In 1910, Ivan Silych Goryushkin-Sorokopudovacquired an estate in the village of Ivanovka, located 40 kilometers from Penza. There he lived, entertained guests, and painted numerous portraits and landscapes. The Russian artist was also a passionate beekeeper, maintaining an apiary on his estate. The themes of Goryushkin-Sorokopudov’s paintings created in Ivanovka resonated with the poetry of Alexander Alexandrovich Blok and Sergei Alexandrovich Yesenin.
“Beloved land! My heart is dreaming // Of stacks of sun in the natal waters. // How I would like to lose myself // Amid your greenery of many voices.” The artist often recited these lines from a poem by Sergei Yesenin, written in 1914. For him, they represented not only a gem of poetry but also an expression of his own life credo.
Ivanovka attracted
students who visited the artist and listened to his stories. Boris
Vladimirovich Preobrazhensky, a student of Ivan Silych Goryushkin-Sorokopudov who
studied at the Penza Art School from 1927 to 1932, wrote in his memoirs,