Denis Vladimirovich Molodkin was born on August 5, 1971 in the village of Mstyora. His mother Nina and father Vladimir were also artists. One of his father’s works is also on display at the exhibition “The Art of Mstyora”. From 1986 to 1991, Molodkin studied at the Mstyora Art and Industrial College named after Fyodor Modorov. In 1991, the young artist became a fellow of the International Charitable Foundation “New Names”.

Denis Molodkin works in the techniques of lacquer miniature and icon painting. The subject matter of his works is diverse. As a contemporary and multifaceted artist, he creates his own wonderful world of lacquer miniature, inhabited by both familiar fairy-tale characters and original imagery born of the master’s imagination. Molodkin’s works harmoniously combine different layers of narrative: fabulous mythological images, historical figures and modern realities. The artist skillfully merges images of ancient temples with modern skyscrapers.

His miniatures are distinguished by a modern approach to the choice of plot and peculiar compositions. The round panel “The Madonna of Mstyora”, dedicated to the 500th anniversary of the Mstyora region, chronicles the history of pre-revolutionary Mstyora and Soviet Mstyora. The artist fills the space of the panel with recognizable symbols that are organically intertwined with each other.

As a village of creative people, Mstyora is represented by its most prominent crafts and figures. In the lower left part, the viewer might recognize one of them. This is Ivan Alexandrovich Golyshev, a Russian scientist, local historian, lithographer and publisher. Next to him are feni (peddlers) that sell his books and lubok pictures, which were once so loved by local peasants. Local icon painters and embroiderers, miniaturists and painters are depicted in different sectors of the panel. One can also notice the Epiphany Church — the ancestral tomb of the princes Romodanovsky — and the church in the name of St. John the Merciful, where Mstyora embroidery originated. The Soviet period of Mstyora is represented by cyclists and the pioneer camp “Tourist”. In the center of the composition there is a young woman and a girl on a bicycle. They symbolize continuity and glorious Mstyora traditions.