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John and Lena Murray's Visit to Russia in July - August 2007
click here to see artwork by John and Lena Murray completed on this trip
click here to see more photos of Plyos
As many of you know, the previous two summers we spent with our Bridgeview students in St. Petersburg, painting, drawing and sculpting at the Repin Academy.
This year the two of us decided to visit the Russian countryside. Our destination was the small town of Plyos on the banks of the famous Volga River (sometimes reffered to as the Russian Mississippi). Plyos is sometimes called the Russian Barbizon. It became popular among artists in the 19th century due to Isaac Levitan, the father of Russian landscape painting, who created many of his masterpieces in Plyos. Since then, many Russian artists made Plyos their home and many come from other parts of Russia to paint Plyos. Shalyapin and Chekhov also spent time in Plyos. By capitalizing on Plyos's beauty and on the fame of Levitan, one of Russian billionaires have purchased almost all of the town's 19th century riverside mansions and created luxury tourism for the new Russians. However, there are still some alternatives for the middle class visitors like ourselves. One of them is a wonderfully quaint Bed and Breakfast called "Private Visit" run by Lena (a Moscow native) and her French husband Andre (a native of Bordeaux).
click here to see more photos of Plyos
Our first evening in Plyoss, witnessing the most
beautiful sunset. 14 year old Ksyusha and I are
witnessing John's magic.
John and I are
painting/drawing the portrait of Ksyusha, one of many
children adopted by our hosts Lena and Andre. Her six
year old friend Lera is also drawing. The back porch of
the house became our home away from home studio, dining
room and a place to meet many interesting people.
In America, we are always
having a hard time finding models. People are just too
busy or don't have any interest in arts. In Russia,
everyone was eager to pose, and even children sat
motionless for many hours. John has completed 6 portraits
in just a few days.
John paints Zhenia, a 17
year old adopted child of Lena and Andre.
All of this is
baked fresh every day by Lena and her wonderful staff of
cooks. All fruits and vegetables are home-grown, whereas
dairy products are bought daily from the local farmers.
On the back porch
of "Private Visit" with our hosts Lena and
Andre Magnenan.
This is the main
house, built in the 18th century and restored by Lena and
Andre with 3 master suites, other bedrooms, quaint
sitting rooms and kitchen. There is a good possibility
that Levitan used to visit the owners of this house in
the 19th century.
This is the most
spectacular view in Plyos right from the back porch of
the house.
John and Lena lived
in this little house that is part of the property.
Teatime in the the
beautiful living room, filled with Russian and French
antiques.
Steep walks from
Volga river to our home uptown.
John became an
American curiosity and the town's favorite. At the end of
our stay our hosts organized an exhibit of our works and
invited many local artists for a sumptuous dinner.
Over the years,
Andre and Lena have adopted many Russian children. This
beautiful young lady Tania whom they raised, became one
of John's models.
A famous painter
and art professor from the Urals Sergei Sukhov has been
coming to Plyos for the last 10 years from Ekaterinburg.
He has a special Russian-made military Jeep that can
drive through any terrain. With Sergei we painted
beautiful small villages outside Plyos.
We traveled to Plyos from St. Petersburg by car. We are grateful to artist Andrei Fiodorov and his wife Irina (Plyos residents) for showing us the most beautiful part of Russia including the ancient cities of Novgorod, Rostov, Torzhok and many other small towns and villages. These towns are full of history, some date back to as early as 200 - 300 AC. Most of them blossomed during the 16th century with the firm establishment of the Romanovs as the ruling dynasty.
The architecture of these towns consists of typical medieval fortresses (kremlins) that surround the cathedrals, belltowers and living quarters of the aristocrats.
This city is Rostov
the Great
The city of
Kostroma is considered the birthplace of the Romanov
dynasty.
In Russia, there is
a great demand for classically-trained skilled artists
(painters and sculptors). After the collapse of the
Soviet Union, the Russian Orthodox Church has become
powerful and influential. It is now restoring and
rebuilding many cathedrals and monasteries all over
Russia, from the Baltic to the Pacific. Here you see one
of the Surikov Institute students restoring frescoes in
Rostov the Great.
Iconostasis in
Kostroma
I had to take a
picture of this icon (don't even remember where). The
spirit of this face just struck me with its power.
Many old churches have been flooded by Volga river.
Torzhok means "place of trade".
A very small town with 30 churches.
Evening in Torzhok
Torzhok before sunset
Typical old house in
Torzhok
John with artist Andrei
Feodorov in Torzhok
Before our trip to the Volga river, we spent some time with old friends in St. Petersburg. Here John sculpts a portrait 6 year old Dasha. John and Dasha share a special bond. Last summer, John painted her portrait while she posed for him for a whole one hour. The portrait turned out so beautiful, that it was sold in one day through Gardner Colby gallery in Naples, Florida.
The Russians are crazy
about wild mushrooms. Our friend Anya is cleaning
"lisichki" (means fox mushrooms) before
cooking.
Dasha shows off a whole
jar of captured grasshoppers.