The permanent exhibition of the estate museum houses a portrait of the engraver Ivan Nikolayevich Pavlov, an acquaintance of Alexander Mikhailovich Gerasimov. The artist painted this portrait in Moscow. The memoirs of Alexander Gerasimov, where he described the process of creating this portrait, have been preserved to this day. Back then, the artist lived in the studio of the sculptor Sergey Timofeyevich Konenkov on Krasnaya Presnya Street. During that period, he mostly painted portraits and drew posters.

Alexander Mikhailovich wrote, “I became close friends with the engraver Ivan Nikolayevich Pavlov at the time. Now and then I stayed in his cozy house-terem in Yakimanka District.” The work on Ivan Pavlov’s portrait was meticulous and lengthy: the artist arranged more sessions but still was discontent with the result, until one day when a happenstance would help him create the final version. Alexander Gerasimov recalled, “Once, during a break between painting sessions, Pavlov picked up a newspaper and began to examine the drawing printed there with a magnifying glass. ‘Freeze like that! ’ I exclaimed, ‘Do not move! I have run out of blue paint, tell me where to get it.’ My sitter offered lithographic ink, as he had no other materials available. There was nothing left to do but to accept. By mixing lithographic blue ink with oil paints, mostly black, I rearranged and repainted the portrait. Finally, Ivan Pavlov has turned into an engraver who examines the piece that he created with his own hands through a magnifying glass.’

In 1944, Alexander Gerasimov depicted Ivan Pavlov in the painting called “A Group Portrait of the Oldest Soviet Artists”, which earned him his third State Prize.

In his book of memoirs “Life of a Russian Engraver”, Ivan Nikolayevich Pavlov shared his impressions of the first meeting with Alexander Gerasimov, “He behaved in a simple, natural and unpretentious manner; Alexander Mikhailovich’s speech betrayed a sharp and lively mind and a quick wit. It was picturesque and replete with similes. He could quote entire pages from Gogol, Turgenev, Koltsov, and Nikitin. His broad Russian nature, his special, unique and vivid manner of speaking and folksy humor were compelling. In Gerasimov, I saw the abundance of insightful observations, his strong connection with everyday life and work of the people, his sincere and poetic love for the nature of the Motherland, and his affection for humanity.”