The walls of the Manege caved in: a strange exhibition of the artist Vasily Nesterenko. A thousand paintings by Vasily Nesterenko People's Artist Vasily Nesterenko
More Syria and culture and
Vasily Nesterenko - to the enemies of Russia
An exhibition of the famous artist "The Syrian Land" is taking place in Moscow
A real artist, a master of his craft, no, no, and he will surprise even his old admirers, who know his style and genres well. So is the painter Vasily Nesterenko at the end of the year, he made his viewers gasp in surprise and smile. Also, incl.
Vasily Nesterenko. "Letter to the enemies of Russia"
The basis of his new exhibition "The Syrian Land" was the five-meter canvas "Letter to the enemies of Russia." The idea, composition of the picture - from the legendary canvas of I.E. Repin "The Cossacks write a letter to the Turkish Sultan." The letter of the Cossacks was composed in 1676 in response to the ultimatum of the head of the Ottoman Empire. I.E. Repin, working on the painting two centuries later, wrote: “Our Zaporozhye delights me with this freedom, this rise of the knightly spirit. The remote forces of the Russian people renounced everyday blessings and founded an equal brotherhood to defend their best principles of the Orthodox faith and human personality ... And this handful of daredevils, of course the most gifted people of their time, thanks to this spirit of reason (this is the intelligentsia of their time, they for the most part received education ) increases to the point that not only protects Europe from eastern predators, but threatens even their then strong civilization and laughs heartily at their eastern arrogance. "
And today, after another century and a half, we see the same plot in the picture of a modern Russian artist, only instead of the koshevoy chieftain and his Cossacks, the army of Russia already of the 21st century is depicted on the canvas.
The appearance of the poet and his wife at the exhibition was then a real sensation. Learning that Pushkin was in the Antique Gallery, the students of the Academy, including nineteen-year-old Aivazovsky, rushed there.
We see soldiers and officers fighting in Syria against world terror in arms, in field uniforms, in vests, in helmets and body armor. A senior lieutenant with a bright youthful face is writing a collective message. One ballpoint pen is in his hand, the other is behind his ear, like the pen of a Repin's character. On the table, in addition to a piece of paper with a letter, a Kalashnikov assault rifle flaunts obliquely. By the way, the picture can be called an ode to the creation of the great Russian gunsmith, presented here in various modifications and forms. The imposing fist of one of the powerful officers seals the tabletop.
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Looking at the monumental painting by Vasily Nesterenko, you feel the scorching Syrian sun, you hear thunderous laughter. It blows from her with an invincible power. Before us is the great Russian army, resurrected as if from oblivion after the "reforms" of the last decades ...
“A significant part of my work is occupied by the theme of Russian military history,” says the artist in an interview with the newspaper “Zavtra”. - My paintings are dedicated to the Battle of Kulikovo, Peter's victories, the time of deliverance from the Troubles, the First World War and the Great Patriotic War ... But there were no works dedicated to the modern Russian army. And I thought: where, if not in Syria, I can find those stories that will help me to reveal this topic. "
In May of this year, Vasily went on a business trip to the Syrian Arab Republic, made several trips around the country, and visited the garrisons. When asked about the main impression, he replies: “Our army, our valiant warriors - both officers and privates of various types of troops - all this is one big friendly family, I got this feeling. And, of course, all of them are really the elite of our Armed Forces. The army has very tough discipline, everyone is not just tucked up, but extremely collected. But even in conditions of such discipline, there is room for the manifestation of the warmest, friendly feelings. In a short time I have made so many friends there, incredible! "
Well, the whole world today is staring in amazement at Russian pilots and marines, sappers and special forces, who in Syria, in a confrontation with highly trained professional mercenaries, showed both the ability to deliver crushing sniper blows, and the willingness, if necessary, to sacrifice their lives by causing fire on themselves ...
I remember a song from the movie "Officers":
Look at my fighters
The whole world remembers them in person.
Here the battalion froze in the ranks,
I recognize old friends again ...
Those who have visited Syria note the high spirit of the soldiers, they understand that this is the defense of the Motherland on the distant approaches.
Presenting new works from the cycle "The Syrian Land", Vasily Nesterenko spoke with bitterness that the heavenly biblical country, in the old days so prestigious for travel among our fellow citizens, now lies in ruins, has become "Syrian Stalingrad" ...
People's Artist of Russia at the opening of the exhibition Mikhail Ivanovich Nozhkin, an old friend of Vasily, said: we are witnessing a historic event. Years will pass, and the painting "Letter to the enemies of Russia" will remain. An artist with all the highest honorary titles, an academician, could rest on his laurels, but he goes on a very risky business trip along the line of the Ministry of Defense. The courage and high skill of a colleague and comrade were duly appreciated in their performances by two of the greatest contemporary creators of Russian art - the painter Dmitry Belyukin and sculptor Salavat Shcherbakov.
Well, the outgoing year has really become a triumphant one for Vasily Nesterenko. In February, he celebrated his 50th anniversary with an exposition in the main exhibition hall of Russia. The shining hall of the Manege was filled with his paintings and their admirers. The multimeter scale of the canvases, the brilliance of colors and images stunned even the most sophisticated spectators. More than a thousand paintings! Russian history has appeared epoch after epoch. Portraits, landscapes brought from many countries. The huge face of Christ ...
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The exhibition was visited by the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill, many priests, military men, politicians, and art workers visited the exhibition. There were many rave reviews.
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I remembered then in the Manezh meeting Vasily in the early 1990s in the workshop of the leader of the painters of his generation - the unforgettable Sergei Prisekin ... Both Prisekin and others predicted a great future for Nesterenko. But still, few could have foreseen what phenomenon the talent of the young artist would develop into. His creative power and efficiency are amazing. At the opening of the exhibition in the Manege, a monk from Mount Athos told how Vasily Nesterenko worked, painting the church of St. great martyr and healer Panteleimon on Old Rusik - several months in Spartan conditions, from early morning until late evening. And before that there was a long-term colossal work in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, painting of several more temples, the Throne Hall of the Jerusalem Patriarchate ...
The "dashing" 1990s were a time of enormous losses, lost talents. Gifted, educated artists used to go for big money to decorate the interiors of villas and mansions ...
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In 2005, Nesterenko painted one of his best works - the portrait "Unconquered". Before us is a front-line soldier, a marine, Yuri Fomichev, a mighty tall old man in the uniform of a chief sergeant, with the Order of the Red Banner and other military awards on his chest. The icy wind of hard times permeates him through and through, his gaze is exhausted, but adamant. He also looked through the sight near Moscow and Stalingrad. He also looks into the eyes of the authors of numerous "icebreakers", slanderers of the Great Patriotic War ...
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Since the beginning of the 1990s, I remember Vasily's “Still Life with the Attributes of Art” written in New York. In the center of the picture, on the artist's table, is a sculptural figurine bent in thought ... Outside the window is a recognizable line of skyscrapers with twin towers blown up a few years later. Nesterenko, the best student at the Surikov Institute, was sent, the only one from the Union, for an internship at the Pratt Art Institute. And he managed to conquer America! Recall that Vasily, before being admitted to the Russian Union of Artists, was already a member of the prestigious American League of Professional Artists, his first solo exhibition was held in the City Bank Gallery in the same “city of the yellow devil”. Here he not only learned American realities, but also met a Russian exile, 96-year-old student of I.E. Repin by the famous artist M.A. Verbov ... Many then rushed to the States, ready for literally anything. And Nesterenko chose his own path. As the philosopher D. Santayana wrote: "A person should grow with his feet into the land of his homeland, but let his eyes survey the whole world."
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I love the painting "The Roofs of Zamoskvorechye", which Vasily and I reviewed when I was preparing my first publication about him after he brilliantly defended his diploma "Triumph of the Russian Fleet" at the Surikov Institute. I will note that the now famous painter remained, after more than twenty years, the same simple in communication, unimpressive, unbronzed.
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The "Portrait of a Russian officer (V. Maksimov)" is magnificent. It depicts our mutual friend, a connoisseur of the Petrine era, a rare ascetic Volodya Maksimov. This is who, with good reason, can be called a true warrior of the Spirit.
Vasily Nesterenko reminds: “It's easy to be a patriot now. All patriots. Even those who are not patriots are still patriots. But those who have gone through that wild time, who did not give up their positions, who retained, so to speak, their Russian spirit, deserve real respect. "
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"Defend Sevastopol" - this canvas, painted for the 150th anniversary of the famous defense in 2005, soon became a picturesque epigraph to the "Russian Spring" of 2014. The picture was placed on billboards, hovered over the Crimean roads. All of Russia on this canvas of Nesterenko is a bastion that holds a perimeter defense over the smoke and roar of battles. In the foreground, Vladimir Maksimov is again posing - here he is a gunner, adjusting the sight of the gun.
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But not so long ago, "Attack of the Dead" written by the artist, dedicated to the defense of the Osovets fortress in the First World War. After the gas attack, only 56 people survived. The German division, wearing gas masks, set out for a "clean-up" operation, to finish off the poisoned. But on them, from this child, spitting out their own lungs, a handful of Russians went into the last counterattack. The shocked Germans fled in terror ...
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It is also worth saying that the artist's thoughtfulness and church-going allows him to see more deeply the essence of what is happening in the world and in Russia. It is not for nothing that on his anniversary in the Manege he stood at the huge canvas "Deliverance from the Troubles". What is he talking about today in his speeches? About the need to overcome the split in society, about the tragic events in Ukraine (Vasily is a native of Pavlograd, southern Donbass), about the threats to the only surviving Russian art education in the world ...
According to Vasily Nesterenko, “the fighting spirit, it is there, it is felt, and military operations in Syria are one of the symbols of the revival of the army, Russia. But the peak of the spirit, I think, is ahead ... ".
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The exhibition "The Syrian Land" runs until December 17 at the branch of the Moscow State Art Gallery of Vasily Nesterenko in the exhibition hall "Chekhov's House" (Malaya Dmitrovka, 29, p. 4).
2004, March- personal exhibition at the Central Museum of the Great Patriotic War 1941-1955. on Poklonnaya Hill
2004, May - June- personal exhibition at the Oryol State Museum of Fine Arts
2004, September - October - personal exhibition in the Museum complex of the city of Dmitrov
2004, October - participation in the exhibition “The Bible in the paintings of Russian artists of the 18th-20th centuries”, organized by the Moscow Patriarchate in cooperation with the Tretyakov Gallery and the Russian Museum
2004, October- was elected a member of the Expert Commission for awarding State Prizes in the field of literature and art in the Central Federal District
2004, October - December - personal exhibition in the picture gallery of the Vologda Kremlin Museum-Reserve
2004, November - personal exhibition at the Central House of Art Workers, Moscow
2005, June- presentation of the painting "Defend Sevastopol" in the State Historical Museum, Moscow
2005, August- personal exhibition at the Sevastopol Art Museum named after M.P. Kroshitsky
2005, October- presentation of the portrait of V. Matorin in the role of Boris Godunov in the Union of Theater Workers of Russia
2006, January - February- personal exhibition at the Moscow State Exhibition Hall “New Manezh”.
Elected a full member of the Russian Academy of Arts
2006, June - July- personal exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts of the Republic of Karelia
2006, December- personal exhibition at the National Art Museum of the Republic of Belarus
2007, February - March- personal exhibition in the Vitebsk Regional Museum of Local Lore
2007, February - March- personal exhibition at the House of the Government of the Russian Federation
2007, April - May- personal exhibition in the Bryansk Regional Art Museum and Exhibition Center
2007, April- participation in the exhibition “Historical and Cultural Heritage of Moscow. 10 years of development "in the Central Exhibition Hall" Manezh ", Moscow
2007, June- participation in the Jubilee Exhibition dedicated to the 250th anniversary of the Russian Academy of Arts in the Central Exhibition Hall "Manezh", St. Petersburg
2007, June - September- participation in the exhibition “We will remember the harsh autumn ... Moscow. 1941 "in the building of Provision shops
2007, October- participation in the opening of the Historical Forum and the November historical and musical festival "Pearls of Russia"
2007, November - December- participation in the exhibition "Dedicated to the Fatherland" at the Moscow Academic Art Lyceum of the Russian Academy of Arts
2008, January - February- personal exhibition in the Regional Picture Gallery Obraz, Kaluga
2008, February - March- personal exhibition at the Belgorod State Art Museum
2008, April - May- participation in the exhibition "Moscow family: traditions and modernity" in the Central Exhibition Hall "Manezh"
2008, April - August- participation in the exhibition of FGUK "State Central Museum named after A. A. Bakhrushin"
2008, June - July- personal exhibition at the Tyumen Regional Museum of Fine Arts
2008, September - November- Elected a member of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Arts.
Personal exhibition in the State Institution of Culture of Moscow "State Historical, Architectural, Art and Landscape Museum-Reserve" Tsaritsyno "
2010, January - February- participation in the exhibition of the Moscow Academic Art Lyceum “A. V. Dronov and his students "
2010, February - March- personal exhibition at the Central Museum of the Border Service of the FSB of the Russian Federation
2010, August - September- personal exhibition in the Chuvash National Art Museum in Cheboksary
2011, January - March- personal exhibition at the Academy of Management of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Member of the Patriarchal Council for Culture.
2011, March - May- personal exhibition in the Museum and Exhibition Center "Worker and Kolkhoz Woman"
2011, September - 2012, February- personal exhibition in the State Institution of Culture of Moscow "State Historical-Architectural, Art and Landscape Museum-Reserve" Tsaritsyno "
2012, February - March- jubilee personal exhibition "Distant Frontiers"
at the Russian Academy of Arts
2012, March - May- personal exhibition "Great milestones in Russian history"
in the State Institution of Culture of Moscow "State Historical, Architectural, Art and Landscape Museum-Reserve" Tsaritsyno "
2014, May - June- personal exhibition “Russia. History and modernity "
at the National Art Museum of China in Beijing
2014, June- participation in the exhibition "Symbols of the Fatherland 2014" in Moscow.
