Mikhail Nesterov and Taking the Veil

'Taking the Veil' (1897-98) by Mikhail Nesterov; State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg

I had never heard of Russian painter Mikhail Nesterov, born on 31 May 1862 and died on 18 October 1942, but he was a major representative of religious Symbolism. He was born into a merchant family and received an orthodox education. He studied art in Moscow, and joined a group of artists called Peredvizhniki, The Wanderers. He first tried his hand at historical paintings and everyday life scenes but became increasingly interested in religious themes. He was more influenced by French Symbolism, and in particular by the work of Jules Bastien-Lepage, than by old Russian icon painting. The landscape plays an important role in Nesterov's paintings, and there's a lyrical connection between his figures and their surroundings. I chose today's painting because it has such a Pre-Raphaelite quality. A group of nuns are taking part in a procession to accompany a novice who's about to take the veil, with in the background the Volga countryside. Nesterov was doing a cycle of paintings on the fate of Russian women and was inspired by the writings of Pavel Ivanovich Melnikov. I love this painting more the longer I look at it. Just by watching the solemnn faces, I can almost imagine myself clicking the play button on this image, and the procession will go on and beautiful music is being heard.

Ilya Yefimovich Repin and What Freedom!

'What Freedom!' (1903) by Ilya Yefimovich Repin; The State Russian Museum,
St. Petersburg

I don't know that many Russian painters so this is a good opportunity to add another one to my small list of Russian painters so far. Ilya Repin, born on 5 August 1844, appears to be one of the greatest Russian painters and entered the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg at the age of 19. This coincided with an event that was important to the artistic movement in the 1860s. The event became known as 'The Riot of the Fourteen'. Fourteen young students left the Academy after having refused to use mythological subjects for their diploma work. They were strong believers that art should be close to real life. Repin would become one of the leading members of the Peredvizhniki, the so-called Wanderers, a group of Russian Realists. The painting shown here is called 'What Freedom!' and I absolutely love it. I couldn't really make the image bigger because it would then cross over the line to the right side bar so you cannot see the smile on the woman's face. But I want you to see it so click here and click again on the image to enlarge it. The woman looks so happy and the man too actually. I came across a blog where photos of the house/museum that belonged to Repin are shown. Beautiful!