Translated material
The fate of the girl lit by the sun
 A girl lit by the sun She would still leave her name in history - as a talented sculptor, as a writer, as the mother of the Nobel laureate. But it was unlikely that all of Russia would know and love her, if Valentin Serov had not written her portrait, known to everyone as “a girl lit by the sun”. This portrait of a Jewish girl is often used to illustrate articles about the "Turgenev lady", about the national Russian female character, it is printed on calendars and even on candy boxes, so that everyone knows her in the face, but not everyone knows her name. The girl's name was Masha Simonovich and she was the cousin of the artist. |
Masha was doomed to become an outstanding person, because she was born in an extraordinary family, her relatives and friends were unusual people. And her mother could not but educate beautiful children. Parents of the mother of Mom - Adelaide Semenovna Bergman - were venerable Jewish merchants of colonial goods, but she and her younger sister Valentine dreamed of higher education and creative work. Valentina studied at the conservatory, was carried away, as often happens, by his middle -aged teacher - composer Alexander Serov. At 17, she married him and gave birth to a son Valentine, who later became a famous artist. Valentina Semenovna widowed early, she composed music, became the first woman-composer in Russia and wrote an opera that was put in the Bolshoi Theater. In addition, she was fond of the ideas of Chernyshevsky and populists, arranged folkaters and communes, in a word, she was not up to her son. The second family Tosha, as the natives of the future painter called, found Aunt Adelaide in the house. Adelaide Semenovna first passed the exam for the title of home teacher, then tried to enter the University of Moscow, but nothing came of it. And she, together with her husband, yes, she had already married a children's doctor and teacher Yakov Mironovich Simonovich, left for Switzerland. There she graduated from the university and returned to Russia to put the foundation for children's preschool education. She was 22 years old when she opened the first kindergarten in Russia and began to publish a magazine with the same name: “Kindergarten”. She wrote books, went with her husband to London to chat with Herzen, in general, had nothing to do with an ordinary housewife. Meanwhile, she had five children and even an orphan Lely Trubnikov, but his nephew ... Masha was the eldest of the four sisters, with her, her peer, Valentine became friends. “You are yes Nadia (I don’t know Lelia),” he writes to Masha, “the first simple girl to appeal to your liking.” Valentine painted eight portraits of Mary, the first, when he was fourteen years old. Masha Valentine was also associated with art - she wanted to become a sculptor, sculptor, as they said then. Antokolsky praised her. Valentine will write the famous portrait of Masha “The Girl illuminated by the Sun” in 1888, but while he has fun with his cousins, introduces his friends to the Academy of Arts-Vladimir Derviz and Mikhail Vrubel. In the house of Simonovich, an atmosphere of romance immediately arose. Serov became interested in Lelia Trubnikova, Derviz - Nadia, and Vrubel - Masha. One evening, Vrubel made her pencil portrait and immediately gave it to her. Then Mikhail Alexandrovich wrote her Tamara in the Demon, then an Ophelia ... But their relationship remained only flirting. But the other two pairs were connected forever. Baron Vladimir von Derviz belonged to a rich family, did not hesitate himself in money and, having married Nadia, bought a Porotkanovo picturesque estate in the Tver province. Now the whole cheerful company of friends, Dervisa, Simonovichi, Serov-gathered in the pre-Deminovo. They painted, played music - Nadia was an excellent pianist, staged performances, walked. This is where Serov had the idea of a picture. “Once, Serov was looking for a job and invited me to pose,” Maria recalled. - After a long search in the garden, they finally stopped under a tree, where the sun slid across the face through the foliage. The task was difficult and interesting for the artist - to achieve similarities and at the same time the games of the sun on the face. I remember that Serov took the canvas on which something was already begun, there was no other canvas at hand. “We will write here,” he said. The sessions took place in the mornings and after lunch - on the whole day, I was happy to pose the famous artist, which we then considered him, however, not yet recognized in society, but had long recognized in our family ... We worked with binge, both of the same scripture, I am the importance of our appointment. " As soon as the portrait was completed, Masha left for Petersburg - she had to go to class at Shtiglitz school, where she was engaged in sculpture. For posing, Serov gave his model three rubles. Both were poor, for both it was decent money. After a while, Masha left for Paris. She said that she was being improved there in sculpture, but when Serov arrived at the World Exhibition that had opened in Paris, it became clear to him that he was holding a cousin in France. Her chosen one Solomon Lviv lived in Russia, but was exiled to the Olonets province for participation in student unrest, from where he fled abroad. In Paris, Lviv received his education, became a famous psychiatrist. ... The portrait of Valentin Serov “The Girl lit by the Sun” acquired Tretyakov for his gallery, and after 50 years in Paris, the story with the portrait received an interesting continuation for the machine. In a letter to Nina’s sister, she said that a friend, an engineer, also Russian, also began to play chess with Solomon Konstantinovich, and he looked at the reproduction of “Girls illuminated by the Sun” hanging on the wall. Then he asked: "Whose portrait is this?" “My wife,” answered Solomon Konstantinovich. The guest was extremely surprised. - Have I changed a lot? - asked Maria. The guest replied: - The eyes are the same.  And he said that the girl from the portrait was his first love, that almost every day he went to the Tretyakov Gallery and admired her. And now he finally met his dream ... Leaving, he said: "Thank you for your eyes." And he kissed her hand. A few years later, Masha, already Lviv, came to stay with her relatives, and then, also in Porotkanovo, Serov wrote another portrait of her. The portrait came out beautiful, “impressionist”, his color revived a small bouquet of wildflowers in the lower left corner of the canvas. Masha’s niece, the artist Maria Favorskaya, the daughter of Nadi Derviz, recalled: “My sister and I scored these flowers every morning fresh. But I did not have to watch how the portrait is written. Tosha ruthlessly drove us when he took the hands in his hands. " This canvas ended the series of Serov portraits of Mary. The famous art critic Stasov wrote about him: “Serov, who is going uphill and already beginning to achieve perfection, presented ... a wonderful elegant young woman ... Judging by the look, expression, the whole external situation around her, she is devoted to science, knowledge, she loves and knows how to seriously engage in business and devotes all her life to him. Serov knows how to express all this, all the true nature and character of a person. ” Masha returned to Paris and took a portrait with her. And then the joyful life in the pre -Demotkanovs ended. She died, young still, Nadia, then Valentin Serov. The October Revolution scattered and destroyed the inhabitants and guests of a happy estate. For sixty years, Masha kept letters and drawings of her cousin. And a few weeks before the Second World War, as if anticipating trouble, she sent them as a gift from the Tretyakov Gallery. She wanted her last portrait to be stored in Russia. But her son - a microbiologist, Nobel Prize laureate Andre Michelle Lviv - after the death of his mother handed him to the Parisian Museum of D'Orse. When the Second World War began, Masha wrote to Russia: “Dear sisters, this is my last letter, maybe. All France on the roads, runs - on foot, on bicycles, even on the funeral drogs - so much the pressure of the Germans is great. We are surrounded on the right, left and from the north, I think I will be shot as a rather lived. That Russia does not come to our aid? .. The noise of hell from all sides. This is the end of the world. Farewell, Marie. " But Maria Lvova, a girl lit by the sun, survived in occupied France. She lived to ninety years and died in Paris in 1955. Author Tatyana Basova. |