Member of the Central Council of the Russian Military Historical Society. Presentation of portraits of M.Yu. Lermontov and F. Cooper at the Library of Congress, Washington.
2014, August- participation in the meeting of the President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin with cultural figures
in the House-Museum of A.P. Chekhov in Yalta
2014, October - November- personal exhibition at the Nizhny Novgorod State Art Museum
2015 - Artistic director of the exhibition project RVIO "Remember ... the world was saved by a Soviet soldier!" (together with S.A. Shcherbakov), Moscow State Exhibition Hall "New Manezh". Personal exhibition "We are Russians, God is with us!", Sevastopol. Personal exhibition "The Light of Christ enlightens everyone", Vatican Museums
2015 – 2016 - work on the murals of the Church of St. Panteleimon the Great Martyr and Healer in the Russian St. Panteleimon Monastery on Athos
2016, December - 2017, January- exhibition "Russian Athos" in the halls of the Russian Academy of Arts
2017, February - March- jubilee personal exhibition "Our Glory - Russian Power!" at the Central Exhibition Hall "Manezh", Moscow; April May- in the St. Petersburg Central Exhibition Hall "Manezh"
Exhibition of the famous artist opens at the Central Exhibition Hall "Manezh"
He is one of those on whom the Russian land is held, one of the participants in the press conference said about Vasily Nesterenko - Alexander Rozhkin, academician, member of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Arts, editor-in-chief of the Tretyakov Gallery magazine. And at the very beginning of his short speech, rather an introduction to the exhibition, he called the artist an ascetic of Russian culture.
In the presence of representatives of many media outlets, in fact, such things are not simply said all over Russia. And it was these words that came to mind when, after the press conference, I left the building of ITAR-TASS, which is at the beginning of Tverskoy Boulevard. It was a stone's throw from here to the Manege, where Vasily Nesterenko prepares his paintings for the show. A little over a kilometer, about 20 minutes on foot, leisurely, along Bolshaya Nikitskaya. On this street, by the way, 100 years ago in the house No. 5 in December 1916 - March 1917 the jubilee, 45th, exhibition of the Association of Traveling Exhibitions was held. At that time Moscow also exhibited the "Union of Russian Artists", "World of Art", the Moscow Association of Artists.
In general, the first two months of the revolutionary 1917 for the masters of fine arts coincided with the zenith of the exhibition season. “There is such an abundance of exhibitions in Moscow,” the reviewer noted, “as if Russian artists were obliged to paint pictures instead of military service… There are eleven in total. It seems like a bit too much for a year of experienced events. " At the same time, one of the directors of the Art Theater, Vl. Nemirovich-Danchenko was not at all groundlessly asking the question: “Is it certain that at the present time society is really interested in new achievements in art? Can it be interested in this now? Does he have enough attention for this? " And the artist Apollinarius Vasnetsov wrote: "The modern direction of art, its alienation from life, naturally, in no way can react to the exciting events of recent times: it passes without a trace for him."
A hundred years later, these problems - whether today's society is really interested in art, whether art is alienated from life, in Russia - are not so acute, although they have not disappeared anywhere. At the press conference, a question was raised about the attitude of Vasily Nesterenko to the fact that there is still a division of artists into "white" and "red" (realists and avant-gardists).
And the artist replied that confrontation is inevitable in art, but "it is not necessary to stifle either one or the other, then there will be a wide palette." And as an example, he named Zurab Tsereteli, who "reconciled everyone."
Nesterenko said that at one time he also studied with Tair Salakhov (People's Artist of the USSR), a kind of Soviet "almost avant-garde artist." And he stressed: our main task is to overcome the split in society, otherwise we can slip into turmoil. He also said that the state could lose art education.
Surprisingly, today the artist has outlined almost the same problems that agitated Russia a century ago. “At the present time,” wrote the critic A. Rostislavov in 1917, “it is hardly possible to speak of a specific banner of this or that advanced art society. Splitting into separate societies and circles is indeed a very noticeable phenomenon in our country in the last decade. Apparently, the time for salons is ripe for us. " This idea of exhibitions, like the Parisian Salons, where artists representing all trends of contemporary art would gather under one roof, was expressed everywhere. In Moscow on Easter 1917, the opening of the exhibition "Spring Salon" was supposed, at which the participation of all art societies was expected and the hope was expressed that "such an exhibition would be able to vividly and most typically (32) present all existing trends in contemporary art."
In arranging such exhibitions, contemporaries saw an opportunity to put an end to the transformation of exhibitions “into a sales market”, hoped that they would be able to move “Russian art forward” and, being the highest court for artists, would help them to improve. And this, too, was one of the features of the artistic life of the beginning of 1917. And today, just look at those grandiose queues that line up in the country's art galleries, and many questions that are drawn to us from the past will disappear by themselves ...
Vasily Nesterenko, People's Artist of Russia, full member of the Russian Academy of Arts, has this third solo exhibition in the Bolshoi Manezh.
In the entire history of this main exhibition hall in the country, only a few artists have been awarded such a high honor. And not everyone, frankly speaking, is capable of such a titanic work as arranging a personal exhibition on an area of 10 thousand square meters. m, where, according to Vladislav Kononov, executive director of the Russian Military Historical Society and one of the organizers of the exhibition, 1,000 works by Vasily Nesterenko are being prepared for display. To which the artist replied: "Not counting the small ones." And he said that reproductions of paintings from Mount Athos and the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in full size will also be presented.
In general, the artist's track record includes so many personal exhibitions that it is almost impossible to list all of them. However, among them there are some that cannot be forgotten. These are exhibitions held in the Russian Academy of Arts, in the Kremlin, in the House of Government of the Russian Federation, in the Museum of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, in the Museum of Books and Printing in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, in the Ukrainian House (Kiev), in many cities of Russia and abroad, including in Prague, Berlin, Beijing, Tokyo, New York ... The closer you get to know the work of Nesterenko, the more astonishing the scale of his activities. He can simultaneously lead several large projects, almost every year he holds several personal exhibitions in the country. At the same time, the concept of "Russia" includes for the artist both Ukraine and Belarus, which he spoke about more than once.
The previous exposition at the Manezh Central Exhibition Hall took place in the summer of 2010 and was called “Russia - the Link of Times”. The current exhibition of Vasily Nesterenko was named "Our Glory - Russian State!" Consonant and symbolic!
The exposition is timed to the 50th anniversary of the artist and, strange as it may seem, to the 35th anniversary of his creative activity. The master asked about this oddity.
“I painted portraits on envelopes at school. There was such a job. The first time I took part in an exhibition in the 7th grade. In general, you need to set yourself the maximum goals. If you don’t try, nothing will work, ”he said.
Vasily Nesterenko writes in the realistic manner of Russian classical painting and works in various genres. The basis of the new exhibition is historical works reflecting the turning points of Russian history: "Deliverance from the Troubles" (a fragment of the picture - in the photo)
, "The death of the invasion", "Moscow meets the heroes of Poltava", "Defend Sevastopol!", "Triumph of the Russian fleet", "We are Russians, God is with us!" other.
“For me, history is not just events. This is a reason to speak in the language of history about the present, - said Vasily Nesterenko. - “Getting Rid of Troubles” is an important topic. The Time of Troubles is always relevant for Russia ... 1612. The people recite repentance, and the whole course of history has changed. Archbishop Arseny said recently that "our Fatherland is now on the scales of God's justice."
For four years the artist worked on the creation of this grandiose canvas.
When the artist is asked about historical parallels, he explains his position as follows: ““ Defend Sevastopol ”for me means - we will defend the Kuriles, Kaliningrad, Crimea, we will defend Moscow, in the end. The historical theme in my understanding is a bridge to the present and the future. "
We add that historical painting requires detailed knowledge of the depicted era, even the state of the weather. For example, the fact that on the day of the victorious entry of Peter I to Moscow, it snowed, as shown on the canvas of Nesterenko.
By the way, on the day of the press conference, the air was frosty, fresh and transparent, as happens in Moscow at the turn of January-February. And when I went out into the street, the sun was already sinking, but still gleaming in the golden domes of the Great Ascension Cathedral, flooding the upper floors of houses on Nikitsky Boulevard with bright light, oblique rays touched the roofs of the old buildings of Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street. And above all this splendor hung a young moon filled with silver light. Believe it or not, the phases of today's moon almost coincide with those that were observed in 1917. And in Moscow today, too, many exhibitions are open, both good and different. “But his (Nesterenko's) paintings have spiritual magnetism,” noted Alexander Rozhkin. And Vladislav Kononov emphasized: “How much you need to know in order not to fall under the court of professional historians. But they have no complaints about the artist. Vasily Nesterenko's paintings are a weapon in the fight against falsifications of history. Nesterenko's mission is to carry the historical truth. "
“For me, the First World War is the pinnacle of the Russian spirit,” said Vasily Nesterenko. Painting "We are Russians, God is with us!" and is dedicated to the First World War, more precisely - to one of its heroic episodes. For a long time the Germans could not take the weakly defended Osovets fortress and decided to let gas on the Russian troops. When, driven by a favorable wind, a thick cloud of a poisonous mixture of chlorine and phosgene approached the Russian positions, even the grass withered, and our soldiers and officers did not have gas masks. The Germans took truncheons, studded with nails, and moved on to "clean up the territory" - to finish off the surviving soldiers. But the poisoned Russians, doomed to death, rose to hand-to-hand combat. "Attack of the Dead" - later called this impulse of several hundred warriors.
Russian newspapers of that time asked: “What does“ enlightened ”Europe bring us? Poisonous gases and clubs for finishing off Russian soldiers. Cultural barbarians! " Since then, Europe has not changed in its attitude towards Russia. And the questions to the "civilized" countries remained the same.
A series of works "Oh, Russian land!" Is a true anthem of Central Russia with its poetic nature, temples and monasteries. “He is devoted to the Fatherland,” Alexander Rozhkin emphasized during a press conference. - His art fosters an attitude towards his roots. In his work, Russia appears as the Phoenix bird. This is a concern for future generations. "
“They ask,” says the artist, “why don't you paint the volcanoes of Indonesia? Let others draw them, and I will draw our mountains, our rivers. And when I find myself in an icy river in Altai, I know why I am doing this, but in Indonesia I don’t know. ” A series of landscape paintings was the result of the artist's creative trips to Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, to the Sayan Mountains and to Baikal. The works dedicated to the nature of the Urals, Siberia and the Far East are combined into a cycle called “On the Distant Frontiers”.
Vasily Nesterenko's real creative success was his participation in the restoration of the murals of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. For this, a team of almost three hundred artists was created in order to get the work done in the shortest possible time. The most difficult task required not only the highest professional skill, but also the ability to paint in the manner of the greatest painters of the 19th century.
Vasily worked fourteen hours a day. As befits an icon painter, he fasted and prayed before starting work, and then climbed the scaffolding and painted the temple, doing this without any drawings or grids, directly. It was he who made the murals "The Resurrection of Christ", "The Apostle Matthew", "The Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem", "The Baptism of the Lord" for the Cathedral, wrote the cycle of the Theotokos icons and the Shroud, "The Last Supper" and pictures of the Gospel cycle for the Patriarchal refectory. “The temple has been restored the way Russia deserves it now,” said Vasily Nesterenko.
Before the start of the painting of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, the artist completed work on the icon "The Image of the Mother of God Unexpected Joy" and on the painting "The Crucifixion".
And there was also Athos in his life, where for almost a year he led a group of artists, which, with the blessing of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, and the elders of the Russian St. Panteleimon Monastery, painted the church of St. Great Martyr and Healer Panteleimon on Old Rusik.
It is almost 3500 sq. m! During a press conference Vasily Nesterenko remarked: "They say that Athos is heaven on earth, but heaven on earth is hard."
Female images play a significant role in the artist's work. The portraits of women created by him, as he says, always emphasize the merits of their models. For example, the painting "Alena" depicts a girl with a huge bouquet of daisies. The heroine of the painting "Indian Summer", a girl from the Russian hinterland, stands in a thin dress and rubber boots near a fence overgrown with weeds ... The portraits of "Maiden's Dreams" and "Premonition of Love", imbued with delicate lyricism, are also devoted to the theme of female expectation.
But, I think, the strongest impression in this series is made by the painting "Russian Madonna". Until recently, I did not know that it depicts the artist's wife Olga and son Vanya. And in the painting "Spring" - Olga too ...
A very special place in the artist's work is occupied by a portrait of his mother, Galina Vasilievna. It was my mother who helped Vasily become an artist. From her - and love for the native Fatherland.
According to experts, the most capacious image of the Motherland is reflected in the epic painting by Vasily Nesterov "Oh, Russian land!" The line is taken from "The Lay of Igor's Campaign." (Oh, Russian land! You are already over the hill!) In this brilliant poem of antiquity, the Russian land is perceived as something single, as the property of the people coming from one root, despite strife, strife and troubled times ...
But, as Vasily Nesterenko said, “you have to watch the works”. And all the time the press conference on the wall of the spacious room in front of the journalists' eyes a fragment of the picture "Deliverance from the Troubles" was shown. And in response to the question whether he likes to give interviews, the master said: “Telling is not my profession. It is not my face that should know, but my works ”.
Many of the master's canvases will be exhibited for the first time. And not at all for the sake of a compliment, Alexander Rozhkin remarked: "This is not just an exhibition, it is a phenomenon in the cultural life of Russia."
Let's listen to the competent opinion. And let us remind you that the personal exhibition of Vasily Nesterenko "Our glory is the Russian state!" will be held at the Central Exhibition Hall "Manezh" from February 10 to March 3, 2017 and the opening will take place tomorrow, February 9.
Especially for the "Century"
The article was published within the framework of the socially significant project “Russia and the Revolution. 1917 - 2017 "with the use of state support funds allocated as a grant in accordance with the order of the President of the Russian Federation dated 08.12.2016 No. 96 / 68-3 and on the basis of a competition held by the All-Russian public organization" Russian Union of Rectors ".
