Kormashov, Nikolai Ivanovich

Born on August 28, 1920 in the village of Turgenevo, Vladimir Region . By nationality - Mordvin . In 1939, the family moved to Murom .

From 1947 to 1951 he studied at the Ivanovo Art College , whose director was able to ensure that Nicholas was not called up for military service ^[2] . After graduating from an art school in 1951, he arrived in Tallinn and entered the State Art Institute of the Estonian SSR in the painting department. He studied under Gunter Reindorf ^[4] . In 1957, after graduation, he remained in Tallinn as a free artist. In 1959 he was admitted to the Union of Artists of Estonia ^{[2] [5]} .

For many years of fruitful creative work, the leading representative of the austere style in Estonian art ^[2] and the famous restorer of Orthodox icons formed from the young artist. He was one of the greatest connoisseurs of Old Russian art in Estonia. Having met in 1964 and made friends with the governor of the Pskov-Pechersky Monastery Alipiy (Voronov) ^[1] , he began to enthusiastically collect Orthodox icons and, in particular, Set icons, as well as antiquities. In 1971, an exhibition of icons from the Kormashov collection was held at the State Art Museum of the Estonian SSR , which became the first exhibition of a private collection in the Soviet Union ^{[6] [7]} .

Restoring the old icons, the artist studied the technique of this art, its formal and ethical message, gained wide knowledge in the history of its development ^[2] . Nikolai Kormashov is considered the creator of his own direction in the restoration of painting ^{[5] [8]} ; in 1977-1979 he was the head of the restoration department of the State Art Museum of the ESSR ^[3] .

In 1990, he became one of the founders of the Association of Russian Artists of Estonia ^[4] , becoming its most authoritative member ^[2] . He took an active part in the creation of the Russian Museum of Estonia , in the formation of its collections and the organization of exhibitions ^[3] .

In 1997-2003, an exhibition of icons compiled by Nikolai Kormashov was exhibited at the Mikkel Museum in Tallinn ^[3] .

Nikolai Ivanovich Kormashov played a significant role in the organization and formation of the specialty “Iconography and restoration of icons” at the college of the Estonian Academy of Arts ^{[3] [5]} .

He was a member of the jury of the architectural competition for the best project of the Church of the Mother of God of the Icon “Skoroshlushnitsa” in the Lasnamäe district of Tallinn (2005); in the second half of the 2000s, he was a permanent member of the jury of the annual international contest of children's drawings “Colors of the Earth” ^[4] .

He died suddenly in Tallinn on August 22, 2012 ^[4] . He was buried in Tallinn Forest Cemetery ^[9] .

In April 2018, an exposition of Orthodox icons from the collection of Nikolai Ivanovich Kormashov ^{[7] [10] [11]} opened in the Mikkel Museum.

According to Natalia Komashko, a leading researcher at the Moscow Museum of Ancient Russian Art named after Andrei Rublev , Nikolai Kormashov’s collection is scientifically one of the most informative private collections, and Kormashov is one of the most serious collectors she met ^[7] .

Nikolai Kormashov is the author of generalized, intense-emotional industrial landscapes, compositions on contemporary themes, portraits. In the 1960s, the expressive and monumental art of Nikolai Kormashov by connoisseurs of painting was linked to the so-called severe style - the main direction of Soviet modernism ^[12] (paintings "Fishermen" ( 1963 ), "Reinforced Concrete" ( 1965 ), "Young Builders" ( 1967 ) and others.). In the 1970s, he turned to philosophical and analytical painting (People of the New Village ( 1970 ), Green Spring ( 1972 ), Bread ( 1975 ) and other works). Nikolai Kormashov was one of the Estonian colorists with the finest color rendering, who used both strong contrasting tones and opposite colors, as well as soft and harmonious color chords ^[8] . In 1974 , for the paintings “My Estonia” ( “Minu Eestimaa” (1973)) and “Sons I — II” ( “Pojad I — II” (1972, 1973)), the artist received the Kristjan Raud Art Prize of the Year. His poetic artistic language immortalized the scenes of village life, landscapes and still lifes, the creation of which he was inspired by Setumaa ( “Mi olõmi seto´h” , 1986–1994). ^{[4] [5] [13]}

A great merit of the artist is the advancement in the modern history of the art of Estonian Old Believer icons. One of the largest works of Nikolai Kormashov was a restoration with the youngest son restoration of the unique, oldest in Estonia ^[4] Ivano-Petrovsky iconostasis of the Tallinn Nikolskaya Church .

