26

.
26

The city is now Krasnodar.

.. ..

especially if the resolution is positive. And meanwhile I shake your hand

, ., . 3, . 4.

and ask to give my kindest regards to Nadezhda Petrovna.

..

Yours, I.Pokhitonov

15 1917 .

I VA N P OK H I T ONOV A T L EO T OL S T OY S Y A S N A Y A P OL Y A N A E S T A T E

P.S. I am sending the letter by registered mail: as things go today,

,
; , ,

its the best arrangement.

Department of Manuscripts, Tretyakov Gallery. Fund 10, item 5246. Sheets 1 and 2.

14 5 1905 ..

IVAN POKHITONOV STAYED A S A GUEST AT LEO TOL STOYS

.. . -

YASNAYA POLYANA ESTATE FROM 14 JUNE TO 5 JULY 1905. IN

LET TERS TO HIS COMMON-LAW WIFE, YEVGENIA WULFFERT, HE

Ivan Pokhitonov to Ilya Ostroukhov

, -

Yekaterinodar, 3 Kotlyarevskaya Str., apt. 4

WROTE ABOUT HIS IMPRESSIONS OF THE VISIT, HIS MEETINGS

, -

November 15 1917

WITH TOLSTOY AND TOLSTOYS WIFE SOPHIA ANDREIEVNA, AND

HIS WORK DURING THE STAY.

, .

Dear Ilya Semenovich, the bearer of this letter is my son; going

, , -

to Belgium, hes stopped in Moscow to take a look at its art assets, so

, -

From the repeated complaints of his relatives we know that

, , , -

I would greatly appreciate it if you let him see your collection and give

. , -

Pokhitonov was not a good correspondent: fulfilling his

him good advice as to what he should do to gain a similar opportunity

duty to keep his family informed about his circumstances,

. , , , -

with regard to the holdings of Shchukin and other collectors that you

he often did nothing more than send br ief cables.

, , , , .

may deem appropriate to recommend to him.

Considering this, his letters to Yevgenia are all the more

True, now is not an opportune time for such a peaceful pursuit,

, , -

but as a Belgian citizen he can take a more detached stance vis--vis

(19051988),

Pokhitonovs letters to Yevgenia Wulffert were found

. -

our national foulness. As a Russian by blood, hes certainly pained by

, , -

in Paris by Ilya Zilberstein. Unfortunately, we do not

everything that were experiencing, but as a Belgian, he doesnt feel

, -

know the whole story about this discovery, but we are

shame, and that alone is much.

valuable.

. .. . ,

confident that this find, like the others, involved one of

. , ,

I would be very pleased to receive news about you personally and

, -

those fascinating adventures that happened so often in the

about other things things that may be very important but not written

, , -

course of the scholars life. The only piece of information

; ,

up in newspapers. Youre positioned very close to the events in the very

we know from Zilberstein himself is that in 1963, when

heart of Moscows artistic and political life, so all that you may tell me

. ,

, ?

would be of great interest to me. I know that youre up to your eyes in

1963 , -

. , -

work, thats why I dont quite count on the pleasure of receiving a written

.. -

26, , -

reply; but I hope youll tell news to Boris so that he can pass it on to me.

, -

- .

What should I tell you about myself ? I spent the whole of

1.

? ,

last summer idly and only now Im beginning to work. Here in

.. . . 1908

! , ,

Yekaterinodar , where I came yet in May, there are many beautiful

Yevgenia Wulffert. Photo. 1908

! - ,

things, and with determination, you can do something. Im thinking

19661967 ,

But what sort of plans can you think up now? Ive never been into

, 1930- -

. -

making plans, least of all now! Ill stay here while I can, and later Ill see

, , ,

what God brings! If I hatch anything, good; if I dont, good as well! If I

, , . , -

//

: , -

may, I wish to end up this letter with yet another request. We dont have

tea here, which is the same for us as being without bread, so I loudly

..

, -

appeal to your generosity: would you be so kind, to use the language

. -

. -

of official applications, as to order the staff of your stockroom or store

, .

to give to my son, Boris Ivanovich Pokhitonov, for a certain payment, a

.. .

jolly good black tea in quantity such as Your Excellency thinks proper.

26

, -

Whereat, expressing in advance my heartfelt gratitude for all that

youve done, please convey my warmest regards to Nadezhda Petrovna

and accept the assurances of my perennial willingness to serve you.

. 2022; 38. . 1821.

1

Your Ivan Pokhitonov

1978 . , -

, . . 10. .. 5247.

Department of Manuscripts, Tretyakov Gallery. Fund 10, item 5247.

Zilberstein, Ilya. Ill be the

first to rejoice in our very own

art. // ''Ogonyok'' magazine.
1968, No. 46, P. 14.
2

.. -

// . 1978, 37,

Most respectfully yours,

74

. 1968. 46. . 14.

