Русский ремесленник

... The first impression that I was born in Palekh artists, fall on my very early age. The smell of acetic egg emulsion, a lot of glass jars and small boxes with colored pigments. Father's hands, gently rolling it from one palm to the yolk of chicken eggs, then a sharp wooden whisk it reveals thin film, enveloping the yolk. Bright yellow contents slowly drain into the prepared shell, topped up to the brim with vinegar solution and mixed thoroughly referred aureole. Then the father put the shell on the neck of a stockpile of small bottles, lightly top hits in the bottom edge of the eggs of the corolla and finished emulsion flows into the flask. Then add in the volume - a half shell cooked acetic solution to the already flooded, and all thoroughly whipped.

In the small, carved out of wood, amber tint poured cups dry powder paints - from white to black (black). His brilliant play of the light they cast a spell. His father, responding to my questions about how is this or that color, I call them - white, cadmium lemon, orange, ocher, vermilion, carmine, chromium oxide, cobalt, green and blue, ultramarine, Siena, soot. In each, he adds egg emulsion and stir in cups pigments. Called it "create paint." Preparation of good paint art too. For works in his hand, delicately carved out of an apple branch, small chimes. It is hard as bone. I liked to watch when the Courant, he dipped into a glass of water, washing away the paint, the water slowly begins to curl a fantastic clouds, invisible, flowing from one color to another and creating a bizarre game of mysterious images.

The smell of varnish and oil is hovering in the memories of childhood. Previously, the house had no electric dryers, and therefore all the work put in slapping a Russian stove. Followed that the temperature was determined. Were often occasions when things are ready to burn, and had to rewrite them again, renovate, restore. Being in the age of 10-12 years, sometimes I trust the cause of the box picture and then make the preparation of white. To do this, I was awarded the tracing with the finished composition, and showed how to use a thin, but not needlepoint picture translated. After translation, I'm fine squirrel brush encircles the dark following boxes already on the subject, and poured the resulting contour whitewash. This was my first practical experiments to study the ancient craft.

My parents worked constantly. After working a week in art workshops on the weekend they sat down again for home desktop and continued their work. In separate conversations, often came to our colleagues and friends of Papa and Mama, I became aware that the money for the work they all pay a little. Each other constantly occupied. Saved their youth, the desire of creativity.

Parents were organically linked to the natural environment of Palekh. From infancy, they have absorbed the smells of herbs and flowers, various types of neighborhoods - spacious fields, clear woods that darken in the distance impassable tracts of forest thicket. In winter, get up on skis, and happened on the day went on long hikes. We returned cheerful and rested. Many visiting artists are fascinated by these incursions. Some still recall with gratitude those days with hot fires at halts, fiery homemade dumplings. Once they took me with him to celebrate the New Year in the woods. Gathered cheerful and friendly campaign painters. It was covered with a huge impromptu table laden with food, sparkling electric garland decked out with toys and snow-covered fir tree, the fire blazed fire salute from hunting rifles to frighten evil spirits, sang songs and carried on intimate conversations about the art until the morning. We returned from the snowy forest jungle home, when it began to dawn dawn. Recruited a lot of impressions.

In the summer my father was fascinated by fellow artists on the lake for 50-60 kilometers in a distant forest village, where he taught his brother, Ivan Ivanovich Golikov. Often, this Path of the foot, as well as transportation in those days was a luxury. As Nikolai Ivanovich, Ivan passed through the bloody road of war, fought under the Rzhev, where he commanded an anti-45-mm gun and was seriously wounded. A little cure, escaped from the hospital in his part; stormed Konigsberg. It was an excellent hunter and fisherman. Numerous campaigns Palekh miniature is always welcomed in his house and warmly hospitable. Rarely, who now knows that in these mysterious sanctuaries and places the first of Palekh pave the way and showed extraordinary beauty of the forests and lakes friendly Nikolai Ivanovich.

By the work of father and mother came up with the utmost seriousness and attention. Fully immersed in those pictures and images that magically emerged from under the graceful, elastic squirrel brushes on caskets, plates, bowls, powder, brooches, caskets. I was fascinated, as pure and black lacquer surface is heating up, begin to flash an endless variety of colors and shades slim figures of wonderful people, trees, birds, beasts. Fantastic slides with various forms of iconic leschadok, ledges and darkening of failures. Often almost finished work relentlessly washed down disgruntled Master, and again continue in-depth search for a more accurate expression of the artistic image. Sometimes, the work was postponed indefinitely. Weeks, months before they found themselves again on the desktop. During this time, to create other, appeared numerous drawings and sketches. Some ideas were implemented throughout the creative life of his father. The artistic process, boiling imagination, like volcanoes or geysers.

