Comments from "A musician and his encounters with the world of art"

from

"A MUSICIAN AND HIS ENCOUNTERS WITH THE WORLD OF ART"

- II -

[...Below we give Svyatoslav Richter's comments concerning pictures presented in this issue]

ROBERT FALK (1886-1958)
Richter. Sketch

"Unfortunately there was only one sitting: a preliminary sketch for a portrait. Falk was kind enough at the time to encourage and direct me with regard to my own desire to take up painting. All that remains of the plan to paint my portrait is this one sketch. It reminds me of Robert Rafailovich Falk's cool attic studio in the "Peacock" house on the embankment with its view overlooking the Kremlin and the River Moskva."

Portrait of the Painter's Wife. 1953

"This is a portrait of his wife, Anghelina Shchyokin-Krotova (Gelya as he called her)— she was his inspiration, his muse. The portrait has an exceptional charm and is an excellent likeness. Gelya looking like a  schoolmistress lost in thought (that's how I see her in this portrait). From 1942 I used to visit Falk's house. I remember the advice he used to give me , calm and wise— Don't be in a hurry, keep everything in reserve. This advice was meant to apply to everything— music included. I still feel a deep friendship towards him, a devotion to this artist, who was always true to himself, and entirely committed to his art, and thus conquered time and space. . . . That's why his painting is always alive, always full of movement. The more you look at his works the more you find new riches in them. But take your time, don't be in a hurry! Whoever has been to his studio and seen his exhibitions— these "recitals" of painting-will never forget them."

VALENTIN SEROV (1865-1911)
Portrait of N. N. Guchkova. 1902

"I used to live in the home of Nadezhda Nikolayevna Prokhorova (Guchkova) during the difficult days of the war and was accepted there simply, as a member of the family. It was a house with the old Moscow traditions, kindly, truly Russian and ready to share everything there was to share. The youngest son of Nadezhda Nikolayevna came unexpectedly from the front for one day and left late in the evening never again to return. She saw him off through the blacked-out kitchen. I'll never forget how her look followed after the young lad as he walked away. . . . Until the very end of her life I was her close friend."

 
NIKOLAI ULYANOV (1875-1949)
Portrait of 0. L. Knipper-Chekhova as Ranevskaya in Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard". 1904

"After moving from Odessa to Moscow, one of my first performances took place at the All-Russian Theatrical Society. In the actors' lounge I suddenly noticed this melancholy portrait which I guessed must be of Olga Leonardovna Knipper-Chekhova. This was my first acquaintance with her. After this I was fortunate enough to make the personal acquaintance of Olga Leonardovna and even make bold to say I was her friend. . . . Annual reunions over the New Year, Gurzuf, the Nikolina Hill. . . . Words fail me to express my admiration for this splendid woman. I think this portrait is one of Ulyanov's best works."

Zhuravlyov-Lermontov. Sketch

"Dmitri Nikolayevich Zhuravlyov, the actor— one of my favourite actors, dear Dmitri Nikolayevich, "Pasya", as we used to call him. A great reciter of Pushkin, Chekhov, Tolstoy, the darling of Muscovites, Chekhov, Tolstoy, the darling of Muscovites, and passionately in love with art. Of course, this portrait is not entirely Zhuravlyov, nor for that matter, is it entirely Lermontov— but isn't this really where the painter succeeds?"

ALEXANDER GABRICHEVSKY (1891-1968)

Maximilian Voloshin

"Voloshin is the work of AG Gabrichevsky, the famous art critic. To me Voloshin is his house in Koktebel, the museum with the tower, his widow, Maria Stepanovna, all the stories told about him and paintings by Ostroumova-Lebedeva and Bogayevsky. And also a moment one night, when the tower was dark and only the head of Princess Taiakh could be seen by the light of the moon. ... As to Voloshin the poet, in our country everybody knows him."

PYOTR KONCHALOVSKY (1876-1956)

Portrait of the Verighins. 1918

"The portrait was painted in 1918 and, I believe, never exhibited in Russia. It has an interesting history. At one of my concerts in Paris I received a bouquet of white lilac then at another I received a second spray, this time with an accompanying letter which explained that the flowers were from a pianist in memory of her mother who had always sent Rachmaninov white lilac at his concerts, and had even been mentioned in his biography. After this we became acquainted— I went to thank her for the flowers. It was at about twelve o'clock, noon, and when I asked, "Is Alexandra Lvovna at home?" (later I called her Shurochka), her husband cheerfully replied: "She's at home but actually in a faint on account of your visit." After that we became friends and they used to come everywhere to my concerts. Shurochka used to indulge me in every possible way. She bequeathed me this portrait where she is depicted with her first husband, the pianist, Verighin. I used to meet Konchalovsky when I was living in the village of Bugry— on the Konchalovsky "estate". Every so often I would hear Pyotr Petrovich's splendid baritone voice singing Italian cavatinas while he was working. I also remember him in his box at my concerts (by the way, he was passionately fond of Beethoven's variations on the Diabelli theme). His art has power, richness, generosity and lightness— the qualities inherent in a true talent."

