Pyotr Nilus | La Belle Époque

The grandson of General, a member of the War of 1812, Pyotr Alexandrovich Nilus / Пётр Александрович Нилус (1869-1940) was a famous artist, especially in Odessa, where he studied at the Art School (1883-1889). But studies at the Academy of Fine Arts is over for P. Nilus in the year. By doing it in 1889, a year later he left her to do independent work. He made ​​such a bold move young Pyotr Nilus on the advice of great authority - IE Repin, who believed that not every talent academy is good, otherwise it just standardizes.

The first independent work had returned to Odessa artist - a genre and landscapes that are often exhibited at the exhibitions of the Association of Artists, the Wanderers and his younger brother - the Association of South artists, one of the organizers of which was PA Nilus. Wrote PA Nilus and portraits of famous people. Two of them are particularly noteworthy: "Portrait of Anton Chekhov" (1902-1904) and "Portrait of Ivan Bunin" (1917). With the future Nobel laureate in literature, the artist had real friendships - Nilus Bunin has devoted one of his most heartfelt poems Loneliness.

In the spirit of the time in 1915, PA Nilus arranged an exhibition of his many works, the collection of which went in favor of the war refugees from the western regions of the country.

In 1920, the total flow of emigration artist left the country. In 1924, he settled in Paris. And it is not lost. It's still a lot of writing, easily switching to Russian symbolic and romantic style that is like the French, because in France, and in Europe you can easily find pictures of Nilus.

Portrait of Anton Chekhov