Dmitry Arkadyevich Nalbandyan, artist: biography, creativity, memory

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

It is absolutely certain that the painting of the Soviet period was not studied enough by our art critics. The work of the great master of portrait, landscape, still life, which was Dmitry Arkadyevich Nalbandyan, has not been given due attention, so after 1991 many of his works ended up abroad. Those left in Russia are highly valued at auctions. His Crimean landscapes in 2006 were very expensive lots. Their starting price was $80,000.

Childhood and youth in Tiflis

In a large and poor family of a stoker in 1906, on September 15, a son was born, affectionately called Mito. The father dreamed that his son was educated and made his way into the people. The child received knowledge in the Russian gymnasium. The drawing teacher noticed his outstanding data, and his parents welcomed drawing in every possible way. Much later, the artist will write his best work: “Portrait of a Mother.”

But whenthe boy was a teenager and he was 12 years old, his father died at the hands of terrorists. Mito got a job as an auxiliary worker at a brick factory. But the craving for art was great, and Dmitry first went to an amateur art circle, then to a preparatory art school, and then worked for the sculptor Khmelnitsky, who noticed his abilities and began to gradually teach the young man.

In 1922, the future artist entered an art school. After him - to the Tbilisi Academy of Arts of Georgia in 1924, which he graduated after 5 years. He studied with E. Tatevosyan and E. Lansere. His graduation work was the work "Young Stalin with his mother in Gori." He began work at Goskinoprom as an animator, and then at the Odessa film studio as a production designer. Before continuing the biography, we will look at what Nalbandian looked like in his younger years.

Self-portrait 1932

The young painter created his portrait when he came to work in Moscow, where no one knew him. Sociable and cheerful, he quickly became acquainted with the leading artists of the country (D. Moor, I. Grabar, S. Merkurov, A. Gerasimov, P. Radimov) and learned a lot from them. This can be seen from Nalbandyan's self-portrait, painted in silver and black. Bright light falls on a serious thoughtful face, allowing you to consider every detail: eyebrows in flight, large dark eyes, beautifully molded lips. A fashionable velor hat adorns the head, and belonging to the workshop of free artistic people demonstrates a casually tied red and white scarf, which is even more attractive.attention to a beautiful face.

This calm, confident man has already written a number of works that have received approval in newspaper publications. He is not going to stop there, but will continue to grow further. More than once D. Nalbandian will paint his portraits, one of which has been in Florence in the famous Uffizi Gallery since 1982. Since the 17th century, a collection of self-portraits began to be collected here. Famous portrait painters and artists from all over the world considered it an honor to place their portrait in the gallery. From Russia, they were first O. Kiprensky, then I. Aivazovsky, later B. Kustodiev.

1931. Moscow

In the capital, D. Nalbandyan continues to work in the cinema at Mosfilm, and also publishes his drawings in the Crocodile magazine and in satirical newspapers. Young Dmitry Arkadyevich is not satisfied with such activities. He wants to paint, but he understands that knowledge and skills are not enough. The artist spends long hours in museums, getting acquainted with the works of the classics in order to learn how to build a complete picture and master the means of painting and plastic arts. Turning to the landscape, he works en plein air. During these years, the romantic landscape "Road to Ritsu" was created.

Using a silvery-bluish palette, he conveys the harsh beauty of the Georgian mountains and the rapid movement of the river. He also paints still lifes, portraits and thematic paintings. In 1935, a large work was written: "Speech by S. M. Kirov at the 17th Party Congress." She was very well received in the press. inspired, artistNalbandyan in 1936 paints the painting "Speech by A. I. Mikoyan at the 2nd session of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee" and exhibits it, like other painters, in Stalino in the Donbass in 1941. When the Germans occupied this industrial city, all cultural values disappeared. Where are they? This mystery has not been revealed to this day.

During the war

During this terrible period, the artist Nalbandian moves to Armenia and helps to open a branch of Okon TASS. He creates political posters, cartoons, and also travels to the front, collecting materials for paintings. Dmitry Alexandrovich does not leave painting, and in 1942 he paints a picture of the battle, which he witnessed, “The Last Order of Colonel S. Zakian”. The mortally wounded division commander during the battle for the Crimea on the Kerch Peninsula remains at his post until the end and leads the battle. This is a very tense and dramatic canvas. At the same time, an Armenian artist shows how the women of Armenia, preparing to help the front, are spinning wool. The large canvas is called “Gifts to the Front”. Traveling extensively in Armenia, Nalbandian gets to know its people and turns to portraits. In 1943 he created the image of the outstanding Armenian poet A. Isahakyan.

