Count Nikolai Alexandrovich Kushelev-Bezborodko (1834 - 1862) is a Russian collector of painting and a bibliophile.
| Nikolai Alexandrovich Kushelev-Bezborodko | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Date of Birth | November 28, 1834 |
| Place of Birth | St. Petersburg |
| Date of death | April 11, 1862 (27 years old) |
| Place of death | Nice |
| Nationality |  Russian empire |
| Occupation | art collector |
Biography
The son of a member of the Academy of Sciences, State Comptroller, Senator Count Alexander Grigoryevich Kushelev-Bezborodko from his marriage with Princess Alexandra Nikolaevna Repnina-Volkonskaya [1] . A graduate of the Page Corps , from where from the pages he was made a cornet to the Cavalier Guard regiment (1852).
Since 1854, the lieutenant and adjutant of the chief of staff of the Guards Corps . After the death of his father in 1855, he inherited half of his fortune and an art gallery. At the end of the Crimean War , on June 4, 1856, he resigned as headquarters captain and went on a journey. He traveled to Russia, Europe (was present at the Battle of Solferin ) and visited Jerusalem.
During his trip to Europe, Count Kushelev-Bezborodko examined many museums and exhibitions. As a result, impressed by what he saw, he was inspired by the idea of replenishing the collection of paintings inherited from his father, and began to actively buy paintings and sculptures by contemporary European artists, mainly French. In a very short time he managed to significantly increase his father’s collection, and he acquired a significant part of the paintings directly from artists or their marshans.
In general, a young man (he was not even 30 years old), with minimal experience and knowledge, was able to appreciate such artists as Theodore Russo , Dupre , Delacroix , Millet , Courbet , Corot , Troyon and others; it was he who opened for Russian art lovers artists of the Barbizon school [2] . Being one of the richest people in St. Petersburg, in 1856 Kushelev completely rebuilt his house on Gagarinskaya Street , making it a “palazzo” with a marble facade, this mansion was called the Small Marble Palace.
In April 1860, the count married the famous beautiful widow Elizaveta Ivanovna Shupinsky (1839-1923), the daughter of gold miner I.F. Bazilevsky and the owner of the estate Talashkino . Their son Nikolai (d. 05.12.1861, Nice) died at 10 months of age from brain inflammation [3] . Shortly after the wedding, Kushelev was sent abroad by doctors due to consumption. Realizing that his days were numbered, he wanted to leave his whole life in the possession of his wife for life, but all his estates were family and he had no right to make wills on him. However, before his death, he traveled from Nice to Paris , where he asked Count Kiselyov to ask the emperor for permission to transfer everything to his wife. After which Kushelev returned to Nice and calmly died on April 11, 1862 [4] . He was buried in the Church of the Holy Spirit of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra .
According to Secretary of State A. A. Polovtsev , “he was a truly rare person, you can rarely see so much truth in life, any lack of lies, phrase-mongering, deeds and words were identical for him” [5] . Kushelev’s brother and sister wanted to legally deprive his widow of his inheritance. She had to seek support from His Grace Prince A. A. Suvorov , and a decision was made in her favor. As a result, in 1864, Kusheleva married Suvorov's son, Prince Arkady.
Legacy
Kushelev’s art gallery was transferred to the Academy of Arts Museum by testament, making up a special Kushelev gallery (there were more than 500 paintings and sculptures in the gallery). In 1922-1923, almost the entire collection was transferred to the State Hermitage Museum [6] , from where in 1923-1925 some of the paintings were sent to Moscow in the newly formed Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts .
In 1993, the State Hermitage hosted a separate exhibition of paintings from the collection of Count N. A. Kushelev-Bezborodko [7] . Currently, most of the paintings from his collection are exhibited on the third floor of the General Staff building in the halls of European painting in the first half of the 19th century; in the same building since the summer of 2017 in a separate room on the fourth floor there is a collection of paintings by Barbizon artists . Old masters from the Kushelev-Bezborodko collection ( Rubens , Jordaens and others) are exhibited in the respective halls of the Winter Palace and the New Hermitage .
- Examples of paintings of the Kushelev Gallery
T. Russo . " Market in Normandy ." 1845-1848.
O. Vernet . "The angel of death ." 1851.
E. Delacroix . " Moroccan saddle horse ." 1855.
A. Dedreux . " Pug in the chair ." 1857.
A. Schaeffer . " Faust with a bowl of poison ." 1858.
K. Troyon " Departure to the market ." 1859.
Notes
- ↑ Murzanov N.A. Dictionary of Russian Senators, 1711-1917. Materials for biographies. - SPb., 2011 .-- S. 236.
- ↑ Berezina V. French painting of the first half and middle of the XIX century in the Hermitage. Scientific catalog. - L.: Art, 1983 .-- S. 7.
- ↑ Buried in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra .
- ↑ TsGIA SPb. f.19. Op. 123. d.18. Metric death record.
- ↑ Diary of A. Polovtsev for 1861-1881 // TsIAM. Fund 583. Op. No. 1. units hr 61.
- ↑ State Hermitage Museum. Transfer of works of art from museums and nationalized collections. 1920s – 1930s
- ↑ Grigoriev A. Masterpieces and salon painting from the collection of Kushelev-Bezborodko // Kommersant. - No. 128. - July 9, 1993.
Literature
- O.R. von Freiman . Tales for 183 (1711-1894). Biographies of former pages with portraits. Vol. 1. - Friedrichshamn, 1894.
- A collection of biographies of cavalry guards. 1826-1908 // Comp. Ed. S. Panchulidzeva. - SPb., 1908. - S. 196.