,” Dmitry Ivanovich later loved to joke. In 1905, Yavornitsky donated an unusual painting to the museum.

In the meantime, Strunnikov understands that the knowledge acquired within the walls of the school is clearly not enough, and it is necessary to continue studying.

Nikolai Strunnikov Sagittarius.

Saint Petersburg

In 1901, Strunnikov was enrolled in the Higher Art School of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts and ended up in the workshop of the famous Ilya Efimovich Repin.

Serov V.A. Portrait of Repin 1901

These years of study were not easy for Nikolai, since he had to earn a living again.
The artist’s younger sister Maria Ivanovna recalled: “He studied and worked, often walked without “soles”, almost barefoot, lived from hand to mouth, slept in attics. From his very small earnings, he helped our sisters, because our parents died, and we had absolutely nothing to live on. At that time I was 7-8 years old, I didn’t have a single good toy. Suddenly one day Kolya brought me a beautiful large doll, which he bought with his last money. When I played with the doll, he looked at me and drew. Later I found out that he created illustrations for “Les Miserables” by Victor Hugo. He should have seen the expression on Cosette's face when Jean Valjean gave her the doll. Illustrations for the works of Victor Hugo were not accepted from him. He was very upset and worried... My brother gave these illustrations to me. Unfortunately, I couldn’t save them: during the occupation the paintings were taken by the Nazis.”

In 1902-1904 during summer holidays Strunnikov lived in his hometown of Maloarkhangelsk.
Working in the workshop of I.E. Repin and being under his influence, Strunnikov became seriously interested in the history of the Zaporozhye Cossacks. It should be recalled that Repin himself became interested in the theme of the Cossacks, while still working on his famous “Cossacks”; moreover, the artist was also from Little Russia and even often spoke and wrote letters in the Ukrainian “Surzhik”.

For reference:

Repin began work on the painting “Cossacks writing a letter to the Turkish Sultan” in 1880. At first, Repin was engaged in a leisurely and lengthy series of sketches and selection of models. By the way, among the models who posed for Repin’s picture were Strunnikov’s friends. In particular, the artist based the crafty clerk on the historian Yavornitsky, and Gilyarovsky posed for the laughing Cossack in a white hat for Repin. Repin met Yavornitsky in 1887 in St. Petersburg, at an evening in memory of T. G. Shevchenko. By this time, work on “Cossacks” had not only begun, but had also made significant progress.

Ilya Repin Cossacks write a letter to the Turkish Sultan (detail, Portrait of D.I. Yavornitsky).

Ilya Repin Cossacks write a letter to the Turkish Sultan (detail, Portrait of V.A. Gilyarovsky).

The first completed sketch in oil appeared in 1887, Repin gave it to Yavornitsky. Later Yavornitsky sold the sketch to P. M. Tretyakov and now it is in the Tretyakov Gallery.
The main version of the painting (2.03x3.58 m) was completed in 1891.

Ilya Repin Cossacks write a letter to the Turkish Sultan. 1880-91

After a resounding success at several exhibitions in Russia and abroad (Chicago, Budapest, Munich, Stockholm), the emperor bought the painting in 1892 for 35 thousand rubles Alexander III. The painting remained in the royal collection until 1917, and after the revolution it ended up in the collection of the Russian Museum.
Having not yet completed the main version, Repin in 1889 began work on the second version, which he never finished. This canvas is somewhat smaller in size than the original version, and is, so to speak, a behind-the-scenes copy.

Ilya Repin Cossacks write a letter to the Turkish Sultan. Kharkov Museum of Fine Arts.

The artist tried to make the second version of “Cossacks” more “historically accurate.” It is now kept in the Kharkov Art Museum.
After “Cossacks,” almost all of I.E. Repin’s works on Ukrainian themes were associated with the name of Yavornitsky. The historian corresponded with the artist until his death.

Friendly relations connected Strunnikov with another descendant of Ukrainian Cossacks, born in the village of Krasionovka, Poltava province - world champion in French wrestling Ivan Poddubny. Dnepropetrovsk art historian Oleksa Shvediv said:
“The artist and Ivan Poddubny were connected not only by friendly relations. A photograph from the early 1900s has survived, depicting an athletically built Strunnikov in the costume of an athlete-wrestler. From a young age, the artist was fond of fist fights, and then speed skating and wrestling. And I even tried my hand at official competitions with Ivan Poddubny.”

In the spring of 1906, Strunnikov painted a portrait of Poddubny in the costume of a Cossack and presented it again to D.I. Yavornitsky. In truth, it is worth noting that, in fact, two paintings were painted. On one, Poddubny is depicted in a wrestling suit, in the image of a strongman, as the public loved him. And on another canvas, the artist painted an oseledets on the wrestler, lowered the ends of his mustache, dressed him in blue trousers and belted him with a red sash.