.: ..

Zilberstein, Ilya. The artist

Ivan Pokhitonov visiting Leo

Tolstoy. Finds from Paris.//
''Ogonyok'' magazine. 1978,

No. 37, Pp. 2022; No. 38.

Pp. 1821.

75

the Tretyakov Gallery was hosting Ivan Pokhitonovs solo

. 1905

exhibition, he met the artists youngest daughter Zoya

, .

Ivanovna Markevitch1. She told him that she had once held

Pokhitonovs entire archive, but that it was lost during

Leo Tolstoy in front of the

World War II. Yet, when in 1966-1967 Zilberstein travelled

Tree of the Poor in Yasnaya

to Paris, it transpired that parts of the archive had fallen

Polyana. 1905. Oil on panel

into the hands of different people, changed owners -

Private collection, Switzerland

and, most fortunately, survived. The numerous Russian

cultural treasures discovered by Zilberstein in France
included the letters Pokhitonov wrote to Yevgenia Wulffert
when he was Leo Tolstoys guest at Yasnaya Polyana. Other
sur viving items found among these papers included
Tolstoys photograph with his hand-written dedication to
the artist, as well as Sophia Tolstayas letter she later sent
to Pokhitonov together with photos presumably featuring
him with the writer, and different images of Yasnaya
,
.

Polyana.
Zi lber stein published the letter s in Ogonyok
magazine in 19782 along with materials he had found in

different museums and archives. These materials include

, -

information about Leo Tolstoys and his family members

, -

impressions from Pokhitonovs visit and details of their

conversations.

Pokhitonovs missives to Yevgenia Wulffert astonish

the reader with their detailed and painstakingly careful

description of ever ything he saw during the trip, the

. ,

record of his feelings, the subtlety of psychological charac-

. -

terisations of the people around him, the circumstantial

. ? -

account of conversations with them. This is how he

. ? -

describes his impressions when he first met Tolstoy: With

, .

youthful sprightliness Lev Nikolaievich stood up to greet me. Ive known

about you for quite some time, he began after the usual welcome. The

, ,

late Turgenev told me a lot about you. Are you a hunter? He was forever

, , .

talking about your woodcock. You made a woodcock picture, didnt

, ,

you? Barely a minute had passed before my recent anxiety dissipated

, -

without leaving a trace. As if my interlocutor was not Lev Nikolaevich,

. ,

not Tolstoy the genius, this eagle from Apukhtins poem who soars

easily and freely over the earth, but the kind of common, ordinary

. , , -

person Ive known for long.

, .

Ive heard often from people who knew Tolstoy personally that

, - , !

he was simple and accessible the qualities my coachman had talked

so much about. Probably all those who had a chance at least once to

; ,

behold the great writer of the Russian land noticed this particular

trait before all others. Although I was already prepared for it, this

characteristic particularly amazed me. This is not just simplicity this

. .

, . -

is clarity, almost transparency! You see instantly the person such as he

// . 1978, 37, .21.

is in reality; you feel that no one and nothing can make him cast aside

.. .

Leo Tolstoy. Photograph with

these moral qualities this blouse which without any constraint, freely

.. . 1905

inscription to Ivan Pokhitonov. 1905

and aptly drapes his spiritual self, concealing not a slightest curve of

Published in the Ogonyok

, .

this soul. Not without reason Lev Nikolaievich clothes his body in

1978, 37. .21

magazine. 1978. No. 37. P.21

..

..

Zilberstein, Ilya. The artist Ivan

Pokhitonov visiting Leo Tolstoy.

Finds from Paris. // ''Ogonyok''

magazine. 1978. No. 37. P.21.

76

77

.. .

. // . 1978, 38.
.18.
5

.. -

(18461925), .. ,
.
6

..

. . // . 1978,
38. .18.

Op.cit., p. 18.

: -

Dushan Makovetsky, a family

, , , , -

doctor and friend of Leo

.. .

Tolstoy.

, , .
, , , ,

a plain linen costume I find it symbolical. As I write this to you, Im

- , -

reminded about his Confession only a person such as Tolstoy could

[] , -

have written it 3.

- ,

Namur is the capital of

Wallonia province in Belgium.

1905

In the summer of 1905

12-

Yevgenia with their 12-year-old

son Boris were living in Namur.

, -

Two days after his arrival at Yasnaya Polyana, Pokhito-

. -

nov wrote to his wife: I dont remember a single instance in my

Pokhitonov meant Tatiana

life when I, for the first time meeting a person who interests me for any

, -

Kuzminskaya (1846-1925),

; -

reason, thought so little about what sort of impression Id produce on

[] , -

him, as now is the case. Tolstoy was so simple, so homely, so ordinary

, , -

thats how I would formulate it if he were some other man and if

; - -

his personality were not suddenly evoking that of the late Turgenev

, . -

a certain variety of intelligence to which you submit yourself as the

, ,

Zilberstein, Ilya. Op. cit.,

"Ogonyok", 1978, No. 38. P.18.