Vasily Igorevich Nesterenko was born in 1967 in Pavlograd, Ukraine. In 1980 he entered the Moscow Secondary Art School at the Moscow State Academic Art Institute. VI Surikov to the department of painting - after training in the workshop of the People's Artist of Russia NS Prisekin. In June 1985 he graduated from the Moscow Art School with a gold medal. From December 1985 to October 1987 he served in the ranks of the Soviet Army. From 1987 to 1994 he studied at the Moscow State Academic Art Institute. V.I.Surikov. Workshop of the People's Artist of the USSR, Academician T. T. Salakhov. Teachers: prof. L. V. Shepelev, prof. S. N. Shilnikov, prof. N. P. Khristolyubov, prof. E. N. Troshev. Since autumn 1988 he has been actively involved in creative work.
The turn of the XX-XXI centuries is a difficult historical epoch that brings to life new artistic trends, trends, values. The work of the Moscow painter Vasily Nesterenko is inseparable from his time. He is one of those masters who introduces Russian art into the new century.
Excellent academic training, deep sensitivity of modernity, rare diligence helped Nesterenko to rapidly enter the artistic life of the country. He quickly attains independence, maturity of style, and is widely recognized. Possessing a significant creative range, he paints portraits, landscapes, large historical canvases, and religious compositions.
Artistic comprehension of changes in the spiritual life of society and profound changes in the worldview are embodied in a cycle of paintings dedicated to trips to holy places, in the painting of icons, in the creation of portraits of Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia, Patriarch Diodorus of Jerusalem and other clergy. 
The main theme of his historical canvases is the assertion of personality, its active creative principle. In his art, Nesterenko often refers to the era of reforms of Peter the Great, introduces various historical subjects into painting: "The Triumph of the Russian Fleet", "Moscow meets the heroes of Poltava."
The artistic method of Nesterenko the portraitist is based on a deep study of the nature, the nature of a human being. His portraits are remarkable for the sharpness of character transfer. The artist reveals the spiritual value of the models with special warmth. In female portraits, he is a subtle lyricist who creates light and harmonious images.
The landscape is of great importance in his work. The image of nature sounds in the ensemble of historical canvases, in portrait painting and is fully revealed in the landscape works of the artist. He travels a lot in Russia, does not part with a sketchbook on trips to Europe and America.
Vasily Nesterenko's real creative success was his participation in the reconstruction of the picturesque decoration of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. This complex work required not only the highest professional skill, but also the ability to work in the manner of the greatest painters of the 19th century.
Nesterenko's multi-figure evangelical scenes: "The Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem", "The Resurrection of Christ", "The Apostle Matthew", "The Baptism of the Lord" are located in the most responsible, central part of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.
A special place in the artist's work is occupied by the work in the Patriarchal refectory of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. With the blessing of the Patriarch, the artist performs five gospel subjects: "The Last Supper", "The Marriage at Cana of Galilee", "The Miraculous Multiplication of Loaves", "The Miraculous Catch", "Christ and the Samaritan Woman".
The work of the Honored Artist of the Russian Federation, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Arts Vasily Igorevich Nesterenko invariably attracts the attention of numerous spectators. His works can be seen in museums, at the largest domestic and foreign exhibitions. He works a lot, is full of new creative ideas, in his workshop there are new canvases.
Vasily Igorevich NESTERENKO: interview
Vasily Igorevich NESTERENKO (born 1967)- People's Artist of the Russian Federation, Full Member of the Russian Academy of Arts: | | | ...
"IN THE CIRCLE OF MY FAMILIARIES THERE ARE NO PEOPLE CORRUPTED WITH GLORY"
I took an interview with the People's Artist of the Russian Federation, Vasily Igorevich Nesterenko ... under a tree. We agreed to meet at Chistye Prudy - there are benches, cozy and quiet. Alas, it didn’t work - just at that moment, work was underway on the ponds to improve the territory. Without hesitation, we went around all the barriers, and made our way to the green piece in the center. I hung my bag on a tree branch, prepared a voice recorder and asked:
- Is it okay?
- Oh, what are you! So everything is simple, in nature ...
Vasily Igorevich is an unusually smiling, simple and open person. Yes, and of course very busy. But he answers all my questions slowly, explaining what is not clear, and somehow very sincerely, cordially ...
So, in a simple way, we talked in nature. Saying goodbye, I thought that when I once again get to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, I will look at some of the paintings with completely different eyes. On the painting by Vasily Igorevich.
Interviewed by Elena KOROVINA
- Vasily Igorevich, how did you become an artist?
- I loved art since childhood. Art is like a disease. Many do not get infected. Many of those who have become infected are cured sooner or later. And only a few "get sick" all their lives. So I am one of those who have been infected for life. And the question never really arose for me where to go to study - I knew from the age of nine that I would be an artist. And life flowed somehow calmly, confidently. I got involved in art quite early on. First there were exhibitions in the school where I studied, then - exhibitions in the Manezh and the Central House of Artists. I graduated from art school, then the Surikov Institute, then there was an internship in the United States, a diploma work ... And in parallel with this - personal exhibitions in Russia and abroad: in Japan, the United States.
In early childhood, I lost my father, my mother raised me. At first, she was not very supportive of my aspiration to become an artist, knowing how difficult it is. Now I understand her perfectly. For parents who have doubts about whether to devote their child to art, I always advise you to read the novel "Creativity" by Emil Zola. The novel is suggestive of the complexity of this path. My mother was very afraid that I would not stand it, that I would break down. And then, seeing my persistence and great desire, she began to support me. And now she is my closest and best advisor.
- I know that in the early 1990s you were offered to stay, live and work in the United States. Why did you disagree?
- I was born in Russia, I am a Russian person and could not live far from my homeland. Exhibitions abroad - yes, good, thank God. But staying in a foreign country - it seems to me that it is not easy, it means ruining your life. Read the memories of our emigrants about Russia - Shmeleva: such a deep sadness about the lost homeland! No, it is very difficult to live in a foreign land.
- But you still joined the American League of Professional Artists ...
- While in America, I met a student of Repin, Mikhail Alexandrovich Verbov. He was at that time 96 years old. We talked with Mikhail Alexandrovich for three years - he did not live to see his 100th birthday. He was an honorary member of the American League of Artists, and once, when my exhibition was held in the USA (I was a student at that time), the artists of the league visited it. It was my strength test, I was appreciated and accepted.
- Have you yourself ever doubted the correctness of your choice?
- On the contrary, it was getting stronger. Much does not suit me in modern life, in the country, in culture, art. And I'm not going to passively wait for this negative to touch my children with a black wing, I want to fight it. My weapon is a brush and a palette. And that doesn't mean so little. In 2005, in Sevastopol, an action was held to mark the 150th anniversary of the defense of Sevastopol. In Engels, one can find only negative reviews about the defense of this glorious city, about the Russian Empire and the army. Soviet historiography picked up this review, the schools forgot about Sevastopol, and in the end it turned out: we do not know anything about this battle, where more than a million people died. You can imagine how important and urgent it is now - to convey to our people, to our consciousness, the greatness and power of Russia. For this event, I painted the painting "Defend Sevastopol" (canvas 300 x 515. - Ed.). For me it sounds like "We will defend Moscow, we will defend Russia!" During an exhibition in the Sevastopol Art Museum, I saw a fragment of this picture, placed on advertising billboards, at the airport and at the train stations of Simferopol and Sevastopol, on the highways of the South Coast of Crimea. People accepted the picture with heart, caught the mood and supported.
- Now in Russia, probably, there are not so many true connoisseurs of art ...
- No, no, I think people in Russia love and understand art very much. Often in their own way, clumsily, clumsily - but they love them a lot! I once even saw a full-chest tattoo with a reproduction of Leonardo da Vinci's painting "Benois Madonna". What is this? Love for art in such a peculiar form. Ask any Russian person on the street who Aivazovsky, Surikov, Repin is - everyone will answer you, everyone knows them, well, at least they know the fact that they are Russian artists. And in Europe this is more difficult. I know firsthand: ask an ordinary European who Magritte, Renoir, Bruegel are - you will not get an answer.
- Would you like your children to devote their lives to art too? Do you see them as artists?
- My children are still very young. I do not know which path they will take. But if they choose the path of serving the Fatherland in the field of art, I will only help them. If they don't want to, I will try to instill in them a love of art in any case.
- What does your wife think about it?
- Olya's wife is always there, always supports me in everything. She is my main assistant.
- I have always been interested in the question: why are there so few women artists?
- Because this is a very difficult path, I repeat. There are so few artists not because women have no talent and abilities, but because a woman's life itself is directed towards something else. It is especially difficult for her to give up everything and live for the sake of art. This is the case when the profession becomes a way of life. Not every artist can withstand this and remain true to her path until the end of her life.
- What is closer to you - landscapes, portraits, gospel stories?
- I can't say that something is closer to me. The Lord gave me the opportunity to see everything, depict everything, even something abstract. All paintings are the fruit of inspiration. I especially like to depict something that goes a little beyond the bounds of painting. How, for example, can you show the weight of wet snow on the branches, the rustle of falling leaves? When this can be transferred to the canvas, it is a real success. Just as in a portrait, the main thing is to show the soul of a person, and questions of similarity will fade into the background. Everything can be interesting - both a landscape and a portrait.
I really love diversity in my work. There are artists who have been painting still lifes all their lives. And that's all. I find it a little boring. Or nude all the time. One exhibition, the second, the third - and everywhere naked. Nice, of course, but I want to finally see the dressed person in the picture. Let everything be different, the main thing is that you, your style, are in any picture. Diversify your creativity without betraying yourself. But the diversity of interests should not be associated with a desire to adapt to the need of time: sweet, glamorous, otherwise they will not be appreciated.
I painted many churches: the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, the Assumption Cathedral in Dmitrov, the Assumption Church in Domnino - the family estate of the Romanovs, painted the Throne Hall of the Patriarch of Jerusalem in Jerusalem, I am interested in painting pictures on historical themes, landscapes, portraits. But, especially in the portrait genre, I am worried about the question "Who is the hero of our time?" Once it was Onegin and Pechorin, and who is now? Of course, for all people and heroes are different. And I would not want for the majority of the heroes to be the participants of some "House-2". They say to me: "Yes, you know, now young people are brought up like that, they have different values." So we educate them! We! All responsibility is on us, and everything depends on us!
- Who is the hero of our time for you?
- You can look at my portrait paintings and get an answer. These are both not known to a wide circle of people - just my acquaintances, and quite famous personalities. For example, the great Russian singer Irina Arkhipova or the famous actor Vasily Lanovoy. They are all for me - the heroes of my time. I try to get to know them from the inside, because in order to paint a portrait, it is not enough just to have talent, you have to make friends with a person, feel his soul, otherwise nothing will work out.
You have met many famous people - in your opinion, does not fame spoil them? How to protect yourself from star fever?
- Walk the middle path, somehow resist. After all, you can fall into the trap of fame - and turn out not to be an artist or an artist, but an official, the chairman of some fund. It's like a chain reaction. And creativity will be killed. And you can always have the soul of a child, like Lanovoy's - he is always simple, open, despite the nationwide fame. Probably, I was lucky: in the circle of my acquaintances there are no people spoiled by fame.
So how do celebrities differ from mere mortals, in your opinion?
- It's hard to answer. On the one hand, they are easy to communicate, they are the same as everyone else, and on the other hand, it is felt that they are somewhat different. They are charged with creativity, they have a young soul. Let's return to the same Verbov, a student of Repin, - the whole of New York knew him, and he simply told me, a student,: "I have done a new job, let's go see what you say." Simplicity is the difference between truly great, famous people. There are not so many artists among the artists who can sincerely rejoice at the successes of their young colleagues. This skill is also, in my opinion, a sign of a really talented, famous person. Fame shouldn't spoil. It should be a stimulus - higher, further, deeper. After all, you can simply achieve success and stop there. And that's all. The result will be stagnation and gradual fading of creativity.
- If a person dreams of fame, is it good or bad?
- Of course, good, because this dream is the main incentive. Many great Russian people dreamed about this: Suvorov and Ushakov, Bryullov and Repin - and they deservedly received it. And they lifted Russia up through their glory. It is also important to decide what kind of glory you dream of and why. I try to charge my creativity only for good. And in our time, getting such fame, with all its professionalism and talent, is more difficult than the fame of a brawler. There is such an avant-garde artist Oleg Kulik, who at exhibitions jumps out on all fours naked and bites the feet of visitors. Known for his cows with a video under the tail, a bust of Tolstoy in chicken droppings and with live chickens around ... Kulik is a rather famous character. So this kind of glory happens. It is more difficult to preserve the traditions of Russian art, it is much easier to attract attention like this, outrageous.
- Who is an example for you to follow in your work?
- I will not name contemporary artists, although I will make a reservation right away - there are such artists. I tried to learn from all the great painters - these are Kuindzhi, Ivanov, Nesterov, Vasnetsov, Michelangelo, Van Dyck ...
- Do you feel famous?
- Many people know my work ... But I don't want to call myself famous. Once on television, I saw a reproduction of my painting "The Triumph of the Russian Fleet", which is in Moscow in the Museum of the Armed Forces. The plot was about Vladikavkaz. Who did that she got there in the transfer? I have never been to North Ossetia. Pleasantly? Of course it's nice. You can, of course, start talking about copyright infringement, but is this what we are talking about when there is such a recognition of you as an artist?
- Have you felt for yourself what the temptation of glory means?
- I don't have that often. Yes, at exhibitions, when I am surrounded by the press, television, when they come up to me for an autograph, it is, of course, very pleasant. But it's also a huge sense of responsibility. I am also always afraid of offending someone. A man came up to me with a piece of invitation card, asks for an autograph, asks to be photographed, and at this time I'm busy - an interview or just a conversation with a guest ... You can't refuse: the person came on purpose, maybe it took a long time to get there, maybe I asked for time off from work - I don't have the right to offend him, ask him to wait. You have to keep up with everything.