Nikolay Strunnikov Cossack. Portrait of Ivan Poddubny. 1906

He turned Poddubny into a Cossack Strunnikov at the request of Yavornitsky. On May 29, 1907, the artist wrote to the historian:
“I sent you a copy with some changes, and the original is with I.M. Poddubny. It was written from life and is better than a copy. In the original he has no forelock, his mustache is curled, and he wears tights instead of pants. Only one breast in your portrait remained unchanged. The height in both portraits is natural.” Whether Poddubny himself saw this Cossack portrait is unknown.

Nikolai himself, who had an athletic build, served as a model for his teacher. Ilya Repin
He painted from it a young, topless Cossack and a mighty Cossack rowing with an oar for the painting “Black Sea Freemen.” The history of this painting is also unusual.

Repin in the winter workshop while working on the painting Black Sea Freemen 1906

For reference:

In 1888, during a tour of the Ukrainian troupe in St. Petersburg, Repin presented the luminary of the Ukrainian theater Mark Kropivnitsky with an address with a depiction of a Zaporozhye boat and the figure of an actor in the image of a helmsman. The artist remembered this story many years later. Repin decided to dedicate the painting to the defenders of Ukraine - the Cossacks, caught in a storm at sea after a raid on the Turkish coast. At Repin’s request, Yavornitsky found a naval Zaporozhye crimson flag (banner) with an image of the Cossacks for the painting, which was copied by the artist’s son Yuri.
Everyone who saw the painting at the traveling exhibition in 1909 admired its expression and color. Unfortunately, this painting went abroad and was only discovered in 2008 in one of the Finnish museums. In the same year, the Russian Museum presented the painting itself and two sketches for it, which our museum workers found in various collections of Russian museums.

Ilya Repin Black Sea freemen (sketch). Early 1900s.

I didn’t find the painting itself, so I present one of the sketches, in which, alas, it is impossible to understand where the characters painted by Strunnikov are.

Maloarkhangelsk

Living in St. Petersburg, doing what he loved, the artist missed his native land. I already wrote that during the summer holidays he went to his sisters, who lived in Maloarkhangelsk. On one of these visits, in 1902, a local priest invited Nicholas to paint the Church of the Resurrection. Strunnikov not only agreed, he had an idea: to repeat the Vladimir Cathedral in Kyiv in paintings, with the creations of artists V. M. Vasnetsov, M. A Vrubel and M. V. Nesterov.

N.I. Strunnikov submitted a petition to the Academy Council for assistance in this, and surprisingly, he was not refused. Strunnikov went to Kyiv and worked a lot there, copying the paintings of the Vladimir Cathedral. Later, the picturesque complex of the Maloarkhangelsk Church was successfully completed.
Nikolai Ivanovich recalled: “Difficult work, especially somewhere under the dome. If it weren't for my gymnastics background, I wouldn't have survived. Once he slipped and fell from a ten-foot height. He lay there for a month and again climbed the forests. This job paid well, and I could already help my family.”
While working, he “was afraid of losing the main thing that he valued in painting – the naturalness of pose and movement, as well as closeness to nature.”
As historians write, “the wonderful land of Ukraine with its amazing nature, kind and generous people have long attracted Russian artists.”
And the famous Ukrainian artist Konstantin Trutovsky (1826-1893) added: “How many undeveloped materials Ukraine gives to the artist - both the one who paints life scenes and the landscape painter. Everyone is drawn to Italy - it’s good, natural to live and study there, but it’s not appropriate for a Russian artist limit ourselves to Italian scenes when we have our own beautiful views and scenes."
The residents of Maloarkhangelsk admired Strunnikov’s paintings, but, unfortunately, the church has not been preserved. It was destroyed in 1943 because, according to recollections local residents, was a good guide for enemy aircraft.

Kyiv

While in Kyiv, Strunnikov fell in love with this city, and in 1913 he decided to move there to live.
On the recommendation of Repin, Nikolai was invited to work as a teacher at the Kiev Art School (KAU). “Teaching work was close to my heart,” Strunnikov recalled. Strunnikov passed on to his students pedagogical methods, inherited from their teachers - V. Serov and I. Repin. The artist taught at the school for seven years (until 1920).

Soon after moving to Kyiv, Strunnikov got married. The artist’s wife Praskovya Alekseevna became his great friend and resignedly endured the hardships of a restless and unsettled life. The artist’s sister recalled that “it was a happy family. Nikolai Ivanovich deeply loved his wife, she was a wonderful woman: modest, sensitive and knew how to take care of her brother’s talent. I have the brightest memories of her, as close friend and my own sister."
Three sons were born into the Strunnikov family. The elder Sergei subsequently worked as a photojournalist for the Pravda newspaper and died in 1943 near Poltava. Nothing is known about the younger ones - Igor and Rostislav.