5

Leo Tolstoy's sister-in-law,

prototype of Natasha Postova.
6

Zilberstein, Ilya. Op. cit.,

"Ogonyok", 1978,
No. 38. P.18.

resum of your own logic would after long and arduous brainwork.

, -

. 1890-

, ,

He has the appearance of a Russian peasant whom you meet at every

, .

, . 13,8 26,8.

: , -

turn, although the blouse and the light wide-brimmed hat weaken this

: -

7 5 , , -

likeness, and watching him in this outfit I think this is probably how

11 -

Oil on panel. 13.8 x 26.8 cm

12 3 , , ,

the Quakers in America or the Boers in Africa look, especially when

: ( -

Tretyakov Gallery

. , -

Tolstoy is mounted gracefully and slightly sideways on a lean flame-

, ) , -

1905. ,

, ,

coloured horse 4.

, 20,

Pokhitonov told his wife about his work routines in

at 11 at night the Countess told me: today Pavel Ivanovich [Biryukov,

16,5 21.

Yasnaya Polyana, the tenor of life there, the visitors to the

Tolstoys friend who was writing his biography] told me in confidence

.. ,

, , , 57-

estate: For starters, I set to work at seven in the morning and work

. , , -

that Levushka asked him to write about how happy he had been

Leo Tostoy in the Forest near the

, , -

until five every day, including morning tea, breakfast [early lunch]

: ,

with me and how Id been able to make up for everything his nature

Place where The Green Stick

, , -

at noon and tea at three, Im working long and hard because I have

, , , .

lacked; thus pleasantly impressed, I want to please you too and tell a

is Buried. 1905

started three pieces at once. And the rest of the time, apart from the

, , , -

bit of a gossip. Yesterday, when I and Levushka went to bed, he told me:

Colour pencils, paper on panel

interest caused by the aristocratic couple, nearly every day there are 20

Ive rarely met a person so nice as this Ivan Pavlovich, and besides he

16.5 x 21 cm

( ) ,

people or so seated at a table, with most of them interesting not only in

Otar Marganias collection,

... - ,

relation to the hosts but individually as well for instance, the 57-year-

.. 5 : -

Moscow

, ... 6.

old Natasha from War and Peace 5, Dolgorukov, members of the last

9... -

Zilberstein in his article quotes an entry from July 5

delegation sent to the Tsar and so on, and on top of everything else,

, , -

in Dushan Makovetskys 8 diary: In the morning Pokhitonov

there is a huge gypsy camp in Yasnaya Polyana, and all of us in the

. ,

left for Namur, Belgium, where his son is 9 Pokhitonov stayed for

evenings repair to them to watch their dances (like Spanish dances at

, -

three weeks at Yasnaya, made six or seven pictures everybody liked.

the show in Paris) and to listen to their weird but wonderful singing

. . -

He presented one landscape to Sophia Andreievna, who particularly

Come day, go day, and youre so spent that all you can do is undress

. , -

admired the part of the forest where the green stick is buried. Lev

yourself and lie down. Today Im having a respite because my hosts are

, ,

Nikolaievich showed him that space. Pokhitonov is a sweet kind soul.

totally out of sorts .

Lev Nikolaievich says that he is a true artist who, having a vision of the

10

Summer Landscape with a River. 1890s

appears very intelligent. There now, Nyutik, take note of this because
you have no moustache to wrap this piece of knowledge around.7

ideal, strives for ever greater excellence in his works.10

Pokhitonovs letters not only convey the atmosphere

, -

in the great writers home and portray his character traits

, -

The portion of the Pokhitonov archive which Zilber-

and different aspects of his view of the world, they also,

.. .

stein succeeded in finding in Paris included several then

very importantly, highlight the artists feelings towards

, 5 1896 , -

unknown letters of Ilya Repin. One of the missives, dated

the recipient of his letters, his dear Nyutik or Nyunka, as

, : -

5 December, 1896, contains this phrase addressed to Pok-

he affectionately called his wife. Reading these letters,

, -

hitonov: Ive always admired your splendid creations, they will be

one cannot fail to see that they are addressed to a person

. ,

forever etched in the annals of our art. I believe they clearly reflect your

who loves and deeply understands him and has the ability

, .

pure, kindly soul.11

11

78

11

Eleonora Paston

79

.. . .

// . 1978. 37. . 20.

10

11

.. . .

// . 1978, 38. .19.

Zilberstein, Ilya. Op.cit.,

"Ogonyok". 1978, No. 38. P. 19.

to share with him joy and grief. In one of his letters he

confides to his wife: Once, on the second or third day of my visit,

10

Zilberstein, Ilya. Op.cit.,

"Ogonyok". 1978, No. 37. P. 20.