- Wasn't it scary to take on the painting of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior? What difficulties did you face?
- There were a lot of difficulties. The burden of responsibility is simply colossal. I devoted several years to work in this temple. In the church there are four of my murals, four icons of the Theotokos, the Shroud for the main throne, five paintings on gospel subjects in the Patriarch's refectory and ten types of monasteries in the anterior hall of the Church Councils hall. I did the murals and paintings alone, without assistants - it was incredibly difficult: in the 19th century, the temple was painted for ten years, and we painted it in seven and a half months. How did we do it? I do not know, by a miracle. The Cathedral of Christ the Savior was painted by those artists who sincerely wanted it, those who wanted to leave their mark, who wanted to join this great, fantastic event. And it was a great honor for all of us. At one time, Alexander Ivanov dreamed of painting the temple - he, Ivanov, was not allowed! And I was lucky enough to work in the church, restore two murals of Semiradsky, two murals of Sorokin - the famous masters of the 19th century! It was an unforgettable dialogue with famous artists of the time. When I came across temple painting, I opened for myself so many new paths, so many sensations - a whole world that has enriched my life, my palette. So we will never forget this work in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.
- You have had many exhibitions. Was one of them special for you? And why?
- Probably in the Bolshoi Manege, in February 2004. When I was preparing this exhibition, I tried not to pass by the Manege - this long row of columns had a depressing effect on me. It seemed to me that I would not succeed. But the exhibition took place, and what a great one!
- Do you have a favorite picture - from your works?
- There is. Not yet written.
- And from the written ones?
- "Alone with myself". You can see it on my website. It depicts a hero of our time, my time, - an ordinary monk, an ordinary person, but living an unusual life, incomprehensible to us. As long as there are such people in Russia, Russia will live. Or the painting "The Unconquered". I tried to say something new about the war, and it seems to me that I succeeded.
- What is the most terrible thing for you in your work?
- Most of all I am afraid not to justify the hopes of people. The worst thing is to hear: “You have bad pictures. We came to you, and you put out some nonsense. " Thank God I didn't have this, but everything is very unpredictable in the art world. You can work all your life, paint pictures, and then, at the end of your life, you will be told: "All this is outdated, nothing interesting." Let us recall Alexander Ivanov, who wrote The Appearance of Christ to the People. Bryullov was a little more fortunate - he managed to die before they began to forget him, and Ivanov during his lifetime learned what it means to be rejected. Rembrandt was forgotten for 200 years! Aivazovsky was pecked both during life and after death. And how many such examples! It's hard to be talented and famous. Glory to glory, and often from it insomnia and heaviness in the soul. So it is not known what and how will develop. How can you revel in glory, when, perhaps, tomorrow they will say that you were born in vain?
D.O.Shvidkovsky
Vasily Nesterenko's artistic talent is multifaceted and his work is extensive - church paintings and historical canvases, portraits of the clergy and lyrical female images, landscapes and still lifes, works written in oils and watercolors, graphic sheets made with charcoal and pencil. He equally succeeds in small sketches and canvases of many meters, chamber images of nature and philosophical works that are complex in composition and figurative structure. His paintings reflect many aspects of our life, penetrate deep into history, make us empathize with the tragedies of the past and the exploits of our predecessors, join the prayer ministry of the Church Fathers. The feelings of the viewer are inspired by both individual works of the master, and series of paintings, and entire exhibitions united by the ideas of kindness, love and reconciliation.
Traveling through the pages of this album, we live with the artist his life, full of impressions of the beauty of native nature, creative meetings with contemporaries, numerous trips around the world. We can recall the glorious pages of history: the era of Peter the Great with his triumphs and battles, travel back to the 19th century and visit the redoubts and bastions of the besieged Sevastopol, find ourselves in the Holy places where the prayer books of the Russian Church ascended for centuries, and finally get under the arches of the Cathedral of Christ Savior and see murals and paintings that tell about the events of the Gospel story.
Getting acquainted with the works of the artist, we plunge into the world of painting, where you can see refined play of color, and subtle combinations of close half-tones, and active color strokes, made with a confident brush. The richness of texture distinguishes most of the artist's works - this is both a smooth surface, achieved by barely noticeable glazing, which allows simulating the finest changes in shape, and an expressive body layer, obtained with a wide brush or palette knife, capable of shading important places in a painting, identifying and emphasizing the tangibility of objects. The coloring of the master's paintings is varied - from restrained and light to bright and rich. In his creative arsenal there are almost all technical means and techniques developed by many generations of artists.
For Vasily Nesterenko, there are no inaccessible subjects, with equal success he performs a small watercolor portrait, and a monumental oil painting, and a colossal wall painting. Working on a landscape, the artist seeks to convey the effects that lie outside the painting: the smell of an autumn forest, rustle of foliage, the weight of sleet or the sound of the sea. Creating a portrait, he penetrates into the soul of a person, depicting the inner world, and not just an external resemblance. The mood evoked by the painting immediately awakens the viewer's response, makes them empathize with the artist's feelings and thoughts.
The theme of serving people, a sincere desire to make the life of contemporaries better and cleaner, the call to look around and love the world around us runs through all the work of Vasily Nesterenko. The artist devoted his life entirely to art in the highest sense of the word, which includes professional dedication to his beloved work, selfless creative work, and loyalty to once chosen ideals.
We can say that the work of Vasily Nesterenko is encyclopedic in its breadth and variety. The purpose of this album is an attempt to collect on the pages of one edition the majority of the artist's works, to arrange them in such a way as to most fully express the meaning of his creative searches.
We will try to trace the artist's career, the stages of his formation, as well as tell who his teachers were, in what environment he was brought up, which allowed him to rise to the heights of professional skill and receive the well-deserved recognition.
Vasily Igorevich Nesterenko was born in 1967 in Ukraine. Childhood impressions will remain an important source of inspiration in his further creative destiny. The endless fields of Ukraine, huge pyramidal poplars over the boundless Dnieper, weeping willows bent over a quiet pond and the bright picturesque nature of Crimea with fantastic piles of rocks near the Black Sea coast - this is where his talent as an artist first manifested itself, sometimes still timidly, but already quite clearly. Seeing in him a penchant for drawing, his parents encouraged his studies.
The entire subsequent life of Vasily Nesterenko is associated with Moscow. Having entered the Moscow Secondary Art School at the Surikov Institute, he was forever involved in creativity. School exams were the first test for the young artist. Having passed a tough competition - fifteen people per seat - he found himself in the world of professional art, in the alma mater of many Russian painters and sculptors.
Passing the exams was preceded by serious preparatory work in the Studio named after M.B. Grekov, in the workshop of the People's Artist of Russia, laureate of State Prizes N.S. Prisekin. The famous battle painter, author of many dioramas, he was working at that moment on the monumental painting "The Battle of Kulikovo". Vasily, drawing educational still lifes in watercolors, dreamed of large canvases, looked at it as a miracle, when figures come to life on the canvas under the hand of the master, it would seem that life appears out of nothing.
In an atmosphere of rising interest of Soviet society in Russian culture, the creative formation of Vasily Nesterenko began. The young painter read books on the history of Russian and world art and, together with his comrades from the art school, discovered the poetry of ancient churches and monasteries, admired Stozharov's still lifes, Plastov's paintings and other classics of realistic art. He spent every change in the Tretyakov Gallery, located opposite the school, studied the works of Surikov, Repin, Levitan, could not move away from the painting "The Appearance of Christ to the People" by Alexander Ivanov, gradually became familiar with the spiritual beauty of ancient Russian painting.
Several generations of artists have passed through the walls of the legendary school in Lavrushinsky Lane. At that time, many educational works hung in its corridors, which in their skill were not inferior to the works of venerable artists. It was a real school of art that preserved pre-revolutionary traditions, carefully carried by teachers and students through many decades. One of the main traditions of the school was the spirit of competition. They learned not only from teachers, but also from the works of great Russian artists and from their fellow practitioners, jealously noting the successful places in the drawing or the effectively written details of the educational setting. It was considered shameful to display fewer works for viewing than those of the group mates. The honor was work and skill, which were not easy for everyone, but Vasily Nesterenko was always a leader, he was noticeable even at school, at a student level.
The "Drawing from an antique sculpture", executed with a stroke in the technique of watercolor, belongs to the time of schooling. The hand of the future master is visible in this work. Even then, Nesterenko set himself tasks that significantly exceeded the requirements of teachers. Having brilliantly completed the school's art course, he received a gold medal for general education, which was a rarity among artists.
The next test is the entrance exams to the Moscow State Art Institute named after V.I. VI Surikov - Nesterenko overcame more successfully than others and entered the faculty of painting under the first number in the summer of 1985. A new stage began in the artist's life, close in complexity to a real professional life. A consistent adherent of realism, Vasily Nesterenko chose the brightest and most dynamic creative workshop for training, which was led by People's Artist of the USSR S.S. Salakhov, an outstanding contemporary painter, academician, head of the Union of Artists of the USSR. In Salakhov's workshop there were many supporters of abstract art, who stood out from the background of other students, but on the other hand, the best realists, as a rule, graduated from this particular workshop. It was dominated by the atmosphere of modern creativity with its acute problems, the difference in styles and creative affections. It was a kind of "model" of the life of art, in which everyone had to plunge after graduation.
Vasily Nesterenko strove to consolidate his leadership among the students of the Surikov Institute, but to become noticeable in it, high professional skills and great efficiency were required. Numerous studies of life-size nude models, preparatory drawings and sketches, oil and charcoal portraits of women and men were interspersed with compositional searches. Gradually, his skill grew in the accuracy of conveying proportions, in the acuteness of portrait characteristics, in the ability to convey the texture and materiality of the objects depicted.
At some point, the artist felt that it was necessary to return to the study of the classics - this is where the real mastery is, this is where you can learn a sense of proportion and rhythm, proportions and plastics! Paying great attention to drawing as the basis of painting and composition, Vasily Nesterenko set himself a difficult task - to try to make a full-scale drawing from Michelangelo's "David" statue in half its life size. Only a few such large drawings are known, and they were created, mainly, at the Imperial Academy of Arts. Working at the State Museum of Fine Arts. A.S. Pushkin, Nesterenko strove to be imbued with Michelangelo's power in the interpretation of form, to feel the harmony of proportions and the complex architectonics of this brilliant work. Not a single drawing from plaster casts and not a single production with nude models gave the artist as much as this drawing. Two months spent in the Pushkin Museum turned out to be much more useful than years in educational workshops.
For Vasily, this was the first experience of a creative dialogue with the great maestro of the past. Drawing "David", he learned for himself more about the life and work of Michelangelo than from all literary sources, more than, for example, from "Biographies" by Giorgio Vasari or from the memoirs of Ascanio Condivi. It seemed to the artist that he, as a diligent student, not only learns the work of the titan of the Renaissance, but is also allowed to talk with him.
Improving as a draftsman, Vasily Nesterenko strove to enrich his creative style with the painting techniques of the old masters. This was not taught, and few people owned such secrets. To uncover them, to understand them, to use them in practice, it was possible only by copying classical samples. A small painting by Francesco Zurbaran "The Adolescence of the Madonna", located in the State Hermitage, attracted Vasily's attention with its inner strength, expressive laconic artistic language, special spirituality, which imbued the best creations of the great Spaniards. Working on a copy of this painting, the artist improved the technique of glazing, which is so necessary for multi-layer painting. Replenishing his technical arsenal, Nesterenko continued to study the compositional thinking of the old masters, which was gradually revealed when working with originals.
The next copy had a decisive impact on the painter's creative manner, becoming for many years a kind of tuning fork in the creation of his own works. "Portrait of Margaret of Lorraine" by A. Van Dyck, the pearl of our museum collections, is kept in Arkhangelsk near Moscow. Friendship with the Arkhangelskoye Museum helped Vasily get a separate workshop in the Yusupov Palace, where he spent several months alone with Van Dyck's canvas. The executed copy far exceeded all expectations - the artist managed to repeat the flight of the brush of the great Flemish. Van Dyck's paintings are difficult to copy - after all, they are the pinnacles of portraiture in Western Europe. To repeat a specific technique of the 17th century in our time means not only to study the original, but also to reincarnate into a man of that era.
"Portrait of Margarita of Lorraine" was exhibited for viewing at the Surikov Institute along with a drawing of "David". These two works did not leave indifferent either teachers or students, securing the glory of a draftsman and painter for Nesterenko. It was clear to everyone that in front of them was an almost completely established master. But how many such masters have sunk into oblivion, having not created anything but educational works!
Vasily Nesterenko had to spend several more years at the Surikov Institute, but he felt that the time of apprenticeship had passed - it was necessary to find his way in art, to declare himself in the artistic world. Nesterenko becomes a permanent participant in all All-Russian and All-Union exhibitions in Moscow. The first successful experiments in landscape and portrait painting belong to this time. Some of his portraits appear on the pages of leading Soviet art magazines.
Brought up on realistic traditions, Vasily Nesterenko constantly studied with his great predecessors, whose paintings adorn the Tretyakov Gallery and the Russian Museum. Finding something useful for himself in the work of Polenov and Serov, Nesterov and Vrubel, he tried to correlate his first successful works with the compositional paintings of Bryullov, Ivanov and Surikov, realizing that he was still at the very beginning of his career.
Having begun to take an active part in the artistic life of Moscow, the artist felt a lack of information about contemporary painting, he wanted to get acquainted with museum collections in the West. Were the apologists of avant-gardism really right when they asserted that art built on classical principles had outlived its usefulness, that the time had come for abstractions and installations? It should be recalled that this was the era of the Soviet Union, and it was extremely difficult to travel abroad to study art. But Vasily Nesterenko managed to visit Europe, get acquainted with the unique collections of the Dresden Gallery, the Orsay Museum, the Louvre, and some modern museums. The painting of the Impressionists became a real discovery for Vasily. It cannot be said that he did not know about them - the Hermitage and the Pushkin Museum have very good collections of the Impressionists. But, apparently, one had to see their paintings in Paris to truly appreciate them. The very soul of the artist demanded not to be limited to academic skills, but to strive to depict the world in all its diversity. Nesterenko cannot be called a follower of the Impressionists, but he learned a lot for himself, having fallen in love with their work.
