Gleb Borisovich Smirnov was a Russian painter and professor, who wrote books and articles on the theory and methodology of teaching drawing and painting. The artist studied with Fyodor Rerberg, Dmitry Kardovsky and at the Higher Artistic and Technical Institute with Ilya Mashkov, Alexander Osmerkin and Sergey Gerasimov. After graduating from the institute, Gleb Smirnov taught and participated in exhibitions. The artist created a whole series of landscapes associated with Turgenev, Pushkin, Lermontov and Nekrasov.
In 1969, Gleb Smirnov painted “Leo Tolstoy’s Office in Yasnaya Polyana”, in which he managed to convey the atmosphere and originality of the room. The painting shows a suite of rooms, their coziness being visible through the open doorways. In the foreground there is a part of the writer’s office. The spacious room with an open balcony door and a large Italian window, flooded with air and light, twice served Leo Tolstoy as an office: from 1856 to 1862 and from the summer of 1902 to October 28, 1910. Tolstoy wrote “Youth”, “Family Happiness”, “Hadji Murat”, “After the Ball” and many others there.
While rendering the atmosphere of the office, the artist carefully depicts things that accompanied Tolstoy throughout his life, from birth to the last days spent in Yasnaya Polyana. To the left of the entrance there is an old Persian walnut desk that is covered with green cloth and contains some drawers. When staying in Yasnaya Polyana, Tolstoy used this desk. At this desk, which he had inherited from his father, the writer created his masterpieces — “War and Peace” and “Anna Karenina”. On the desk there are modest writing instruments that were dear to Tolstoy as a memory. Near the desk there is a cozy chair, where the writer liked to read his manuscripts. Near the opposite wall, in the opening of a large Italian window, there is a small round table and armchairs with openwork Gothic arches. The office walls are decorated with works of art and photographs of people close to Tolstoy. In his office, Tolstoy worked hard until two or three in the afternoon in absolute silence. The artist meticulously renders the atmosphere of the office and creates an impression that the writer has just left this room.
The Painting “Leo Tolstoy’s Office in Yasnaya Polyana” by Gleb Smirnov with the artist’s signature belongs to the collection of the pianist Alexander Goldenweiser. It is on display in the Tolstoy corner in the memorial apartment.
