Nikolai Smirnov: page two

857. Old Mill on the Eno River 1998 13 x 17 inches, oil on canvas $200		837. On the Meza River 1989 22 1/2 x 27 1/2 inches, oil on canvas $1200
811. March in the Village 1997 23 1/2 x 32 1/2 inches, oil on canvas $1700		843. Keepers of the Warmth of the Abandoned Villages 1996 23 1/2 x 35 1/2 inches, oil on canvas $1700
853. Snow in March 1991 12 1/2 x 17 1/2 inches, oil on canvas $700		832. Cherries in Bloom 1991 13 x 35 inches, oil on canvas $1200 SOLD
808. Falls Lake, NC 1998 8 x 20 inches, oil on canvas		809. Falls Lake, Beach 1998 8 x 23 inches, oil on canvas
806. Cold Winter 1998 6 1/2 x 16 inches, oil on canvas $200 SOLD		804. Winter 1998 5 1/2 x 15 inches, oil on canvas $120 SOLD
773. Cloudy Sky 1996 9 x 16 inches, oil on cardboard $100		776. Village with a Church 1995 11 x 14 inches, tempera on cardboard $200
779. House in a Village 1980 11 x 15 inches, oil on canvas pasted on cardboard $200		780. Church of the Resurrection on Debra River 1980 6 x 10 inches, tempera on cardboard $100 SOLD
784. Cloud 1995 8 x 12 inches, oil on cardboard $200 SOLD		788. Little Barn 1995 12 x 15 inches, oil on canvas pasted on cardboard $200
789. Spring Flooding 1980 10 x 14 inches, oil on canvas pasted on cardboard		790. Ash Tree in Bloom 1996 9 x 11 inches, tempera on cardboard $150
796. Simanovsky Street, Kostroma 1996 6 x 10 inches, tempera on cardboard $100 SOLD		798. Fall 1996 6 x 10 inches, tempera on cardboard $100 SOLD
801. Spring Thaw. Romanovo Village 1988 10 x 18 inches, oil on cardboard		821. Building a House 1991 26 x 34 inches, oil on canvas $900 SOLD
822. Marya's Yard (A Prayer for the Departed) 1997 28 x 36 inches, oil on canvas $1500 SOLD		825. Pine Tree 1989 39 x 31 inches, oil on canvas $1500
834. My Beloved Kostroma (Portrait of Mayor B. Korobov) 1997 39 x 49 inches, oil on canvas $3000 SOLD		840. Kolkhoz Worker Arrested on Informant's Report 1997 24 x 36 inches, oil on canvas $1500 SOLD
849. Evening 1982 20 x 24 inches, oil on canvas $900		855. Aleksei from Aleshkovo 1988 20 x 24 inches, oil on canvas $900 (apparently painted over another picture, outline of a church showing in the sky)
		First page of Nikolai Smirnov's paintings

Nikolai Smirnov was born October 20, 1939 in the village of Alyoshkovo in the Kostroma Region. He had a difficult war-time childhood; his father was arrested in 1947 as an "enemy of the people". Despite these bitter experiences, Nikolai kept his moral foundation, instilled in him by his family, and his great respect and fascination for beauty. He graduated from the Kostroma Art College in 1961, and subsequently from the prestigious Surikov Art Institute in Moscow in 1969. He joined the Artists' Union of Russia in 1975. From 1972 to 1974 he was Chief Painting Instructor in the Art Department at the Kostroma Pedagogical Institute (currently Kostroma University). He was married and had three sons.

Smirnov organized and participated in a number of exhibitions in Kostroma, Moscow, St. Petersburg, and other cities. His paintings can be found in the collections of art museums in Kostroma, Yaroslavl', Tula; other works have traveled to private collections in Italy, England, Sweden, USA and elsewhere. Besides painting, Smirnov had always been interested in literature, and had worked closely with his friends at the Kostroma Writers' Union to broaden the scope of book presentations, Literature Days and other events with the inclusion of art and discussion of common themes.

Nikolai Smirnov died March 1, 2001, of a heart attack.

About Nikolai Smirnov:

"In them [his paintings] the artist shows the many facets of the human experience. His decorative scenes, filled with bright colors, are inspired by the the familiar Russian landscape; his expression is concise yet true to life."

From a book on Kostroma artists.

"The fields, the clouds spoke finally. Light and color became painfully clear. The holidays of our childhood and musings in the evening, when fog rolls over the long-suffering earth. Towering light above the river, bright red berries upon the whiteness of snow. The inner calm of a soul careful not to waste words, but to do kind and good acts. The cherry smoke of lyrical dreams, poetic inspiration. And the tale of humble potatoes, created by restrained color. And further, further... The clouds grow and branch. In them is the soul and the movement of thought. I hear my own voice, "Hello, cloud! I know you well...".... The drama of years past, the drama of our village life reverberates over the ruined churches, over the abandoned fields and roads....

In the studio, without the order of an exhibition, paintings acquire additional meanings.... One follows a different path into one's own life, and then onward beyond the limits of the known; that is when one can fly weightlessly above the clouds and see the new landscapes in the distance. Such is the effect of art."

Mikhail Bazankov, Kostroma writer, upon visiting Nikolai Smirnov's studio.