A personal exhibition in Japan at the beginning of 1991, timed to coincide with the visit of the President of the USSR M.S. Gorbachev to Japan, was a real success for the painter. The exhibition visited Tokyo and several other cities of the country, where the artist saw a genuine interest of the Japanese audience in realistic art, in his portraits, landscapes and still lifes, made during his studies. The traveling exhibition in Japan became not only the first overseas, but also the first personal exhibition of Nesterenko. This success inspired the young master.
In the spring of 1991, Vasily Nesterenko unexpectedly received an offer to undergo an internship in America. The treaty on cultural exchange between the two countries, signed by Presidents Bush and Gorbachev, was designed for hundreds of students, but among them there was only one place for an artist. The leadership of the Surikov Institute did not hesitate to nominate Nesterenko to the USSR Ministry of Culture. He went to study in New York - the Mecca of contemporary art.
Becoming a student at the PRASS Art Institute, Vasily gets his own workshop and the opportunity to get acquainted with the turbulent life of New York. In the usual sense, there was nothing to study at PRASS for Nesterenko - the level of his professional training often significantly surpassed the skill of not only students, but also teachers. He was faced with another task - to study the artistic environment, culture, the way of thinking of Americans, to try to take his place in the artistic life of New York. In a short time, Vasily Nesterenko became a sought-after artist in America. He organized several solo exhibitions and took part in many group projects, his paintings were eagerly bought not only in New York, but also in galleries in California, New Mexico, Colorado.
Looking back, Vasily Nesterenko believes that his stay in New York and the following years of active exhibition activity in the United States significantly broadened his horizons, brought freedom to creativity and, most importantly, confirmed his desire to continue to work in the mainstream of the realistic or, as say in America, figurative painting. There are enough people all over the world who love art based on centuries-old traditions and who know how to appreciate true craftsmanship.
Surrounded by museums, theaters and galleries, the artist soon realized that only art that bears the stamp of national identity can become interesting for this many-sided world. This, for example, explains the interest of the American public in the work of Mexican artists, the same situation with Japanese art. Russian art is distinguished by no less originality, and we can say a lot to both American and European audiences. Russia, which has preserved the old school, has yet to make its own contribution to the development of modern painting, the artist believes.
During his stay in America, Vasily Nesterenko created dozens of paintings: portraits, landscapes, still lifes, nudes. One of the first works - "Still Life with Attributes of Art". The plot, gleaned from Chardin and composed according to all the rules of academic art, is full of evidence of modernity. In this work, for the first time, that type of still life-painting was formed, which will become characteristic of Nesterenko's work in the future. The artist, not limiting himself to depicting objects, introduces details of the interior, landscape and even half-figures of people into the still life.
The painting "The Artist" is interesting because it was created in response to the words of some New York colleagues: "Why don't you paint like we do?" Having depicted canvases with abstract painting in the background, repeating the technology of their creation - which was not difficult after Van Dyck and Zurbaran, - Nesterenko depicted in the foreground the figure of the American artist herself, the author of abstract works, in full size, as if answering opponents: “And now try to do as I do! "
Despite the prospects of apparent success in America, the artist was relentlessly pursued by the idea that creating only landscapes and portraits was not enough to finally get on his feet in art. To do this, you need to write a large compositional picture. Nesterenko wanted to prove to everyone, and above all to himself, that he could solve an extremely complex problem by creating a multi-figured canvas on a historical theme.
Unexpectedly for many, Vasily Nesterenko returns to Moscow and begins work on the multi-meter canvas "Triumph of the Russian Fleet". The patriotic plot was not chosen by the artist by chance. The time when this picture was created was very difficult for Russia - these were the years of political crises. Many processes taking place in the country at that time were unacceptable for an artist brought up on a love for Russian culture and history. In many ways, this picture symbolized his civil position. This is the reason for the major sound, the solemn rhythm and ceremonial pathos of the created work.
The compositional scheme of the painting "The Triumph of the Russian Fleet" was not immediately determined - this was preceded by a long work on sketches and a painstaking study of the evidence of the Peter the Great era. The artist was faced with the need to collect diverse material on the history of costume, weapons, sailing equipment of ships, to study portraits and engravings of that time. The work on the sketches and the cardboard of the painting required the mobilization of all the skills, experience and knowledge acquired during training and independent creativity, all the impressions gleaned in museums.
Vasily Nesterenko felt the need to continue studying the compositional principles of the old masters. During the preparatory work for the painting "Triumph of the Russian Fleet" the artist undertook a number of creative trips to Italy and France. In Venice, he was especially fascinated by the multi-figured compositions of Veronese and Tintoretto, Tiepolo and Titian, in Rome - the frescoes by Michelangelo and Raphael. In Florence, the artist stood for hours in front of Botticelli's paintings. He knew a lot about Florence, studying the history of art, but he saw in reality the famous city of great artists conquered him: the Uffizi and Pitchi Galleries, Palazzo Senoria, Borgello, Santa Croce, Santa Maria del Fiore, Ghiberti doors and so much more! And, of course, the Academy Gallery with the so familiar "David" by Michelangelo.
Having gone to Paris again, visiting the Louvre and Versailles, the artist studies the works of French romantics - Delacroix and Gericault, admires the large canvases of Jacques Louis David. Inspired by the art of the Renaissance and classicism, Vasily Nesterenko tirelessly paints from nature views of Paris, Florence and Venice.
Italian impressions were inspired by paintings created later: "Still Life with Marine Instruments" and "Pierrot and Harlequin". The latter work contains an attempt at a philosophical understanding of the artist's life. Pierrot's look speaks of the bitterness of disappointment, of a passionate and painful attitude towards creativity. The painting techniques used in this picture, the corpus texture, the rhythm of color combinations speak of the artist's attention to the quests of abstract painters. Nothing leaves Vasily Nesterenko's field of vision, he is trying to find something interesting for himself both in contemporary art and in the creations of old masters, to use all the variety of artistic means to work on a large canvas that awaited him in his Moscow workshop.
Every time, returning to Moscow after visiting the largest museums in the world, Vasily Nesterenko made corrections and changes to the sketches of the painting "The Triumph of the Russian Fleet". Soon, the artist began drawing life-size figures directly on canvas. Work on this preparatory drawing lasted eight months, and the painting itself took the same amount of time.
Before the first spectators who saw the picture, the All-Russian Emperor Peter I appeared in all his greatness in the uniform of a shautbenacht, in which he commanded four fleets. The frigates and battleships of the Baltic Fleet, lined up in two lines on the Kronstadt roadstead, disappear into the haze at the horizon. Elegant dresses of Peter's closest associates and European envoys, deep green and red colors of the uniforms of the Transfiguration, decided by a dark silhouette against the background of a light golden platform and white smoke from cannon fire, a red and blue ship's jack and an imperial standard with maps of the four seas frame the figure of Peter. He is full of calmness and grandeur, but at the same time nervously squeezes the hilt of the sword, firmly and decisively looks directly at the viewer. We can almost hear drumming and cannon fire, we can almost feel the salty wind of the Baltic, as if we are witnessing this triumph of the great Emperor, his army and navy, testifying to our admiration for the genius of the tsar-reformer and the courage of his people.
The painting "The Triumph of the Russian Fleet" is Nesterenko's graduation work at the Moscow State Art Institute. V.I.Surikov. With this monumental canvas, he completed his artistic education. During the demonstration of the painting at the defense of diplomas at the Surikov Institute, it became clear that its artistic level far exceeded the requirements for diploma works. The creation of the painting "The Triumph of the Russian Fleet" led to the triumph of the author himself. From that moment on, the name of Vasily Nesterenko became famous in Russia. The presentation and subsequent placement of the painting at the Central Museum of the Armed Forces only increased the significance of this large-scale work. The artist declared himself to the whole country as a master, possessing a wide arsenal of artistic techniques, possessing equally the gift of a painter, draftsman and composer.
Just two years later, in 1996, the Russian Academy of Arts will offer Vasily Nesterenko to hold a personal exhibition in its exhibition halls. Not all artists were honored with this honor. The exhibition was a great success. Nesterenko's work received recognition from senior colleagues, academicians, won the audience sympathy of many connoisseurs and lovers of painting. This exhibition became for the artist a gateway to great art, the beginning of a real recognition of his talent. Many of the paintings presented for the first time at that exhibition are the best works of Vasily Nesterenko.
Particularly memorable is the painting "Alone with myself" - one of the most heartfelt portraits of the master. The painting depicts a monk of the Pskov-Pechersky monastery, immersed in prayer meditation. The portrait is painted so masterfully that it seems that we are facing a living person, and not a plane of painting. The image of a prayer-book monk who does not live in the vain interests of the world, but thinks and grieves about completely different things - this is the first and, perhaps, the most successful attempt to portray a true hero of our time, the one on whom the Russian land rests. A quiet, humble image is fraught with great strength. The portrait raises questions that sometimes cannot be solved even by a multi-figured painting. We can safely say that "Alone with Oneself" is an example of spiritual painting, something more than a simple image of a person.
A series of paintings "The Seasons", landscapes of Athos and Jerusalem, portraits made during the artist's first pilgrimage travels are imbued with the Orthodox spirit.
Vasily Nesterenko successfully tries himself as a master of a ceremonial portrait. The monumental figure of the Patriarch of Jerusalem Diodorus, depicted in full vestments, is placed against the background of a bright sky, shading the patriarch's robes rich in color. The solemn grandeur of the Primate of the Jerusalem Church is emphasized by the dome of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, dominating the Holy City. The painterly solution of this portrait is characterized by great freedom, which was noticeable even in the first watercolor sketch. The artist overcomes the conventionality of the artistic language, a certain flattening of the interpretation of form, characteristic of his earlier works.
A number of exhibitions in Moscow, which followed the exhibition at the Academy of Arts, showed a great interest of the audience in the work of Nesterenko, which in turn forced the artist to work actively in all genres of painting. However, the historical theme will remain one of the main directions in his work. For several years, the artist has created a series of paintings dedicated to Russian military history: "We will be envied in this glory!" "," Portrait of a Russian officer. " In them you can see evidence of glorious victories at Gangut and Grengam, in the Poltava and Borodino battles, St. George's weapons of the middle of the 19th century and the weapons of Victory in the Great Patriotic War. The images of young men, sometimes in the form of the Akhtyr hussar of 1812, or in the form of a modern cabin, are designed to show the continuity of historical and military traditions, reflect the hopes and aspirations of the artist himself. To these works should be added two portraits of children: "The Future Captain" and "Young Commander", touchingly tell about the completely childish interest of young heroes in Russian military history.
The painting "Moscow meets the heroes of Poltava", created in 1997, continues the Peter's theme. The cavalcade of horsemen is written so convincingly that it seems that the author witnessed the solemn entry of Peter to Moscow after the Battle of Poltava. The rhythm of galloping horses, fanfare raised to the sky, drumsticks raised echo the architectural rhythm of the Baroque Arc de Triomphe depicted against the background of the ancient Moscow Kremlin. The whole picture is permeated with movement, there is not even a trace of the static nature of the artist's first compositional decisions.
Historical painting never ceases to excite Vasily Nesterenko. Another significant work in this area is the monumental painting "Defend Sevastopol!" The bold and unusual composition of the painting, its figurative structure with dramatic portrait characteristics, the restrained richness of color - all speak of the artist's increased skill. The figures are not just precisely arranged, the movements of the characters are not just expressive - the picture shows the inner world of the heroes, their feelings and spiritual struggle in the fateful, perhaps, the last moment of life.
Painting "Defend Sevastopol!" leaves no one indifferent. Even if you do not know what happened during the Crimean War, the theme of defending one's land, the theme of life and death can excite any person. But if we recall all the circumstances that led to one of the bloodiest wars of the 19th century, correlate the events of the Crimean War with the present, then the picture gets a completely different sound. This is not so much a depiction of events in Russian history - it is an appeal to contemporaries! The contradictions that brought Russia to the brink of catastrophe in the middle of the 19th century have survived, and may have become aggravated now. The topic of protecting the borders, the fate of Sevastopol and other outposts, not only has not lost its significance, but today these issues have become especially important for us. We must not forget that the Crimean, or Eastern, war began because of the religious conflict in Palestine. It is not for nothing that our ancestors called this war "the battle for the Lord's Manger." As in many other cases, Russia came out in defense of the humiliated and oppressed, while the danger that threatened Russia itself in those years is now difficult to imagine. Our knowledge about this war is very incomplete and tendentious, distorted by the official Soviet historiography. In fact, our country by no means lost the Eastern War, although the number of victims suffered by the Russian people far exceeded the losses as a result of the Napoleonic invasion. Forced to defend against a coalition of world powers in the Black, Baltic, White Seas, in the Far East, in the Caucasus, in Moldova, Wallachia, in the Crimea, the Russian Empire could have lost almost half of its territories and ended up within the borders of pre-Petrine Russia. More than a million victims - this is the monstrous result of the Eastern War, the forerunner of wars in modern history. Thanks to the heroism of the soldiers and sailors who held Sevastopol, thanks to the valiant victories in the Caucasus, Russia, as a result of the war with almost the whole world, did not lose practically anything of its lands. Parallels with the Second World War suggest themselves, the Crimean War is an example for our contemporaries as well.
It was this interpretation of the topic that formed the basis for the creation of the painting "Defend Sevastopol!" And again Vasily Nesterenko spends a long time in museums, archives and libraries, carefully studying historical materials. The most famous work about Sevastopol is the panorama of Franz Roubaud, created for the 50th anniversary of the completion of the defense of the fortified city. Vasily Nesterenko decided to solve his picture in a fundamentally different way than his predecessor had done. At Roubaud, we see a large-scale panorama of the city, its bays and environs, you can fully imagine the course of hostilities and the disposition of troops during one of the assaults on Malakhov Kurgan.
