Nikolai Petrovich Bogdanov-Belsky was a Russian painter and artist who was born in Shopotovo, Smolensk province in 1868. He studied at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture from 1883 to 1888. After graduation, he worked as a professional artist. He became one of the leading exponents of the Russian art nouveau style. His work is characterized by its use of bright colours and decorative patterns.

It is said that he was the illegitimate son of a farmworker. He grew up in poverty and adversity in the home of his maternal uncle. Bogdanov meant God-given, his later name Belsky is the name of his native county.

Early life and education

He studied in the village of Shopotovo. He later studied due to the assistance of S. A. Rachinsky who was a professor of biology and a wealthy philanthropist. To gain admittance in the school set up by his patron for disadvantaged kids, he had to write a test. 

He got in by drawing a few teachers of the school in profile. Later on in life, the professor had a huge impact on the young painter’s life. Many years later, he painted a Rachinsky which now stands in the State Russian Museum.

He later joined a monastery that had a painting school called the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. After some years, he joined the Moscow School of painting where he learned to paint landscapes under the tutelage of V. D. Polenov, V. E. Makovsky, I. M. Pryanishnikov.

He traveled to Constantinople, Mount Athos where he met Malyavin. He later traveled to Paris, Munich, and Italy. Some of his later paintings that displayed Plein air might have been accrued due to his lessons at Riga in 1921. His studies abroad greatly enhanced the style and quality of his paintings later in his life.

In recent years, Bogdanov has become one of the most popular painters in the world, with his work selling for millions of dollars at auction. Despite his success, Bogdanov remains humble and down-to-earth, insisting that he is simply doing what he loves.

Work

His painting “The Future Monk” was a critical and commercial success and one of his initial successes. His other painting of known repute was “The Sunday Reading”. “Oral Account” (1896, State Tretyakov Gallery) and “At the doors of th school” (1897, State Russian Museum) are also well known.

He painted landscapes, still lifes paintings along with portraits. He painted portraits of Emperor Nicholas II (1904-1908), Empress Maria Feodorovna, Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich (1902), and Prince F. F. Yusupov (1911), F. I. Chaliapin (1916) and other aristocrats, were famous contemporaries.

His favorite subjects were children. He was cited as being a resident of the countryside. He painted peasant children. He drew children in schools and in the countryside. He was well known, not only among the nobility but also among the common people. The common theme among many of his paintings, that of childhood, attracted crowds far beyond the borders of Russia.

At 46 years old, he became a full member of the Academy of Arts in 1914. During this time leftist movements in the art world in Russia made life hard for realist painters. He moved to Riga where he organized a solo exhibition in 1923 which was a huge success. He showed his paintings among other Russian artists who had moved abroad during these times. The exhibition held in 1929 in Copenhagen of artworks of Russian painters was also successful.

Death

After years of working and polishing his art, he had become one of the masters of his craft. In April 1941, during the war, he sent a painting “The Shepherd Proshka) to an exhibition in Moscow. However, the war took over the cities. He grew ill and was treated in Berlin. Post-surgery he died on 19th February 1945 in Berlin when the city was being bombed. He was buried in Tegel Russian Orthodox Cemetry in Berlin.

He constantly worked hard to better his art. He learned new techniques while becoming the top painter for some other styles of painting. Even at the peak of professional success he constantly learned more and more. His artworks are still in in-demand after years of his death all over the world.

He came from poor circumstances yet through grit and hard work rose to the top of his profession. He never forgot those who had helped him get to where he had reached. He was humble and kind to his friends even in difficult times. He was a painter of the affluent while keeping in touch with the common man. He was truly a painter of the masses.