The artist shows us a thoughtful, deep person, surrounded not by manuscripts, but by books. He has the appearance of a professor, not a poet visited by the Muses. The painter gets acquainted with cultural workers and also paints portraits of artists S. Kocharyan, A. Aydinyan, poet N. Zoryan, musician K. Erdeli. Deeply revealing their images, Nalbandian showed himself asa magnificent portrait painter, following the best traditions of the Russian school of painting. He also manages to work on such group portraits as the paintings "Excellent Company", in which the heads of the allied countries are present: I. Stalin, W. Churchill, T. Roosevelt, as well as the "Crimean Conference". In addition, the Armenian artist travels a lot around the republic and often paints landscapes in the Ararat valley, on Lake Sevan, the ancient city of Ashtarak, old Yerevan with narrow, intricate streets. Repeatedly returning to Armenia after the war, the artist, admiring the sunny sultry country, again and again paints its landscapes with snow-covered Ararat, snatches from life the return of shepherds from the mountains, the dances of collective farmers, the construction of a new Yerevan. He, completely switched over, also paints a large group portrait of Armenian cultural figures “Vernatun” (1978). Therefore, it is quite justified that in 1965 D. A. Nalbandian was awarded the high title of People's Artist of the Armenian SSR.

After the war

D. A. Nalbandyan believed that portraits reflect the time in which he lives, and saw it as his duty to capture all the leaders of the country. Therefore, he gladly transferred images of political figures to canvases. Especially I. Stalin, who only gave him ¾ hours for posing. Based on these cursory sketches, made from a living person, many portraits of the country's leader will be further painted. Members of the Politburo, military officers of the highest ranks, political figures (Ordzhonikidze, Kalinin, Voroshilov, Budyonny, Mikoyan, Tolyatti, Gromyko, Ustinov) come to his studio to order portraits. HighlyAn interesting portrait of the artist P. Radimov (one of the founders of the AHRR) with a guitar. Pavel Alexandrovich is depicted at home.

On a simple, very Russian face (it was a native of peasants) a smile plays, and his eyes sparkle with fun. The portrait turned out bright and cheerful. The artist Nalbandyan is also interested in ordinary working people. He paints portraits of factory workers (Andreev, Petukhov, Polyushkin), collective farmers (poultry maid Svetlova, milkmaid Stashenkova). He sees their different states and reveals to us the souls of his models, full of generous kindness.

Portraits of Vladimir Lenin

Great social temperament forced the artist after the war to turn to the creation of images of Lenin. He painted a series of paintings depicting Vladimir Ilyich. The most significant work on this topic is Lenin in Gorki. It shows the leader of the world proletariat at hard work. D. Nalbandyan had to "compete" with the classic images of Vladimir Ilyich I. Brodsky, which everyone knew from numerous posters and postcards. However, the already experienced master approached the interpretation of the well-known theme differently.

If I. Brodsky chose pastel beige colors, then in D. Nalbandyan's painting "Lenin in Gorki" golden-brown tones and a bluish-white winter landscape outside the window prevail. They highlight the small figure of Lenin in a black suit, which becomes the dominant feature. Vladimir Ilyich is sitting in the center of the room, sideways to the table, ready at any moment to tear himself away from hiswork. The table is covered with green cloth. On it is a table lamp, which will come in handy for work in the evening, neatly folded folders, an open notebook and a thick book. Everything speaks of the great self-discipline of a person who has delved into the records, who simply holds them in his hands. The setting is modest. Lenin sits on a chair with a comfortable semi-circular but hard back, in addition, there are also two soft chairs. His whole appearance expresses asceticism and concentration on urgent work. It is facilitated by the silence that comes from the picture. In 1982, for a series of paintings dedicated to the creator of the country of the Soviets, the artist received the Lenin Prize.

Still Life Master

One of the favorite themes in the painter's work is a flower still life. He depicted field and garden flowers in armfuls, with great love for the gentle creatures of nature. His burgundy regal lush peonies are beautiful, modest daisies, cornflowers and bluebells are elegant, collected in one bouquet. The floral still life is often complemented by porcelain plates filled with strawberries, cherries, or simply a cup and saucer. Lush, bright asters coexist with him next to the fruits of late summer - watermelon with scarlet pulp, clusters of black and white grapes, gray plums, velvety peaches. Spring snow-white bird cherry, filling the entire canvas with its fragrant flowers, showers everything around with translucent petals. The artist skillfully conveyed the brilliance of steel, the transparency of glass, the softness of fabrics.