As a result of his efforts to collect and restore icons, to study Estonian Orthodox icon painting, Nikolai Kormashov saw the creation of a museum of sacred art in Estonia, where different religions and faiths would be present; the artist, even during his lifetime, was ready to transfer all his most valuable collection to the museum ^[10] .

Nikolai Ivanovich Kormashov himself said:

The art of Estonia’s icon is not only controversial, but also incredible. Nevertheless ... the Old Believer icons of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia carry their own unique, distinctive figurative system. Therefore, it is necessary to recognize the existence of local letters: from the icons of the Setus circle of the 17th century to the icons of the school of Gabriel Frolov of the 20th century ^[14] .

The works of Nikolai Kormashov from the 1960s to the 1990s are stored in the Estonian Art Museum , the Tartu Art Museum , the , the Tretyakov Gallery ( Moscow ), the Russian Museum ( St. Petersburg ), the Ludwig Museum ( Cologne ), The National Art Gallery of Armenia ( Yerevan ), in the museums of Perm , Vologda , Tyumen , Pskov and other art collections around the world ^{[1] [5]} .

Nikolai Kormashov’s last lifetime solo exhibitions were a review exhibition dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the artist in the and the exhibition “In the beginning was an etude” ( “Alguses oli etüüd” ) in the , held in 2009 year ^[3] .

In 2012, a posthumous personal exhibition of the artist “In Search of Harmony. N. Kormashov 1929-2012 ", where the works of 1959-1978 were exhibited, in 2013 the second posthumous personal exhibition was held and the catalog " Sacred Modernity: Painting by N. Kormashov of the 1960s "was published ^{[4] [12]} .

Awards and titles of Nikolai Ivanovich Kormashov ^{[1] [5] [15] [16]} :

• 1974 -
• 1975 - Honored Artist of the Estonian SSR
• 1980 - People's Artist of the Estonian SSR
• 1999 - Order of the White Star 4 classes
• 2001 -
• 2004 - Republican Culture Prize named after I. Severyanin
• Honorary Member of the Union of Artists of Estonia

• Vana-vene kunst N. Kormašovi kogus. Old Russian art in the collection of N. Kormashov. Kataloog. Catalog (compiled by Yuri Keevallik and Nikolai Kormashov). Tallinn: Eesti NSV Riiklik Kunstimuuseum. 1971. - 32 p. ^[17]
• Painting: Exhibition / Union of Artists of the USSR, Union of Artists of Estonia. - M.: Sov. artist, 1991. - Tsv. hatch. Zinc .; 60 x 40 cm. - B.ts. 600 copies - [91-4145I].
• The art of the Estonian icon (compiled and co-authored by Alexandra Murre, authors of the texts Orest Kormashov, Elena Pogosyan, Maria Smorzhevskikh-Smirnova, Marie-Liis Paaver, Nikolai Kormashov, Alexandra Murre). Tallinn, 2011 .-- 148 × 215 mm. 175 p. ^{[18] [19]}

The Tallinnfilm film studio, the Ministry of Culture of the Estonian SSR and the VEK Production studio made documentaries about Nikolai Ivanovich Kormashov ^[20] :

• 1967 - Nikolai Kormašsov / Nikolai Kormashov, director Vladimir Parvel ;
• 1969 - Nikolai Kormašov 1969 / Nikolay Kormashov 1969, director Valeria Andersson;
• 1975 - Nikolai Kormašovi näituse avamine Moskvas 1975 / Opening of the exhibition of Nikolai Kormashov in Moscow 1975;
• 2004 - Nikolai Kormašov ja vene ikoon / Nikolai Kormashov and the Russian icon, director Sergei Ledenjov .

• Nikolai Kormashov. "Reinforced concrete". Kumu Museum
• The work of Nikolai Kormashov on the site "Persons"

• His wife is an Estonian artist, ceramist (born January 20, ).
• Son - Estonian artist, graphic artist (born 03/03/1957).
• Son - Estonian artist (born March 30, ).
• Daughter-in-law - Estonian artist, ceramist (born May 14, ).

• Nikolai Kormashov: “An icon is a canon in the life of every artist ... I consider my life justified ...” . Vladimir Ilyashevich. The monthly newspaper Orthodoxy , No. 9 (174). September 2012.
• E. A. Poghosyan, M. Smorzhevskikh-Smirnov. Once again about the mystery of the icon "Liturgy of the Lord"