The Volzhsky Art Gallery houses a painting by Nikolai Nikonov ‘Group Portrait’. The portrait features elements of landscape art and still life.
In the foreground on the left side, one can see a young woman in a pink dress with a white transparent shawl. Her dark hair is styled in an updo and the woman looks to the side. On the right side, a man looks directly at the viewer. He is dressed in a white shirt and trousers; he holds a brush and a palette with mixed paints in his hands.
Researchers of Nikonov’s art suggest the man in the painting is Nikonov himself. He was 34 in 1923 when the artwork was created. The background is probably a forest in the Yaransky Uyezd (presently, Kirov Oblast) where the artist lived: in his works, Nikonov often turned to themes inspired by his childhood.
A woman in a dark blue dress and a red headscarf stands behind them with her left arm on the man’s shoulder. There is a small table between the women on which one can see mushrooms, an apple and a branch with red berries. The artist created the painting in a calm color scheme, using golden shades.
Nikolai Nikonov was born in 1889 in a small town of Yaransk, Kirov Oblast. His father was keen on poems and paintings and belonged to a troupe of the city theater. Nikonov’s mother had a beautiful voice and dreamed of becoming a singer but got married and devoted herself to homemaking. Nikolai had three sisters: Ekaterina, Elena and Augusta.
As a little boy, Nikonov’s passion was drawing. In his youth, he studied at a Realschule (non-classical secondary school) in Vyatka and painted mainly oil landscapes and watercolors. Later, he moved to Moscow and in 1915, graduated from the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. Artists Konstantin Korovin, Valentin Serov and especially Mikhail Vrubel greatly influenced his artistic style.
Nikonov painted canvases on historical and revolutionary themes, everyday scenes, as well as portraits, landscapes and still lifes. In 1915, he participated in an exhibition for the first time in his life, which was quite successful. The themes of Nikonov’s works changed for a while under the influence of the events of the Great Patriotic War: he painted slogans, posters, created designs of city decorations for revolutionary holidays, organized art exhibitions at the school for commanders of the Red Army. In 1923, Nikonov created his first significant work “The Arrival of the Red Army in the City of Krasnoyarsk”. Nowadays, this painting is housed in the Tretyakov Gallery.
In the 1930s, he created a series of portraits of female collective farmers, and during the Great Patriotic War painted works dedicated to the brave deeds of the Soviet people. In 1969, the artist was awarded the title of Honored Artist of the RSFSR. Nikolai Nikonov died in Moscow in 1975.
In the foreground on the left side, one can see a young woman in a pink dress with a white transparent shawl. Her dark hair is styled in an updo and the woman looks to the side. On the right side, a man looks directly at the viewer. He is dressed in a white shirt and trousers; he holds a brush and a palette with mixed paints in his hands.
Researchers of Nikonov’s art suggest the man in the painting is Nikonov himself. He was 34 in 1923 when the artwork was created. The background is probably a forest in the Yaransky Uyezd (presently, Kirov Oblast) where the artist lived: in his works, Nikonov often turned to themes inspired by his childhood.
A woman in a dark blue dress and a red headscarf stands behind them with her left arm on the man’s shoulder. There is a small table between the women on which one can see mushrooms, an apple and a branch with red berries. The artist created the painting in a calm color scheme, using golden shades.
Nikolai Nikonov was born in 1889 in a small town of Yaransk, Kirov Oblast. His father was keen on poems and paintings and belonged to a troupe of the city theater. Nikonov’s mother had a beautiful voice and dreamed of becoming a singer but got married and devoted herself to homemaking. Nikolai had three sisters: Ekaterina, Elena and Augusta.
As a little boy, Nikonov’s passion was drawing. In his youth, he studied at a Realschule (non-classical secondary school) in Vyatka and painted mainly oil landscapes and watercolors. Later, he moved to Moscow and in 1915, graduated from the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. Artists Konstantin Korovin, Valentin Serov and especially Mikhail Vrubel greatly influenced his artistic style.
Nikonov painted canvases on historical and revolutionary themes, everyday scenes, as well as portraits, landscapes and still lifes. In 1915, he participated in an exhibition for the first time in his life, which was quite successful. The themes of Nikonov’s works changed for a while under the influence of the events of the Great Patriotic War: he painted slogans, posters, created designs of city decorations for revolutionary holidays, organized art exhibitions at the school for commanders of the Red Army. In 1923, Nikonov created his first significant work “The Arrival of the Red Army in the City of Krasnoyarsk”. Nowadays, this painting is housed in the Tretyakov Gallery.
In the 1930s, he created a series of portraits of female collective farmers, and during the Great Patriotic War painted works dedicated to the brave deeds of the Soviet people. In 1969, the artist was awarded the title of Honored Artist of the RSFSR. Nikolai Nikonov died in Moscow in 1975.