Nesterenko shows the defenders of the bastions themselves, the expressions of their faces, emotions and passions simmering in the midst of the battle. In the center of the picture is a mortally wounded young officer, still a boy, in the arms of a seasoned soldier. It is difficult to describe the look of this uncle soldier. In him there is both a cold determination to die, but not to leave the bastion, and surprise that it is not he who is dying, but this young man, whose life has just begun, this is the feeling of tragedy, not yet realized, but already penetrated into the heart of the old veteran. The face of a young officer is beautiful, he did his duty, he gave everything he could - his life. Around the battle is thundering, the standard-bearer is shouting, the senior officer is giving orders, soldiers and sailors are firing from rifles and fittings, a ship's gun is about to rumble, and in this noise of battle we see and hear the holy silence of death.
The still unfinished canvas began to appear on the front pages of leading Russian newspapers and magazines. Presentation of the painting "Let's Defend Sevastopol!" took place in the State Historical Museum, being an event in the cultural life of the capital. The subsequent personal exhibition in the Art Museum of Sevastopol, dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the city's defense, literally shook the Crimean public. What the artist was striving for, trying to speak in the language of history about contemporary problems, turned out to be close to a wide audience.
The portrait "Unconquered" is no less impressive. This is a new look at the Great Patriotic War and at the attitude towards the veterans living among us. Nesterenko chose a strict and expressive language for the artistic solution of the portrait. The black color of the marine form against the background of a snowy desert landscape emphasizes the tension in the eyes of the old sailor, who is ready to remain faithful to his ideals up to the "oak pea jacket". His gaze literally bores the viewer, forcing him to remember the faces of the defenders of Sevastopol.
The painting "Hegumen of the Russian Land" is a response to the events of 850 years ago, when Russia was under the rule of the Tatar-Mongols. Sergius of Radonezh, the greatest Russian ascetic, who blessed Dmitry Donskoy for the Battle of Kulikovo, is depicted raising his hands to the sky, prayerfully calling for the help of the Mother of God and all the powers from above for the good of the long-suffering Russian land.
In the work of Vasily Nesterenko, interest in the era of the Time of Troubles is noticeable. A small sketch dedicated to the liberation of Moscow from the Polish invaders in 1612 is called "The Court of the Fatherland is offered at mercy!" These are the words of Sergius of Radonezh, who appeared in a dream to Archbishop Arseny and confirmed the closeness of the end of the Time of Troubles. The canvas "The Oath of Prince Pozharsky" depicts the Zaraisky governor - the savior of the Fatherland, who took upon himself the cross of the military leadership of the militia. The mighty prince, reminiscent of epic knights, stands against the background of a banner with the image of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, the intercessor of Russia in all wars. Prince Dmitry Pozharsky prayerfully promises to protect his land from external and internal enemies.
The most difficult Time of Troubles began with the era of Boris Godunov. The personality of this king has always attracted the attention of not only historians, but also cultural figures. Working on the painting "Portrait of Vladimir Matorin in the Role of Boris Godunov" gave Vasily Nesterenko an opportunity to touch on a topic that is largely traditional for Russian art. The artist was inspired by the image created on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater by an outstanding opera singer. Vladimir Matorin is a performer of the Shalyapin school, his amazing acting skills help him show the true image of Tsar Boris. Nesterenko's painting is, of course, a portrait of Matorin, but the artist managed to reflect the features of Godunov himself, caught in a moment of terrible remorse. The expressive background of the portrait reminds of the pangs of conscience that tormented the soul of the unfortunate king.
Vasily Nesterenko in his work repeatedly refers to the theme of the artist and his theatrical role, when the character of the character is closely intertwined with the personality of the performer himself - the creator of the stage image. "Portrait of Vasily Lanovoy as Bernard Shaw" is another example of such a work. The character of the play "Dear Liar", played by the favorite of the Soviet and Russian public Vasily Lanovoy on the stage of the Vakhtangov Theater, is depicted at a tragic moment in his life, when he receives news of the death of his beloved. The pale face, nervous hands of the hero of the portrait, torn letters create an atmosphere of drama, which is emphasized by the intense background in color and texture. The interpretation of the background becomes for Nesterenko an important component in identifying the image of the hero.
It is the background that helps the artist to create a truly theatrical picture, which combines the architectural music of the famous city, and the art of masquerade, and memories of the great artists of the past. We are talking about the painting "The Carnival of Venice", depicting the famous theatrical figure Svyatoslav Belza in a fancy dress. A masterfully composed and dashingly painted portrait creates the feeling that the artist can easily cope with complex artistic tasks, but this is an apparent lightness, because behind every detail, behind every combination of color and movement of form there is an almost mathematically rigorous calculation, which makes it possible to perceive the complex composition of the picture as a single whole.
Portraits of cultural figures became for Vasily Nesterenko a favorite theme in his work. It is all the more important to note the first piece of this series. This is a portrait of the great Russian singer Irina Arkhipova. A legendary personality, she can rightfully be called the "Queen of the Opera". The artist was faced with the most difficult task to reflect the versatility of Irina Arkhipova's character and the significance of her creative contribution to Russian culture. The renowned singer is depicted in a stage dress, claviers with notes, one of which is in her hands and the other is on the piano, allow her to recognize her favorite works.
Vasily Nesterenko works a lot in the field of portrait painting. He often manages not only to convey the similarity, but also to look into the soul of the model, to create a whole composition, often going beyond a simple portrait. Such portraits-paintings include the image of Nil Stolobensky, a Russian ascetic of the 16th century, and a portrait of the Athonite elder Anfimy, who lived in our time and was canonized quite recently.
Female images attract special attention. Created in different years, these portraits are united by the atmosphere of pure and sincere admiration for the beauty of the inner world of those portrayed. The artist always emphasizes the merits of his models, he finds a new solution for each image. The painting "Alena" depicts a girl with a huge bouquet of daisies flying in all directions. In this portrait, you can feel the spirit of Russia, the smell of discreet wildflowers. The heroine of the painting "Indian Summer", a girl from the Kostroma province, stands in a thin dress and rubber boots near a fence overgrown with weeds, waiting for her betrothed. As you know, the Indian summer precedes the Veil, when it is customary to play weddings. The theme of expectation of happiness is the subject of the portraits "Maiden's Dreams" and "Premonition of Love". Subtle in color, these portraits are imbued with tenderness and lyricism.
A riot of colors in the southern park, red and pink cherry blossom petals frame the figure of Olga, the wife of Vasily Nesterenko, whose portrait is called "Spring". The painting "Russian Madonna", depicting Olga with her son Vanya on her knees, is arranged in a circle and resembles the Italian tondos of the Renaissance in its plot. The artist loves to refer to traditional subjects and motives, but always depicts them in a new way. The heroine of the portrait bent over the baby, surrounded by wildflowers and herbs against the background of a typical Russian landscape. It is not enough to say that this work was written with love and inspiration - it is in itself a source of love.
A special place in the artist's work is occupied by a portrait of his mother, Galina Vasilyevna Nesterenko. It was my mother who helped Vasily to form as a person and take place as an artist. She shared with him all the difficulties during his studies, she always supported him in moments of adversity and creative disappointment, she was there for all exhibitions and opening days. In order to achieve the best result in a portrait, artists try to learn more about their model, but in this case, Vasily Nesterenko faced, according to him, a very difficult task of a different kind - how to fit in one portrait everything that you feel and know about the most dear person - mother ? According to many colleagues, the portrait has turned out. The artist's mother looks at the viewer with a quiet and affectionate smile, her whole appearance radiates kindness and patience. Her native land, Ukraine, is reminiscent of the golden sunflowers depicted in the portrait as a background.
The landscape is often one of the important components of the portraits of Vasily Nesterenko, he often uses elements of the landscape both in still lifes and in historical paintings. Interest in nature runs through all of the artist's work. He made a lot of landscape works: both sketches from nature and large landscape paintings. Starting, as already noted, with the study of the classics, Nesterenko in his first landscapes appeals to the work of his predecessors. Thus, in the painting "Memories of Crimea" one can see interest in the works of Claude Laurenne and the type of landscape characteristic of classicism. Parisian sketches and some southern views were created under the influence of the Impressionists. But soon Vasily Nesterenko gropes for his pictorial language.
Among the first landscape paintings that bear the imprint of the artist's creative individuality, one can note the canvas "Winter in Vladykino". In this picture, the artist for the first time set himself a super task - to try to depict the movement of falling snowflakes and the weight of wet snow on the branches. The composition of this work is characterized by a look through a large-scale foreground image into the background with church architecture. This compositional technique will often be repeated later, for example, in the series of paintings "The Seasons". Four monumental landscapes: "Winter in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra", "Spring on Mount Athos", "Summer in the Garden of Gethsemane" and "Autumn in Pechory" - do not just depict the seasons - they are canvases on which places revered by Russian people. In them, nature is combined with ancient architecture into a single whole, drawing the viewer into a special spiritual world, which the artist felt when visiting holy Orthodox monasteries.
The master's winter landscapes are interesting and varied. The painting "Maslenitsa" is beautiful in terms of painting and composition, depicting Sergiev Posad, and with its major sound echoing the joyful mood of the Orthodox week preceding Great Lent. The painting "Waiting for Spring" is imbued with a feeling of close warmth, the end of the long Russian winter. Looking at the painting "Spring Blossom", the viewer plunges headlong into the atmosphere of the May garden, filled with the scent of cherry blossoms. The canvas "Zaokskie Dali" takes us to a high hill, from which wide distances of central Russia open up, it smells of fallen leaves, the air is transparent and clean, quiet, only the rustle of the last leaves on the birch branches is heard.
The painting "Forgotten" stands somewhat apart. The tragedy of Russian villages, abandoned by people, is shown in the image of a dilapidated house, standing alone on the edge of the village next to an old birch tree. This is a very specific place - the village of Domnino, which once belonged to the royal family. And how many more such "forgotten" nooks and crannies! But Russian nature is beautiful in this case too. Any blade of grass, any leaf or flower is fraught with the image of the native land and can become a source of inspiration for the artist. Examples of this are the paintings "Amanita" and "The Golden Cover". God's world is perfect in every way. You can admire the endless distances, or you can just look down and see the whole universe, dotted with yellow-orange foliage, ferns and mushrooms.
The image of the Motherland is most vividly and fully reflected in the painting "Oh, Russian land!" The huge sky seems to cover a hill overgrown with wildflowers. Grazing cows are perceived as epic guardians of their native fields and meadows. The epic sound of the picture is also emphasized by the title, borrowed from The Lay of Igor's Host.
Sometimes a landscape can literally stun with unexpected lighting or a suddenly opened perspective. Unusual manifestations of nature, strongly affecting a person, began to attract Vasily Nesterenko. The blood-red ray of the setting sun, suddenly invading the gray twilight atmosphere of a winter evening, in the painting "Winter Crimson" brings something apocalyptic to the usual Russian motif. A similar mood grips the viewer in the landscape "Frozen Sunset".
The full moon suddenly appeared, instantly transforming the night seascape with an orange glow in the painting "Night Sun". The landscape "Magic Dream" is a hymn of ancient Cimmeria, heard by the artist in the sun reflections of the waves of Koktebel. The Sea is perhaps the most unusual landscape by Vasily Nesterenko in terms of composition. The huge blue sea occupies almost the entire picture plane, dragging the viewer far beyond the horizon and immediately returning back to the shore, where it foams at the foot of the rocks. You can look at this picture, as well as at the sea element, for an infinitely long time, imagining that you are standing over a rocky precipice in a salty sea wind.
Urban views occupy an important place among the landscapes of Nesterenko. The artist painted Venice and Florence, London and Paris, Cordoba and Seville, Granada and Toledo. Urban motives of New York are original in composition. But the closest for the artist is the views of his beloved Moscow. The painting "View of the Kremlin from the Old Square" is an image of a new and at the same time ancient capital with towers and churches, roofs covered with snow, with Orthodox crosses. The landscape "Cathedral of Christ the Savior" is a painting-memory of the reconstruction of the paintings of the main Cathedral of the country.
Work in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior played an important role in the creative life of Vasily
Nesterenko. The first sketches for the murals were created in 1995, and the last icons and paintings were completed in 2002. This entire period was marked by the artist's great interest in spiritual painting. This trend in art practically ceased to exist in Soviet times, since the last representatives of spiritual painting, Pavel Korin and Mikhail Nesterov, left. The reconstruction of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior and other shrines of Russia at the turn of the millennium has become a powerful stimulus for the revival of spiritual painting itself. While working on church murals, Vasily Nesterenko simultaneously created paintings on spiritual, Orthodox subjects.
A series of three paintings: "Christmas", "Easter", "Trinity" - is dedicated to the main Christian holidays. The compositions of these works include, in addition to church interiors and exteriors, elements of festive decor, characteristic of each of these twelve holidays. In the painting "Easter", Easter cakes, eggs and Easter with candles brought by parishioners are laid out on a special platform. People left the platform in anticipation of the priest who was about to come to sprinkle holy water on these integral parts of the solemn Easter meal. The ray of the spring sun, falling on the painting depicting the risen Savior, and the flickering lights of the candles create a hidden atmosphere of mystical depth, enveloping the incomprehensible mystery of Christ's Resurrection.
On the feast of the Holy Trinity, it is customary to decorate churches with birch branches and cover the floor with fresh summer grass. Exuding the aroma of fields and forests, these herbs, flowers and leaves create an unusual, but unusually solemn atmosphere during the service. In the painting "Trinity" we see three sources of light that have different effects on the illumination and color of objects. This is the yellowish light from the lamp above the icon, flickering candle lights and bright sunlight falling obliquely on the stone pylon with the Rublev Trinity. But involuntarily there is a feeling that the main source of light is the icon itself with the ancient image of the Old Testament Trinity.
