Mikhail Nesterov is an artist of high spirituality

Mikhail Vasilyevich Nesterov was born at the time of the changes in 1862. Serfdom was abolished, there were changes in the judicial system, in the army. The first revolutionary organizations appeared. There were repeated attempts on Alexander II, and in the end he was killed. Mikhail Nesterov found the reign of two more emperors, survived several revolutions, the First World War, civil war, famine and devastation in Russia, the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, but, having the highest spirituality, created clean, uncomplicated cloths. The heroes of his paintings searched for God and truth.

Study and serious work

Mikhail Nesterov studied painting both in Moscow and in Petersburg. His favorite teacher was VG Perov. At this time he wrote and genre works, and paintings on historical topics related to the pre-Petrine era. In the same years he marries. The wife dies at childbirth. But he imprinted his image in his works, including "Christ's Bride". A young woman immediately conquers fragility, subtle sadness, humility before the inevitable. The silent girl evokes a desire to understand what she thinks. So there is a collective image of the Nesterov girl. The landscape behind it, deeply lyrical, not striking, in spirit is close to II Levitan.

"Hermit"

Mikhail Nesterov wrote his first staged work in the late 80's. The gray-haired hermit slowly moves along the river bank. The monk lives not only according to the laws of nature. It is lovingly written out in every detail: stunted fir-trees, the still dry last year's grass and the remnants of non-melting snow on it, a quiet mirror river that does not move at all. Mikhail Nesterov portrayed the old man, who lives according to the laws of the liturgical year: from one fast and a feast to another, thereby filling his life with a fusion with the Lord. It is difficult for him to walk, but he goes with a prayer from one holy place to the next. That's how his soul and body live. From such a person I want to receive a blessing and to take at least a drop of humility. Mikhail Nesterov filled the work with a ringing silence and an inescapable admiration for the low-key beauty of Russian nature.

"Vision for the Bartholomew"

This picture was the first of a cycle dedicated to Sergius of Radonezh. The picture is a gray, warm, warm autumn day. The sky is pale, without glimpses of the sun. A green valley with a hill to the left goes into the distance. Under it is a small river, next to the vegetable gardens with cabbage, and to the right are golden groves. And in the foreground is a thin, clear picture of a fragile child. Whether he dreamed of it, whether it was really a meeting in a charmed nature with a holy old man, who gives him both a prosphora and farewell for a lifetime full of service to the Lord.

Portrait painting

The subtlest lyricist Mikhail Nesterov is an artist who paints portraits of people of deep spirituality. A lot of them. You can recall only the portraits of Bulgakov and Florensky ("Philosophers" - see the reproduction below), IP Pavlov.

"The soul of the people"

On the eve of the revolution, the artist will write a canvas in which the search for God will reflect. Everyone in this picture goes his own way. Someone is thinking, some are in a hurry, some are joyful, but all are filled with a single thought: for a long journey to think about their way to Him.

Deeply believing man, Mikhail Nesterov painting wrote not with a brush, but with a soul. Therefore they are alive for us and for a not indifferent person do not lose their significance.