KETEVANA MAGALASHVILI (1894-1974)
Heinrich Neuhaus. 1952

"From 1943 I became a very good friend of Ketevana Magalashvili after I visited her, coming straight from the mountains in my climbing gear. She had a studio with a view over-looking the whole of Tbilisi and, in the evenings, you could see Kazbek in a pink haze. She was a typical Georgian type, a kind of Medea with burning black eyes— a real Kakhetian. warm-hearted and hospitable. She lived in her "tower" like a tsarina and, at the same time— quite simply. This portrait of Heinrikh Gustavovich Neuhaus is a strikingly successful likeness. It seems to have been done during one of his tours while rehearsing his concert programme at Keto's. Here he is shown completely absorbed in the music, at the moment of absolute oneness with sound, which here becomes literally audible (a Brahms intermezzo, perhaps)."

Portrait of the Singer, Nina Dorliak (Richter's wife)

"When I first went to the house of that splendid singer, Nina Dorliak, in the Arbat I immediately caught sight of this portrait above the piano and just beside the original. One is struck by the likeness but, on close inspection, it becomes clear that both in glance and expression the subject has been touched with a southern passivity peculiar to the women of the Caucasus but in no way characteristic of the original. This portrait is of course a portrait of the singer during a performance, the portrait of an artist, a lovely portrait. Ketevana Konstantinovna used to complain a lot because her favourite model was extremely unpunctual and was consistently late for sittings— this unpunctuality, she would say, was not conducive to artistic inspiration !"

NIKOLAI ANDREYEV (1873-1932)
Ekaterina Kost

"Nikolai Andreyev is well known to Muscovites for his long- familiar Gogol monument which now stands in the small square in front of the house where the writer died. Ekaterina Kost is representative of that noble and dedicated army of Russian doctors. A doctor and blood specialist, she is a professor and head of department in a Medical Institute and the most senior staff member at Botkin Hospital. The portrait was painted in her youth in the felicitous manner of the painter-aesthetes of the Mir Isskustva (The World of Art) circle. In this portrait it is difficult to recognise the serious and austere scientist— she is young, arch, almost fatally charming. I once met Ekaterina Andreyevna in her study at Botkin Hospital, and she arranged for me to have a very important medical examination. She made all the dicisions for me."

ARTUR FONVIZIN (1882-1973) 
Imast 

"I used to receive letters from an unknown lady correspondent who used to sign herself "Imast". She announced herself as a sorceress who knew my future and used to predict all sorts of honours and surprises that were supposed to lie in store for me. Her letters were very amusing and extravagant. I never met her but through someone else she sent me this portrait as a present (a Fonvizin!). And now it's the star attraction of the exhibition."

BORIS KUSTODIEV (1878-1927)
Portrait of Mitya Shostakovich. 1919 

"Dmitri Shostakovich, a composer of genius, became part of each one of our lives and left a lasting impression. He brought us a great deal of happiness and joy although often we were overpowered by the force of his tragic art. It is impossible to fully evaluate and completely understand a phenomenon such as Shostakovich. For me personally his most important work is the Eighth Symphony. This portrait of Mitya Shostakovich, a fine example of realistic drawing, conveys the spiritual essence of the boy's genius."  

YAROSLAV MANUKHIN (b. 1925)
Dmitri Krasnopevtsev

"Yaroslav Manukhin is a graphic artist and painter, a book illustrator and also a very fine linocut artist. I am grateful to him for this portrait. In my opinion Dmitri Krasnopevtsev is one of the most talented of the Moscow painters. His still lifes are executed with the classic formality of that genre and are distinguished by their outstanding individuality. I have long been one of his admirers and twice— in 1962 and 1975— a large selection of his work has been exhibited at my house."


from Soviet literature (1979) - Snippet Google Books. Pictures: Yuri Bochonoff web album and others sources. Read "A MUSICIAN AND HIS ENCOUNTERS WITH THE WORLD OF ART" I