The painting "Christmas" opens this cycle of three canvases. The Nativity of Christ marks the beginning of a new era in the history of mankind. All the prophecies about the coming into the world of the promised Messiah have come true - the Son of God is born in the manger of the Bethlehem cave. The Infant Christ in the arms of the Virgin Mary illuminates the entire universe with His birth. The betrothed Joseph and the shepherds are the first witnesses of the miracle taking place. Here is the plot of the church painting, placed by the artist in the center of the painting "Christmas". This image, decorated with a garland of fir branches, as well as small sculptures of cows and donkeys, are parts of the so-called den, symbolizing the Lord's Manger in Bethlehem. The deep green color of the spruce branches sets off the glow emanating from the Star of Bethlehem and the glow of burning candles on either side of the den.
Vasily Nesterenko often opens the expositions of his exhibitions with this particular picture, which symbolizes the beginning of the Christian world and is dedicated to one of the most important church holidays. This album also begins with the painting "Christmas", which, according to the artist, should help the reader immediately feel the atmosphere of Russian spiritual and realistic painting.
Before the start of the painting of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, Nesterenko completed work on the icon "The Image of the Mother of God Unexpected Joy" and on the painting "The Crucifixion". While still a student, the artist carefully studied paintings on the subject of the Crucifixion, created by the great Spanish masters: Diego Velazquez, Francesco Zurbaran and Alonso Cano. And finally, Vasily Nesterenko felt that he could take on the work himself, dedicated to the depiction of the most terrible event in the history of mankind. The painting by Vasily Nesterenko, of course, bears the stamp of the traditional approach to solving the theme of the Crucifixion, but, on the other hand, his creative individuality in the interpretation of this plot is clearly visible. The artist believes that the paintings depicting the events of the Gospel should look modern, be close to the people of our time. Each person should live the Gospel story in his soul. It is not without reason that it is said that with our sins we crucify the Savior of the World. The work on the painting "The Crucifixion" coincided with the bombing of Serbia, and many of the first viewers of this work saw in the image of Jerusalem, depicted in the lower part of the canvas, a hint of our modern era.
The icon "The Image of the Mother of God Unexpected Joy" is dedicated to the theme of sin and repentance. Seeing the consequences of his unrighteous deeds, the sinner shown in the icon brings sincere repentance, which causes the unexpected joy of the Most Holy Theotokos.
These and many other works were first presented at the personal exhibition of Vasily Nesterenko in the New Manege in Moscow in the spring of 1999. This exhibition became another milestone in the artist's creative biography. But immediately after the opening of the exhibition, a new stage in life begins for Nesterenko - the artist begins to paint the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.
Four colossal murals were to be recreated by Vasily Nesterenko. The paintings "The Resurrection of Christ" and "The Holy Apostle and Evangelist Matthew" are located on the north-western pylon of the Temple. Both plots are compositionally united into one whole, together their height is twenty-three meters, which is comparable to an eight-story building. Two other murals: "The Baptism of the Lord" and "The Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem" are located in the semicircular tympanes of the north and west side-altars. The length of each of the paintings is over twelve meters. The artist completed this grandiose work in record time, in just seven and a half months.
In the 19th century, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior was painted for ten years, the scaffolding was removed three times so that the artists could see from below how their work was going, how the picturesque subjects were combined with each other and with ornaments. Now there was no such opportunity - painters, sculptors, and builders were in a hurry to complete everything by the 2000th anniversary of the Nativity of Christ. Thus, the work on the murals required a tremendous amount of effort. For Vasily Nesterenko, the task was complicated by the fact that he had not one plot, but four at once, and by the fact that he worked without assistants. This was a unique situation during the rebuilding of the Temple. Except for Nesterenko, no one worked alone on such subjects. As a rule, they painted in teams of five, six, or even twelve artists each. Many years have passed since then, now it is difficult to imagine how Vasily could withstand such a load - simultaneously work on all four subjects, moving through the forests from one part of the Temple to another.
The artists were constantly monitored by the Artistic Decoration Commission, demanding compliance with religious canons and the level of the original painting of the 19th century. The Commission consisted of representatives of the church, members of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Arts, which, as in the 19th century, headed all the artistic works in the Temple, restorers, technologists and architects. The opinions of the members of the Commission did not always coincide and were not always close to the craftsmen themselves, who worked in a very tough regime. Any careless word could plunge the artists into despair, endanger the completion of the work. In addition, the painters were constantly urged on by architects and builders, who were in a hurry to dismantle the scaffolding as soon as possible in order to finish the marble floors and other decorative elements in the lower part of the Temple. Many did not understand that without sufficient time it was impossible to complete the compositions that had been started, to correlate them with neighboring paintings, to bring tonal intensity and color range to a single whole.
Vasily Nesterenko worked fourteen hours a day. At this time, construction and installation work did not stop inside the Temple. The rumble of elevators, the sharp sounds of saws on metal, the grinding of nails being torn out and other construction noise at first made it difficult to concentrate, but over time they had to get used to them. All thoughts were occupied with creative tasks of recreating brilliant examples of spiritual painting of the 19th century.
The Cathedral of Christ the Savior was erected as a Monument to the liberation of Russia from the Napoleonic invasion, consecrated in the name of the Nativity of Christ and for a long time was one of the symbols of Russian Orthodoxy. The best artists of the Imperial Academy of Arts created its picturesque and sculptural decoration. Almost all subjects of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior were often used to create icons and murals in most other Russian churches. It is difficult to overestimate its importance for the spiritual life of Russia. A tragic turn in the history of our country led to the barbaric destruction of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. No one believed that it would ever be restored, the history of the Temple, its unique painting and sculpture became a legend.
And now a new time has come, and the Temple-Monument, the Temple-Symbol decided to revive. Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II gave his blessing to restore its interior in all the splendor of its former splendor, repeat the original technologies, and use similar materials.
Vasily Nesterenko was commissioned to recreate two murals by Henryk Siemiradzki, two murals by Evgraf Sorokin, and then, two years later, four Theotokos icons by Fyodor Bronnikov and the Shroud for the Main Altar.
For Nesterenko, who had been interested in the spiritual painting of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior since school, a long creative dialogue began with the best representatives of the Russian academic school. This was not a repetition of the once existing murals, but a dialogue with their authors.
The quality of the reproductions provided to the artist was often so poor that it made it impossible to judge whether men or women were depicted in a particular group of characters. The complete absence of color, because the images were obtained from black and white phototypes, and the blurring fuzzy outlines forced Vasily Nesterenko to creatively rethink these works. Fully preserving the overall composition, the artist had to re-search for many artistic solutions.
The paintings on which Nesterenko worked bear the stamp of his creative individuality, although they were created on the basis of the works of Semiradsky and Sorokin. Numerous details, compositional ligaments, faces and hands of characters, treatment of folds, color scheme - rightfully belong to Nesterenko. In accordance with the tradition of the 19th century, the artist signed his subjects, for example, the signature on the western tympanum reads: "The composition of G. Semiradsky was recreated by V. Nesterenko." This corresponds to the creative dialogue between artists of different centuries, unites the author of the original creation and the author who created a new work based on the preserved material and compositional scheme.
Vasily Nesterenko began work on the walls of the Temple with the painting "The Baptism of the Lord". The detailed charcoal drawing helped him further work on the plot, allowing him to focus more on the color scheme and the interpretation of the images. This work is imbued with a mystical sound and depicts the moment when the Triune God appeared in all His hypostases: in the form of Jesus Christ receiving baptism, in the form of the Holy Spirit soaring in the form of a dove over the Savior, and the Voice of God the Father, proclaiming: “This is My Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. " It was very difficult to work on such a plot, but Vasily Nesterenko managed to create a truly spiritual work that meets Orthodox canons.
As soon as he started painting the painting "The Baptism of the Lord", the artist began work on the preparatory drawing on the wall for the painting "The Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem." The image of the original plot was the worst preserved - a vague phototype could not give Nesterenko anything except the most general composition, thus the artist was the most free to create this particular painting. In accordance with Semiradsky's method, Nesterenko actively used sketches from nature. The artist often painted whole figures made from life. Vasily Nesterenko achieved that in its color and tonal sound the painting "The Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem" resembles the works of Semiradsky, but at the same time it is a great achievement of Nesterenko himself, both in terms of painting and in many elements of the composition.
Continuing to work on two tympans, the artist felt an inner thrill as he passed his pylon. The colossal space on which the paintings "Resurrection of Christ" and "Evangelist Matthew" were to be created was overwhelming in size, it was lost below under the forest floors and was barely discernible in the semi-darkness above. But the artist began work on the pylon plots, justifying the saying: "the eyes are afraid, but the hands are doing." At this moment, the tension in work reached its highest point for Vasily Nesterenko.
The pylon murals were divided by scaffolding into nine stories, making it impossible to see the whole figures, which made it much more difficult to maintain proportions. Assistance to Vasily was provided by a preparatory drawing of the central part of the painting "The Resurrection of Christ", created by him a year earlier, in full size. In this huge graphic work, made with charcoal, the artist carefully followed the tonal and plastic solution of the main part of the painting. Earlier, in 1995, Nesterenko painted the painting of the same name, which is a project to recreate the painting of the northwestern pylon in color. These two canvases allowed the artist to successfully work on the pylon, despite all the technical problems.
The plane of the wall, where Nesterenko worked on the image of the Evangelist Matthew, was almost completely covered by metal structures, channels and grids. But again, the preparatory work performed in full size before the start of the painting helped. The artist decided in advance all pictorial and plastic tasks, which allowed him to concentrate on conveying the image of the Apostle, to achieve the utmost expressiveness of his gaze, to subordinate the pictorial solution of the painting to revealing the powerful image of the author of one of the four Gospels.
The main achievement of Vasily Nesterenko in the painting "The Resurrection of Christ" was the image of light emanating from the figure of Christ, descending into hell to bring Adam, Eve and the souls of the Old Testament righteous out of there, and from the Life-giving Cross of the Lord, shining over the figure of the Savior. The painting "Resurrection of Christ" became the main work of the artist on the walls of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.
But his work for the Temple did not stop there. Nesterenko, at the request of the Commission for Artistic Decoration, recreated a cycle of four icons of the Mother of God, once made by Bronnikov. The icons "Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos" and "Introduction to the Temple" are located on both sides of the Main Altar, and the icons "Annunciation" and "Dormition" are in the western part of the Temple, opposite the altar. Vasily Nesterenko concentrated all his creative powers while working on the Shroud. This icon, which has become a true masterpiece, was recreated by the master for the throne of the Main Altar of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.
Another major project of the artist was a series of paintings on Gospel subjects for the Patriarchal refectory of the Temple. The painting "The Last Supper" was created even before the start of the painting and was donated by the Moscow Government to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in 1998. Four other multi-figure paintings from the earthly life of the Savior were conceived and executed by the artist after finishing work on the paintings of the upper Temple. On both sides of the "Last Supper" are the paintings "The Marriage at Cana of Galilee" and "The Miraculous Multiplication of Loaves", dedicated to the image of the miracles shown by Jesus Christ, and symbolizing the transformation of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of the Lord during the Sacrament of the Eucharist. The painting "Miraculous Catch" recalls another miracle of the Savior, manifested on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. The painting "Christ and the Samaritan Woman" depicts a scene near the well of Jacob, when Jesus Christ reveals the mystery of His coming into the world, talking about how and where to worship God, about the mystery of water flowing into eternal life.
These paintings are made with the confident brush of a real master who has gone a long way in his work from academic performances to historical canvases and murals of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Natural impressions from creative trips to the Holy Land allowed Nesterenko to achieve truthfulness in the image of Cana and Jerusalem, stones on the shores of the Sea of Galilee and lemon and grape leaves over an ancient well in Samaria. The images of Jesus Christ, the Mother of God and the apostles accompany the viewer from one picture to another. Being in the Patriarchal refectory, you find yourself surrounded by scenes from the Gospel story, immersed in the atmosphere of the Holy Land.
The paintings of the Gospel cycle became a great creative achievement of Vasily Nesterenko. Exhibited at the artist's personal exhibition in the Bolshoi Manege, and repeatedly reproduced, these canvases have received well-deserved recognition from a wide audience of art lovers.
The list of works performed by Vasily Nesterenko for the Cathedral of Christ the Savior would be incomplete without ten types of Orthodox monasteries created for the Entrance Hall of the Hall of Church Councils. The murals depicting the most important monastic cloisters for Russia are distinguished by their compositional diversity. The artist notes the most characteristic features of each monastery. Architectural ensembles often form one whole with the surrounding nature and sound differently in successive seasons.
An essential place in the creative biography of Vasily Nesterenko is occupied by a two-year work on the murals of the Assumption Cathedral in Dmitrov. The quadrangle of the temple, built according to the project of Aleviz the New, the architect of the Archangel Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin, was completed and painted in the 19th century. Many masters who had previously worked in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior took part in the creation of wall painting at that time. Time has spared this architectural monument, but the picturesque decoration was badly damaged under a layer of paint and whitewash of the Soviet era. A third of the paintings were missing altogether. The head of the city administration and the dean of the churches of the Dmitrovsky district suggested that Vasily Nesterenko assemble a creative team capable of creating new works that could be combined with the surviving paintings.
Nesterenko, having received colossal experience in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, not only successfully supervised the work of artists and ornamentalists, but he himself created several murals in the Main Altar and the painting "The Image of the Holy Trinity" in the Sergius side-altar of the cathedral. Working in the altar on the themes "The Last Supper", "Prayer for the Chalice", "Calvary" and "The Image of St. John the Baptist", the artist was forced to correlate his work with partially preserved neighboring paintings, which were made in a style more archaic than academic painting the second half of the 19th century.