The artist, in love with his wife, painted several of her portraits: “Ukrainian Woman” (1914), “Portrait of the Artist’s Wife” (1916), “Bride” (1917), “Grief” (1917), “Portrait of the Artist’s Wife in National Costume” (1917) , "The Head" (1925). In the paintings, Praskovya appears before the viewer either as a very young girl dressed in Ukrainian national costume, or as a bride in a wedding dress, or as a deeply grieving woman.
I was able to find only one portrait from 1917.

Nikolai Strunnikov Portrait of his wife, 1917

In Kyiv, Strunnikov became friends with F.E. Mironov, who maintained a workshop for the manufacture of frames and subframes. Being an art lover, he bought works of artists cheaply, and thus collected a significant collection of paintings.
Shortly before leaving Kiev, Strunnikov gave Mironov his self-portrait, done in watercolors and colored pencils, where he depicted himself as a Cossack with a shaved head, hanging forelock and a long Cossack mustache.

Nikolai Strunnikov Zaporozhian. Self-portrait 1917

In the portrait he has a slyly grinning face, a Zaporozhye cradle in his teeth, and soft tobacco smoke billowing from his mouth. Later, a version of this portrait was presented in 1920 to D.I. Yavornitsky.

Revolution

It should be noted that the artist accepted and supported the 1917 revolution. Art critics name several reasons - poor childhood and constant struggle for existence, the death of his brother at Tsushima and death older sister during the 1905 uprising.
In the fall of 1919, on the eve of the revolutionary anniversary, Strunnikov with a group of teachers and students of the art school took an active part in decorating the streets and squares of Kyiv in accordance with the idea of ​​​​monumental propaganda proposed by Lenin.
On the initiative of the People's Commissar of Military Affairs of Ukraine Nikolai Ivanovich Podvoisky, in the same 1919, the Lutsk barracks were painted. The themes of the paintings are “The fight against the double-headed eagle”, “The fight against capital”, “The fight against the Entente”, “Checkmate to the white king”, etc. While working, the artist met Podvoisky himself, and this acquaintance grew into a lasting friendship.
So a realist artist, a devotee folk theme Zaporizhian Cossacks began to adapt to the new times.

It is worth noting that Strunnikov actively exhibited during the first two decades of the new century. He was an exhibitor of the Moscow Society of Art Lovers (MOLKH), dissolved in 1918, the Moscow Society "Group of Artists" from 1909 to 1911, the Association of Artists of Revolutionary Russia and the last 47 and 48 exhibitions of the Partnership of Traveling Art Exhibitions (TPVH). The artist was also an active participant in the literary and artistic circle “Sreda” in Moscow.

Nikolay Strunnikov Veselchak. 1920s

Nikolai Strunnikov Metal worker.

Ekaterinoslav

In 1920, Strunnikov, at the invitation of Yavornitsky, who became the director of the Yekaterinoslav (now Dnepropetrovsk) Regional Historical Museum, moved to Yekaterinoslav and began working as a museum employee. Strunnikov lived with his family in Yavornitsky’s house.
The artist has far-reaching plans and goals - “to organize an art workshop of the historical life of the Cossacks, have students and work for the museum.”

Nikolai Strunnikov Cossack with a bandura. Drunk.

In the living room of Yavornitsky’s house, the artist completed a monumental painting on the wall “Taras Bulba with his sons on a campaign” (1920).
“I watch how you touch the canvas with your brush,” said Dmitry Ivanovich, “and I recognize Repin’s school.” You are lucky, Nikolai Ivanovich, that you worked with a brilliant man.
Nikolai Ivanovich smiled joyfully.
- And I try not to tarnish the name of my teacher and mentor...

Nikolay Strunnikov Wall painting Taras Bulba with his sons 1920

But it was not possible to create an art workshop at the museum, and on the recommendation of Yavornitsky, Strunnikov went to the village of Belenkoye, Yekaterinoslav province, as a drawing teacher.
- I see, Nikolai Ivanovich, that you are more and more interested in the Cossacks. - Yavornitsky said. - Well, I say, it would be good if you went to the Cossack villages of Pokrovskoye and Belenkoye.
There, in addition to slogans, propaganda panels and portraits in the volost executive committee, the artist created a series of portraits of peasants. True, art critics note: “it is clear from the works that the artist worked without inspiration, apparently forced by need, because the time was hard and hungry.”