Reading parents pay attention. Has read in the old editions of Pushkin and Lermontov, Tiutchev ..., more modern - Yesenin Klyuev, Nikolai Rubtsov ... Sometimes, in the hands of my father, I saw a volume of Kant. Occupies a special place in his heart, Albert Schweitzer - an outstanding person, a thinker, that his life has shown that such a Christian morality. The first in Palekh father brought through his Moscow acquaintances, battered copy of "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" by Solzhenitsyn. Many of the artists, seeing that his proposed book in the hands of Nikolai Ivanovich, shied away, fearing for their hideous title of Soviet law-abiding citizen. Party activists and secret informer of the KGB, headed by the then director immediately spread the rumor that Golikov mad. Once on the street he met the chief doctor of Palekh hospital, an active employee bodies and required to undergo a psychiatric examination. Father told her that health does not complain and told me to treat those who had sent her.

This unfortunate woman was compelled to clap her husband in LTP (treatment and dispensary work for alcoholics) because he with pangs of conscience is not quite lost, as a neighbor confessed to the circle of artists that, like his wife, he was hired as informants. Before his death he asked for many forgiveness.

But the black mark or dissident thinking person voluntarily stayed with his father until the collapse of stifling socialism. I had to desperately defend and saints for each indigenous paleshanina place. It's an old Ilinskoe cemetery with ancient churches. Here, buried his father, one of the brothers and the noble people of the old village. Among them, the merchants, icon painters, farmers, craftsmen, carpenters and many, many. The new road passes directly to the cemetery and human graves. A modern young priests managed to have these days in the middle of ancient tombs lay wide asphalt path along which freely I stop the car straight to the gate of belfries.

Stupid leaders of fishing with a visiting Soviet art cats in 60-ies conceived raze burial mounds and make a parking lot for tourists. The District Committee of the Communist Party has led the Sabbath. Nikolai Ivanovich was not afraid at first alone, then acceded to the residents of Palekh to defend the secular graveyard. However, several unique ancient marble tombstones at night, some party functionaries nevertheless managed to carry on their land and laid the foundations for them instead of their houses under construction. One of nomenklaturschikov, shortly after the completion of construction, Domowina suddenly flared up a huge fire, another figure began to weaken in the head and occasionally become psychiatric patients. Palekh bypass road built in the late 80-ies through vigorous action of Nicholas Golikov. He first made a proposal about its necessity, of maintaining the center of Palekh from the devastating effects of the movement of heavy vehicles. For refusal of Communist construction in a suburb of the regional center Ivanova NPP paleshane Golikova unanimously on an initiative and put his great contribution. Headstone, set next to the art studios with the names of the victims of the Great War the inhabitants of Palekh neighborhood, clearly acknowledged the contribution of Nicholas Golikov. With monstrous resistance and officials, and visiting artists who have their names on the plates were completely indifferent, a former soldier Golikov struggled for about ten years.

Parental home Nikolai Ivanovich Golikov stands in the heart of the village, opposite the Exaltation of the Cross Church. Until the mid 20-ies outdoors plot stretched hundreds of meters. With the advent of Palekh commissioners, all of Palekh began to take vegetable gardens, orchards, meadows. Selected and have Golikov. Their land is still standing country club, building a fire brigade, the former building of the District Party Committee. We constructed several apartment houses to party officials. The Communists came and demolished the house itself, which worked in his time genius Ivan Ivanovich Golikov - the ancestor of Palekh art style. At this point planning to build a place for parking of tourist buses. But there was no longer withstand the patience of the famous Moscow art critic Michael Porfirievich Sokolnikov. Thanks to his bold and decisive steps in this direction, the building was saved and turned into a unique museum.

Children of Ivan Ivanovich Golikov after the death of his father donated to the State many of his drawings, work, old books. In one house passed to his sister and his family contributed a small apartment, two other sisters gave the old one-room accommodation for two. Two brothers at the front nothing at that time did not receive. Nikolai lived in the house of his wife - four in one room. Brother - Ivan Ivanovich, a teacher in a forest village 50 kilometers from Palekh. Subsequently, after thirty years of waiting, Nikolai provide a small apartment in the panel house on the outskirts of Palekh. Ivan did not wait for compensation from the authorities and died of his wounds in the front end of the 70-ies.

Entering into our centennial home, friends or guests in the first place their eyes met with the Savior, who is strictly looking at all incoming with a well-written Palekh icons. This image was at his place in the most reactionary and bloody days of the Soviet regime, when most people on an emergency basis replaced the icons of portraits of leaders, and when the whisper in the doorway was a very dangerous thing. I remember in school we handed out the questionnaire, where a couple of questions bordered on the denunciation of their neighbors. One of them reads:

- Does your house icon and someone from the family prays in front of them?