The Persian lilacs that D. Nalbandyan liked to write are incredibly goodhuge bouquets in glass and porcelain vases or wicker baskets. It was with the lilac that an anecdotal incident occurred. The artist was invited to the birthday of the sculptor Karbel, who was presented with a magnificent bouquet of lilacs. The venerable painter was so delighted with him that, like a small child, he began to beg this lilac from the birthday man. But Lev Efimovich did not want to part with the flowers. However, the organizers of the holiday the next day presented the very upset D. Nalbandyan with exactly the same bouquet, and he immediately took up the brushes. The result is a still life that conveys the morning freshness of dew-drenched lilacs.

Travels and sketches

The artist Nalbandian had complete freedom of movement not only in the USSR, but abroad. For three months in 1957 he worked in fabulous exotic India, where he created about 300 works. They show the life and way of life of the people, lyrical and architectural landscapes, numerous portraits of ordinary people, as well as a magnificent full-length portrait of Indira Gandhi. His activities were highly appreciated by the Government of India. Dmitry Arkadyevich was awarded the title of laureate of the Jawaharlal Nehru Prize.

In subsequent years, the artist traveled to Spain, Italy, Hungary, France, Japan, Bulgaria. By the way, in Japan he was called "Russian Rembrandt". From each camp he brought cycles of paintings and sketches, absolutely fantastic, which tore him off as an artist from the other side. He took a big step forward, developing all of Soviet painting. These bright, emotional works were exhibited in 1968 at an exhibition inRussian Museum, which was called "Unknown Nalbandian".

Nalbandyan's Museum Workshop

It was opened by the government of Moscow in 1992 in an apartment on Tverskaya, where D. A. Nalbandyan lived since 1956. The windows of the workshop overlook the monument to Yuri Dolgoruky, and at the bottom there was a Moskva bookstore. Director M. Romm, writer I. Ehrenburg, poet D. Bedny lived in the same house. The top floor with large bright windows on the ceiling was given to artists. N. Zhukov, Kukryniksy, V. Minaev, F. Konstantinov lived and worked there.

Museum-workshop is a subdivision of the Manege Central Exhibition Hall. It is based on a collection that the artist donated to the city in 1992. Nalbandyan's paintings are kept in the museum-workshop. There are more than 1500 of them. As well as personal items that belonged to the artist's family. Only here you can see that still life with lilacs, which we talked about. In addition to lilacs, the workshop exhibits still lifes with carnations, daisies, the work “Flowers on a Blue Tablecloth”. Here is the artist's favorite canvas, which he never exhibited anywhere, painted in 1935: "Portrait of a Komsomol member V. Terekhova." This is the artist's wife Valentina Mikhailovna, with whom he lived a long happy life.

The artist's sister Margarita Arkadyevna handed over to the museum unique priceless photographs showing Dmitry Nalbandyan's meetings with Indira Gandhi, A. Mikoyan, T. Zhivkov, A. Gromyko. D. Nalbandyan's drawings and his notes were also donated to the museum. The artist is little knowngraphic arts. His drawings-portraits of Khrushchev, Brezhnev, Saryan, Roerich are a reflection of time.

The museum itself is modest nowadays. It does not have the flashy luxury of the nouveau riche of the post-Soviet times, but there is a bronze table donated by Indira Gandhi, massive bookcases, the Golden Deer service.

During the life of D. Nalbandyan, the first exhibition in the Manege took place in 1993.

The first solo exhibition after the death of the artist, dedicated to his 95th birthday, opened in 2001 at the Manezh Central Exhibition Hall. Visitors were able to get acquainted with unique works, landscapes and still lifes, opening the artist from a new, unknown side - as a lyricist and an impressionist.

In connection with the 105th anniversary of the artist in 2011, another exhibition of D. Nalbandyan opened the doors at the Manege. It presented all the genres in which the master worked - portrait, still life, historical paintings, landscape. On it were collected canvases from various exhibition pavilions and the museum-workshop. She demonstrated how diverse was the talent of Dmitry Arkadyevich, whom they used to think of only as a “court painter”.

Memory of the artist

Dmitry Arkadyevich Nalbandyan died in 1993, on July 2, having lived for 86 years. Until the last days, he went up to his studio and stood up to the easel. His grave is located at the Novodevichy cemetery. A monument is erected on it - the work of the sculptor-academician Yu. Orekhov. The painter is carved in stone with a palette in his hand. He gave 70 years of his lifecreativity. His works are in the State Tretyakov Gallery, the State Russian Museum, the Museum of Contemporary History of Russia, in the museums of Armenia.