Nikolai Strunnikov Grandmother sews buttons on her grandson.

Mobilized by the revolution

In 1921, at the call of the People's Commissariat of Education, Strunnikov moved to Moscow and never returned to Ukraine.
Taking advantage of friendly connections with N.I. Podvoisky, the artist became an official artist (or, as some colleagues joked, a court painter) of the People's Commissariat of Defense of the USSR.

Nikolai Ivanovich Strunnikov.

Heroic-romantic images of the Zaporozhye Cossacks were replaced by more pathetic and ideological portraits of the heroes of the October Revolution and civil war. In the period 1927-1930, Strunnikov created a whole gallery of portraits - K. E. Voroshilov, A. E. Shchadenko, A. Parkhomenko, N.I. Podvoisky.

Nikolay Strunnikov Portrait of E.A. Shchadenko.

The artist participated in the exhibition for the tenth anniversary of the Red Army (Red Army) with the works “Red Partisan Comrade Yakimov” and “Portrait of the Chief of the Tsaritsyn Armored Trains, Comrade Alyabyev.”
In 1938 Strunnikov received Gold medal at the World Exhibition in Paris for a portrait of the partisan Lunev.

Nikolai Strunnikov Partizan Lunev 1929

In 1940, the artist, for outstanding achievements in the field of art and as a recognized master of Soviet portraiture, was awarded the title of Honored Artist of the RSFSR.
During the Great Patriotic War While in evacuation in Sverdlovsk, Strunnikov painted the canvases “Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya” and “Partizan” for the local House of Officers.
Before last days Throughout his life, the artist never parted with his palette and brushes.
Nikolai Ivanovich died on September 20, 1945 in Moscow and was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery.

Afterword

In my opinion, and this is confirmed by many art historians, the Ukrainian Cossack theme in Strunnikov’s work remains the most striking manifestation of his talent.

Nikolai Strunnikov Cossack with kobza.

The artist’s paintings are stored in 13 museums and art galleries - the Tretyakov Gallery, the Central Museum of the Armed Forces in Moscow, the Museum modern history Russia in Moscow, Dnepropetrovsk National historical museum them. D. Yavornitsky, Poltava, Donetsk and Oryol art museums, etc.

Sources – Wikipedia, articles Olga Egorova, Andrey Marina, Alexandra Lokotkova, Lyubov Romanchuk, website Donetsk Art Museum and website www.maslovka.org.

Strunnikov Nikolai Ivanovich (1871-1945) - Russian and Soviet painter, portrait painter and restorer, Honored Artist of the RSFSR.

Excerpts from the book "Nikolai Ivanovich Strunnikov".

The works of the last period of the artist’s life give purely external, superficial characteristics to those portrayed. Artistic language the painter becomes somewhat dry, the artist fails to create vibrant, memorable images.
Strunnikov died in 1945. Until the last days of his life, he did not part with his palette and brushes.
The legacy of the artist Strunnikov is a valuable contribution to the development of Soviet portraiture. His "Partisan A.G. Lunev" remains "one of the best portrait works of the 20s."
The main theme of the art of this undoubtedly talented master has always been man. The artist constantly sought to see him active, active, strong and spiritual. This is exactly what we see in his portraits of V.A. Gilyarovsky, N.I. Podvoisky, A.G. Lunev, Maria Popova, and partisan Vadim.
Strunnikov’s best works are the thread that connects the realistic traditions of the Russian school of painting with the portrait art of Ahrrov artists. , and N.I. Strunnikov in the 1920s, earlier than other artists, determined the direction in the development of portraiture along the path of revolutionary romance, realism, and artistic generalization. They made the path to the new easier for their contemporaries, and this is their invaluable merit.
In 1940, N.I. Strunnikov was awarded the honorary title of Honored Artist of the RSFSR. Through the newspaper "Soviet Art" the artist thanked the Soviet government for the high honor bestowed upon him. “I am 68 years old,” the artist wrote, “I have lived a long and difficult life. And only under Soviet power did I get the opportunity to live a full-blooded life.” creative life, live for art. I promise to devote all my strength to the development of the art of our great Motherland."
We can say with complete confidence that all the strength of this great master and extraordinary human soul was devoted to serving Soviet art.
State Tretyakov Gallery - Russian holy of holies visual arts. In one of its halls, where the birth of Soviet art is shown, hangs a portrait of the partisan A.G. Lunev. Visitors always stand in front of him. Often these are young people. They like revolutionary romance; it inspires them and calls them to exploits. The already gray-haired spectators stand in front of the portrait. Who knows, maybe, looking at the picture, they remember their youth, scorched by battles past wars. But everyone - both old and young - is grateful to the artist for awakening good feelings in them.