Nikolay Mikhailovich Chernyshev (1885–1973) was a Russian and Soviet artist, graphic artist, monumentalist, art theorist and teacher, whose often quite provocative works still evoke the most contradictory assessments: from delight to complete rejection. In this article, we will talk about what is so special about them and about the artist’s life path.
Squeezes out the dress
Chernyshev was born in the village of Nikolskoye, located in the Tambov province. From childhood, he showed good talent for drawing, and at the age of 16, having passed a difficult competitive exam, he was able to enter the Moscow School of Painting and Sculpture, where, unlike the prim Academy of Arts, they willingly accepted students of all classes and social backgrounds. However, the teachers there were very good, including the famous impressionist artists Serov and Korovin. However, Chernyshev was more attracted to the lectures of the archaeologist Golubtsov on ancient Russian painting. In 1910, Chernyshev went to Paris to get acquainted with European art, and when he returned to Russia, he studied at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts under the monumental artist Kiplik.
Bather
After his studies, he worked for the magazines published by his brother Alexei Chernyshev, "Mlechny Put" and "Makovets". There he not only drew illustrations, but also wrote essays and various articles on the topic of art, since Chernyshev had a fairly solid theoretical background. However, for serious work, he lacked his own theme and "creative face", as Chernyshev himself said, some recognizable images that everyone would unmistakably associate with his work. Only in 1924 did he manage to find them, when he made sketches of teenage girls in orphanages and pioneer camps.
Braids hair
The charm of youth, that elusive moment when a girl becomes a young woman, but is not yet fully aware of her beauty, and therefore "full of severity, purity and grace." Chernyshev was little interested in portrait resemblance; he depicted some abstract idealized images, where he paid special attention to "excitement and surprise at the surrounding world."
Flight of the Young
Art critics believe that these images are the artist's main creative love. All the "girls' drawings" are distinguished by subtle observation and the ability to notice some completely insignificant things that the girls themselves do completely unconsciously and automatically. But this is how the necessary authenticity and naturalness are achieved, they seem alive and completely harmonious, regardless of whether they are walking somewhere, collecting shells, riding on a swing or swimming from a boat.
Bathers
At first, girls from Isadora Duncan’s studio posed for Chernyshev, then his future wife Tonya, and after that, his three daughters.
Chernyshev was especially interested in the harmony of the depicted girls and the surrounding nature, as, for example, in the watercolor “Memories of Novgorod”.
Memories of Novgorod
The artist seems to be searching for a moment of silence to capture such a familiar and natural, but at the same time fragile beauty. In the background, one can see the ancient Novgorod churches, whose frescoes the artist always admired and considered one of the main sources of his inspiration. He called his watercolors "frescoes in miniature" and approached their creation with truly religious zeal.
Cool day
And his work seems to scream: "no war", because it is difficult to imagine anything more distant between idealistic images of girls and some battle scenes or patriotic posters praising the exploits of our soldiers. Chernyshev's work is about peace and beauty and how easy it is to destroy all of this and how short-lived it all is.
Evening bathing
During World War II, he went to Samarkand, where everyone admired his watercolors, which had outgrown the usual level of “sketches from life” and were independent works with well-thought-out, finished images and carefully constructed compositions.
Wounded Dove
During his long life, Chernyshev managed to create many monumental works, teach many students, write works on art, but for most modern viewers he remains in the memory as an artist who “drew girls” better than anyone else, and it is hardly worth blaming them for this.
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