The second question asked:

- What does your family talk to parents?

When my father saw this profile, then said:

- Chief convict Stalin died, but his cause remains alive.

Wallpapers with Lenin or Stalin in the house I had never seen. On the wall in the room were two fairly large plaster bas-relief from ancient Greek stories, photos from the works of Ivan Ivanovich Golikov for the book "The Lay of Igor's, a few good illustrations of paintings. In the old trunk was a large number of old magazines, books on art.

Maternal grandmother Praskovya Alexandrovna Vakurova - the widow of the famous icon painter Mikhail Petrovich Safonovski workshop Vakurova in my memory has remained a man deeply religious and very strict rules of life. When in 1941 the husband died in her care were five children. Praskovya Alexandrovna worked in the garment Artel, where sewing underwear Red Army. For the conscientious work was awarded the medal. Two sons and one daughter went to the front, and the remaining two girls were mobilizing to dig antitank ditches around Palekh and hard unpaid work in the local collective farm.

In my childhood fell boys' war games in those, still well preserved, deep wells. In 1942 came about death of Alexander's - one of the sons. It is my duty to say about him the most kind words. According to his family, he could become a fine artist, as a child has a good figure, with a firm hand, fantasy, characteristic Palekh visual perception of the environment. But mathematical abilities overcame, and military mobilization in 1941 he managed to complete the Institute, to work as a schoolteacher. Excellent physical development, good-hearted, honest man met his death near the city of Raisin in the Ukraine in the rank of lieutenant.

Another son - Nikolai Mikhailovich was the war officer. Resigned in peacetime. He lived in Kishinev. Officer participated in combat operations and the eldest daughter Alexandrovna Praskovia - Elizaveta.

The youngest - Sofia Mikhailovna, my mother chose extraordinarily complex creative journey of artist Palekh. In previously published articles have already talked about its surprisingly light and bright, breathing the freshness of the morning, compositions. She worked very quickly, putting elements of the composition accurately into place. Pictorial style of her works are inherited and continued the work in many ways the father - Mikhail Petrovich. Early death in 1941, broke his artistic path. Brother - Ivan Petrovich Vakurov after the funeral, watching the remaining number of pictures of Michael, the bulk of took it and later used it extensively in his works. My mother got involved in drawing a young age, watching his father work. Were she and the ability to learn foreign languages.

In his time on the outskirts of Palekh, in the forest, the German POW camp was located. Every day, the convoy drove by the old Elijah street past the house Vakurova. Despite the fact that the people of this nation were to blame for the death of a young Alexander's teacher, the soul of a young girl Sophia was only compassion for the eternally hungry and ragged Germans. One of them - an elderly veterinarian, who had some freedom of movement, became a frequent visitor in the house. Mama Sonia - Praskovya Alexandrovna often Disobey Yushchenko German, I could. School elementary knowledge of German language Sofya Mikhailovna got a good development. After six months of communication with the prisoner, she could not speak freely in their own language, to the utter astonishment of others. Unfortunately, a German veterinarian died suddenly, not having received timely aid from the camp infirmary during an attack of appendicitis.

Sofia Mikhailovna, already a student at art school, which accepted it without examination, looking at pictures of her household, she knew by heart many verses of Pushkin and Lermontov. Old editions of these poets are still kept in our house. Her beautiful voice was the first decoration of Palekh folk choir. It is quite natural that arrived after the front road and further service brave sailor Baltic Golikov Nikolai could not help but draw attention to the beautiful black-browed young artist. So the two were related Earliest Palekh icon painting dynasty - Golikov and Vakurova.

Remained in my memory and old artists. As a schoolboy found dead Ivan Petrovich Vakurova (great-grandfather), Fedor Aleksandrovich Kaurtseva (lived in one of our street), Nikolai Alexandrovich Pravdina.

Ivan Petrovich Vakurov in old age often spent the summer with a fishing rod in hand on the shore of a quiet stream Paleshki. Always came home with a small catch, carrying Kukan dozen perch and roach. He was taciturn, with a quiet sadness in his eyes. Personal life was not very good, memories of childhood starvation until death haunted artist. A lot of smoke, sitting behind his desk and buried in fragrant tobacco club. At that time he no longer worked, but the habit every day for a time occupied the post of creative, looking out into the street and something thinking. Before dinner always drank a small glass of good cognac.

Wrote George Golikov

To be continued...