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Nikolai Kuznetsov
Nikolai Kuznetsov was born in Moscow in 1876. From early childhood the boy was fond of painting and yet he did not get official art education at any art school or university. He studied the principles and secrets of painting in private art studios of the famous artists, such as Valentin Serov and Konstantin Korovin. He was inspired by both classical examples of world painting, and artists of new movements, genres and trends.
In 1906 Nikolai Kuznetsov for the first time participated in an exhibition of the Moscow Association of Artists. His mentor Konstantin Korovin advised him to go abroad for improving his art skills and studying works by artists from other countries. Following his advice Nikolai Kuznetsov travelled abroad for three years. This trip promoted his developing talent to a great extent, not without the help of his teachers, including Henri Matisse, Charles Guérin, and Hermenegildo Anglada Camarasa.
Upon returning to Russia Nikolai Kuznetsov surprised everybody with his paintings. The canvass At Work painted by him soon after coming back was a great success and was exhibited on a par with Repin and Polenov’s paintings.
In 1915 he became the chairman of The Free Art organization, and in a year started exhibiting his painting together with artists from the Bubnovy Valet (Jack of Diamonds) association. Besides, he worked as a stage designer for theatre performances and even founded his own drama group.
In spite of the fact that he had no official art education Nikolai Kuznetsov became a teacher in the Stroganov Art School, since the talent and authority of this person was never in question. In 1933 he became a member of the Moscow Union of Artists.
Nikolai Kuznetsov died in Moscow in 1970.
