Nikolai Vasilyevich Nevrev (Russian: Никола́й Васи́льевич Не́врев; 1830, Moscow – 3 May 1904, Mogilev Governorate) was a Russian painter who specialized in genre and historical scenes.

Life

Nevrev was born to a family of merchants. His first art lessons came from his stepfather, who was a drawing teacher. At the age of 21, Nevrev entered the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (MSPSA), where he studied under the Russian-Italian painter, Mikhail Scotti.[1] Upon graduating in 1855, he was named a "Free Artist". ^{[citation needed]} In the 60s, Nevrev painted one of his masterpieces, "The Bargain" (1866), in which he depicted the sale of a serf. ^{[citation needed]} Some other paintings focused on criticisms of the Church.

He temporarily stopped working in the 1870s, for unknown reasons, but began painting historical art in the 80s. In 1881, he became a member of the Association of Travelling Art Exhibitions. His best work during this time was arguably his genre paintings, each exhibiting a human moral. From 1887 to 1890, he taught at the MSPSA and, in 1889, became curator at the Tretyakov Gallery.[1]

In 1898, following the death of Pavel Tretyakov, he was offered the position of Director at the gallery, but declined, citing old age and poor health. At the age of 74, in great financial distress, he committed suicide by shooting himself at his estate near Mogilev.[1]

On 25 September 1980, the Soviet Union issued a 6 kopek postage stamp commemorating the 150th anniversary of his birth (together with that of Konstantin Flavitsky).[2]

An international open-air painting festival is held annually in his honor in the Mogilev Region of Belarus.

Gallery

• 
  Princess Praskovya Yusupova before becoming a nun (1886)
• 
  The Bargain (1866)
• 
  The Ward (1867)
• 
  Oprichniki (1870s)
• 
  False Dmitry takes an oath of allegiance to king Sigismund III Vasa (1874)
• 
  Roman of Halych receives an ambassador from Pope Innocent III (1875)
• 
  Pavel Mochalov among his admirers (1888)
• 
  Malyuta Skuratov approaching Metropolitan Philip in order to kill him (1898)

References

Further reading

• Vladislav Artemov, Николай Неврев (Masters of Painting series), Белый город, 2004 ISBN 5-7793-0756-3

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nikolai Nevrev.

• "Nikolai Nevrev" by Olga Sarnova @ Moscow Journal

На других языках

[fr] Nikolaï Nevrev

[it] Nikolaj Vasil'evič Nevrev

[ru] Неврев, Николай Васильевич