Царевна

1874–1886 · Formation

Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture

summer 1885

Marries Maria Martynovskaya against his parents' will

In the summer of 1885, against his parents' wishes, Nesterov married Maria Ivanovna Martynovskaya; after the wedding he went on earning his living by illustrating Pushkin, Gogol and Dostoevsky.

May 1886

Daughter Olga is born; his wife dies

In May 1886 Nesterov's daughter Olga was born and his wife Maria Ivanovna died. He later carried the image of his beloved wife into many of his works.

1889

“The Hermit” at the 17th Peredvizhniki show

Shown at the 17th Peredvizhniki exhibition, “The Hermit” caused a stir and placed the young Nesterov among the most outstanding painters of the day; the word “mood” recurred in almost every review. Pavel Tretyakov bought the painting.

May 1889

First journey abroad

With the money from selling “The Hermit” to Tretyakov, Nesterov set off on his first trip abroad: Warsaw, Vienna, Venice, Florence, Rome, Naples with Pompeii and Capri, Paris, Munich, Berlin, Dresden. He brought back dozens of studies on lemon-wood panels, most of them from Capri; his travel diary (20 April – 24 July 1889) is kept in the Presidential Library.

May – July 1889

Carpaccio in Venice, Bastien-Lepage in Paris

In Venice Nesterov was struck above all by Vittore Carpaccio's “naive composition” and “childlike faith”, in Rome by Raphael's frescoes and the Sistine Chapel. In Paris he saw the painting of Puvis de Chavannes and Bastien-Lepage, whose “Joan of Arc”, art historians agree, decisively shaped the concept of “The Vision to the Youth Bartholomew”.