While working on the painting "The Image of the Holy Trinity", the artist was free to choose his painting style. The result was a work that stood out against the background of other church works by Vasily Nesterenko. "The Image of the Holy Trinity" is an example of the artist's success in contemporary spiritual painting. The painting on the vault with its light colors, refined proportions, and the spiritualized faces of angels makes one remember about the heavenly world, about the secrets of the Divine universe.
Although the work on the murals in the Dmitrovsky Assumption Cathedral was not as intense as in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, due to its more chamber dimensions, there were features that significantly complicated the creative tasks. They were associated with the need to fit the created works into the already established pictorial decoration.
The idea of creating a completely new church interior was permeated with the work on the sketches of the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity in honor of the Millennium of the Baptism of Rus. The image of the Trinity, open in different manifestations, is repeated three times in semicircular tympanes - this is the Baptism of the Lord, the Descent of the Holy Spirit and the Old Testament Trinity with the forthcoming Russian saints, to whom the Image of the Holy Trinity was revealed. The image of the Savior establishing the sacrament of the Sacrament during the Last Supper, and the image of the Heavenly Eucharist on the altar wall should be clearly visible through the relatively low iconostasis.
Along the perimeter of the temple are depicted cathedrals of Russian saints from different lands, raising the word of prayer to the heavenly world during the thousand-year history of the Russian Church. These murals are intended to symbolize the unity of modern believers and ancient saints in a prayer appeal to God.
The artist devoted four years to work on the reconstruction of the artistic decoration of the Church of the Assumption in Domnino, the family estate of the Romanov boyars. The village of Domnino is located on the Kostroma land. Once the headman of this village was the legendary Ivan Susanin; not far from the Polish troops, young Mikhail Romanov, the future founder of the royal dynasty, was hiding from the Polish troops. The Church of the Assumption stands on the site where, according to legend, was the house of the nun Martha, the mother of Mikhail Romanov.
A classic example of Russian church architecture, the temple has three aisles with unique icons of the Yaroslavl and Kostroma schools. Partially preserved ancient wall paintings, made in the provincial baroque style.
The complex work under the general supervision of Vasily Nesterenko made it possible to restore more than a hundred icons, put the paintings in order, and restore iconostases with unique carvings. New ornamental and subject paintings were created. Vasily Nesterenko took a personal part in the work on several new compositions of the Assumption Church. The album contains a sketch "The Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos", created by the artist for painting the niche of the outer part of the church.
Spending time in the heart of Russia, in the most picturesque Susanin places, the artist painted many sketches. The Kostroma land became a source of inspiration for the paintings: "Oh, Russian land!", "Forgotten", "Okolitsa", "Indian Summer" and others.
Vasily Nesterenko left unforgettable impressions from working on the interior of the Throne Hall of the Jerusalem Patriarchate. The artist was invited on behalf of Patriarch Diodorus on the eve of the 2000th anniversary of the Nativity of Christ.
Short in time, but very intense work of the creative team under the leadership of Nesterenko made it possible to create an exquisite ornamental and picturesque decoration. The artist himself performed the painting "The Image of the Holy Spirit" in the central apse of the Throne Hall.
In early January 2000, on the eve of the Nativity of Christ, all the Patriarchs and Presidents of Orthodox countries met under the painting of Vasily Nesterenko. Nesterenko and his fellow artists got a unique opportunity to participate in the anniversary solemn services in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem and in the Temple of the Lord's Manger in Bethlehem.
The creation of the painting "Christmas in Jerusalem", depicting a corner of the Russian Orthodox monastery in the Garden of Gethsemane, also dates back to this time. Created upon his return to Russia, the "Image of the Savior in a Crown of Thorns" is dear to the artist because in its technique and pictorial manner it is close to the paintings made by him in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.
Analyzing the work of Vasily Nesterenko, it becomes obvious that the church murals and spiritual paintings of the artist are closely related to his portrait and landscape works and are perceived in the general context of his work. The interpretation of the rocky bank of the Jordan in the painting "The Baptism of the Lord" allows us to recall some of the Crimean and Athos views. The landscape part of the painting "Christ and the Samaritan Woman" resembles the work "Christmas in Jerusalem". You can find much in common in the style of writing between the artist's seascapes and the painting "The Miraculous Catch". An even more noticeable connection can be traced between portraits of real faces and images created in paintings and multi-figured canvases. The artist fills his works with living people with accurate and expressive portrait characteristics. Nesterenko finds a special solution for the composition of each plot, but he subordinates the compositional schemes of both spiritual and historical paintings to the same laws.
Despite the variety of genres and the abundance of subjects that attract the artist, his work is very integral in its inner content. Whatever he undertakes, he tries to penetrate into the essence of the creative task, finding a reflection of the highest beauty and harmony in female portraits and in the images of the clergy, in monumental landscape works and in small sketches from nature, such as "Path in the Rocks" or " The road to the top ”. Vasily Nesterenko does not confine himself to depicting the same motives, does not limit himself in one genre or another. The artist tries to embrace the whole world around him, to reflect in his own language all the beauty and harmony of man and nature, to admire the perfection of the universe created by the Creator.
The art of Vasily Nesterenko calls people to kindness and tolerance, it is fundamentally reconciling and strives to be perfect in its form. The artist believes that only goodness can be a source of inspiration and an object for the application of creative abilities. This is immediately noticed by the viewer. The public is generally difficult to deceive - after all, the artist's work reflects his thoughts and aspirations. In our age, when examples of denial of spiritual values are becoming more and more frequent, Vasily Nesterenko deliberately chose for himself the path of serving goodness and beauty. He calls for beauty by setting positive examples from history and drawing attention to the best of our surroundings.
This can be most fully felt when the works of the artist, executed in different genres, are brought together. Then the general impression of harmony, silence and pacification takes possession of the viewer. So it was at the first personal exhibition at the Academy of Arts, and at exhibitions in the New Manege and in many other halls. This was repeated with particular force in the Bolshoi Manege, when thousands of people got acquainted with all the diversity of the artist's work.
Personal exhibition of Vasily Nesterenko in the largest exhibition hall in Russia, the Bolshoi Manege, took place in early 2004. Only a few artists in the history of this exhibition hall have been able to organize personal exhibitions on its premises. But the colossal dimensions of the Bolshoi Manege turned out to be commensurate with the scope of Vasily Nesterenko's talent. Preparing for the exhibition, the artist created many new works that were first shown in this hall. In terms of the degree of creative activity, the time of preparation for the exhibition in the Bolshoi Manege was comparable for Vasily Nesterenko to the time of work in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. The exhibition received a huge response in Moscow.
Six months later, the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, presented Vladimir Nesterenko in the Kremlin with the badge of the honorary title "People's Artist of Russia". Another important result of the exhibition was the desire of state leaders and ordinary viewers to have the opportunity to get acquainted with the artist's works not only in Moscow, but also in other cities of Russia.
Personal exhibitions of Vasily Nesterenko were organized in the State Art Museums of Oryol, Orenburg, Lipetsk, Vologda, Dmitrov, Ryazan, Petrozavodsk, as well as in museums of cities near and far abroad - in Kiev, Sevastopol, Minsk, Berlin, Nicosia, Beijing and other cities ... Many of them were so successful that the artist was asked to significantly extend the exhibitions in order to provide an opportunity for even more art lovers to get acquainted with his work.
By the decision of the Moscow Government, the State Picture Gallery of Vasily Nesterenko was created in the capital of Russia and a building on the Old Arbat was allocated for this purpose. But exhibitions continue to be the artist's favorite way of communicating with the audience. Often the artist is provided with the opportunity to organize exhibitions and presentations of one work. For example, the presentation of the portrait of Irina Arkhipova took place in the State Tretyakov Gallery, the painting "Defend Sevastopol!" - in the State Historical Museum, a portrait of Vladimir Matorin - in the Union of Theater Workers of Russia, and a portrait of Vasily Lanovoy - in the Central House of Artists.
The artist created many new works for the second personal exhibition at the New Manege - these are paintings "Russian Madonna", "Mother's Portrait", "Sea", "Magic Dream", "Premonition of Love", "Venice Carnival" and others. Brought up on the academic traditions of Russian art, as a member of the Russian Academy of Arts, Vasily Nesterenko took great responsibility in organizing the second personal exhibition in the halls of this one of the most famous and oldest academies in the world. This happened in 2006, on the eve of the 250th anniversary of the Russian Academy of Arts and ten years after the artist's first commemorative exhibition.
Vasily Nesterenko's paintings are close to both specialists in painting and people who are far from artistic creativity; they talk about modern Russia with its glorious past and rich traditions, glorify the beauty of nature, and urge people to turn to spiritual values. He can rightfully be called a folk artist.
Having earned the respect of his colleagues and the love of the audience, Vasily Nesterenko remains devoted to his beloved work. Art for him is not just work - it is a way and a way of life. To serve Russia with his talent, to benefit society with his works - this is the true duty of the artist in his understanding.
Vasily Nesterenko continues to work actively in all genres of painting, setting himself more and more new goals. In his studio there are blank canvases, in his creative plans - new subjects, in his dreams - grandiose achievements.
Member of the Presidium of the Council for Culture and Art under the President of the Russian Federation,
Vice President of the Russian Academy of Arts,
Doctor of Arts, Professor
D.O.Shvidkovsky
Personal exhibition of Vasily Nesterenko
"Our glory is the Russian state!"
at the Central Exhibition Hall "Manezh"
WITH 10 february on March 3, 2017 v Central Exhibition Hall "Manezh" an anniversary retrospective exhibition of the People's Artist of Russia, a full member of the Russian Academy of Arts Vasily Nesterenko "Our glory is the Russian state!" dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the artist and the 35th anniversary of his creative activity, under the auspices of the Department of Culture of the city of Moscow, the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, the Russian Academy of Arts and the Russian Military Historical Society. This is a creative report of one of the most famous Russian artists to his country, compatriots and Russian art in all genres of painting. Many of the Master's canvases were exhibited for the first time for a wide audience.
The exhibition was visited by: His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation V.R. Medinsky, Minister of the Moscow Government - Head of the Moscow Department of Culture A.V. great social significance of this event. The exhibition received a wide response and warm appreciation of the audience. Thousands of grateful visitors left rave reviews.
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Vasily Nesterenko is a recognized leader of contemporary Russian art. Historical canvases and temple murals brought him wide fame. Having received a full academic education, he is a virtuoso master of all the mediums of painting. Vasily Nesterenko's works are in Russian and foreign museum collections, personal exhibitions were held with great success in almost all major cities of Russia, in many countries of the near and far abroad. For example, more recently - in the State Art Museum of China in Beijing and in the Vatican museums.
Throughout the history of the Bolshoi Manezh, the largest exhibition hall in the country, only a few artists have been able to decide to organize an exhibition on its premises. For Vasily Nesterenko, this is the third personal exhibition at the Manezh. Hundreds of paintings and graphic works of the Master will be placed on two floors.
The title of the exhibition is "Our Glory - Russian State!" most fully reflects the creative path of the painter, his goals and objectives, the artistic and emotional orientation of his works. Russia is the main theme of the exhibition and of all the work of Vasily Nesterenko. This is our glorious past, and a reflection of historical and spiritual traditions in today's world, and the diversity of nature, and the images of our contemporaries.
The exhibition is based on historical works dedicated to key moments in Russian history. "Deliverance from the Troubles", "The death of the invasion", "Moscow meets the heroes of Poltava", "Defend Sevastopol!", "Triumph of the Russian fleet", "We are Russians, God is with us!" - the very names of his monumental historical paintings speak for themselves.
For Vasily Nesterenko, turning to the past is, first of all, an opportunity to speak in the language of history about the problems of our time. For example, the painting "Let's Defend Sevastopol!" dedicated to the Crimean War of the middle of the 19th century, but it is obvious to everyone that this is a call to contemporaries. The canvas became one of the symbols of the heroism of the Russian people, anticipating the return of Crimea to Russia.
Painting "We are Russians, God is with us!" dedicated to the First World War. In the clubs of deadly gases, Russian soldiers and officers, not having gas masks, go on the attack. “What does“ enlightened ”Europe bring us? - asked the periodical press of the early twentieth century, - Poisoning gases and clubs for finishing off Russian soldiers. Cultural barbarians! " Of course, this is the story of the First World War, but in front of Nesterenko's painting you involuntarily ask yourself - are there any similarities between those events and today?
The theme of history in the artist's work is closely related to spiritual painting. He recreated the colossal murals of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, painted many churches in Russia and abroad. For the 1000th anniversary of Russian monasticism on Mount Athos, Vasily Nesterenko painted the church of St. Panteleimon the Great Martyr and Healer. Numerous sketches and cartoons of paintings, whole series of works on spiritual subjects will also be presented at the Manezh exposition.
Nesterenko's landscape painting is an attempt by means of art to convey sensations that are beyond painting: the sound of the surf in Kamchatka and the smell of the Black Sea waves, the transparency of Lake Baikal and the coldness of the Altai lakes, the weight of wet snow on the branches and the sound of falling leaves in the autumn forest. The works dedicated to the nature of the Urals, Siberia and the Far East are combined into a cycle called “On the Distant Frontiers”. A series of works "Oh, Russian land!" - the anthem of Central Russia with its poetic nature, temples and monasteries.
Among the heroes of the portrait works of Vasily Nesterenko are both characters from past eras and heroes of our time. Historical portraits of Prince Pozharsky, Ivan Susanin, Peter the Great, associates of Catherine, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna and Patriarch Tikhon are adjacent to the images of our contemporaries. These are portraits of famous figures of Russian culture and science, representatives of the clergy, images of women and children.
Vasily Nesterenko's still lifes are also interesting. He came up with his own kind of historical still life: the composition on the canvas, in addition to the subject plan, often includes paintings by old masters, elements of the landscape, interior, and sometimes portraits of people.
With his works, the artist glorifies Russia, with its rich history, the height of spiritual thoughts and achievements, and its majestic nature. With all his creativity, he reveals the inexhaustible possibilities of realistic art.
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