Description of the attraction
Museum-workshop of N. V. Dydykin, a famous sculptor, was opened in 1978. The creative destiny of Nikolai Vasilyevich Dydykin was closely intertwined with Leningrad. Here, in many squares, on the streets and facades of houses, in the metro, there are sculptural works created by him. These are busts, monuments, memorial plaques - the memory of the great people who glorified Russia, carved out of stone and cast in bronze. Over the years, the taste of the artist was formed in Leningrad; this city was very dear to him. But nevertheless, every spring Nikolai Vasilyevich came to his native village - Palekh. He was always proud to be from Palekh.
Father and uncle N. V. Dydykina were engaged in icon painting. Nikolai also studied this craft. But he did not become an icon painter. In 1918 he was sent to the sculptural courses of the Political Administration of the Moscow Military District. In 1923 he went to work for the famous sculptor Manizer as an assistant during the creation of the monument to Volodarsky. During this work, Dydykin mastered the art of molding. Seeing the student's efforts, Manizer made a petition to the leadership of the Petrograd Art College about the possibility of visiting N. V. Dydykin sculpture courses.
Nikolai Vasilievich took an active part in various exhibitions, which brought him fame. In 1934 the sculptor was admitted to the Union of Artists, and in 1936 he already received his workshop. So the former icon painter became a sculptor. N. V. Dydykin created a monument to VI Lenin, which stands in the center of Palekh, as well as an obelisk dedicated to the memory of the Palestinian people who gave their lives for victories in the Great War, and the Kolos fountain, which has become an adornment of the village.
The main direction of Dydykin's work is a sculptural portrait. Its development can be clearly traced in the artist's memorial workshop.
The workshop museum is located on Lenin Street in a small house, away from the noisy streets. There is always peace and quiet around him, he is simply shrouded in a kind of aura of mystery. Around the house there was once a garden, passionately loved by the artist. Nowadays, the head of the museum N. B. Bushkova is trying to put it in order: excess trees are cut down, new plantings are made, old ones are trimmed. The most unusual thing in the sculptor's garden is the century-old fruiting cedars.
A workshop is a family home. The sculptor's daughter lived here for a long time. Living rooms are located in one part of the house, and the exposition is located in the second. The house became a museum in 1978. Alexandra Mikhailovna, the artist's wife, and Zoya Nikolaevna, his daughter, donated more than a hundred of Nikolai Vasilyevich's works to the Museum of Palekh Art; gallery of portraits of Palekh artists (PD Korin, AV Kotukhina), famous writers (Turgenev, Nekrasov), musicians, poets, famous public figures, models and projects of monuments, various statuettes.
In addition to the works belonging to the museum, works that were previously in the Russian Museum in temporary storage - the decorative plate "Trinity", a bust of A. Blok, miniature busts of L. N. Tolstoy, F. M. Dostoevsky, S. A. Yesenin from Dydykin's private collection.
The portrait of the German philosopher-humanist Dr. Schweitzer attracts special attention of the museum guests. The figure of this legendary "big white doctor", as the Africans called him, has always attracted the interest of artists and writers. This sketch of a sculptural portrait of the philosopher was exhibited in 1975 in Paris at the anniversary exhibition, which was dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of Schweitzer.
In the museum you can also see one of the samples of the monument to Pushkin, it has a slightly smaller size than the original, located at 12 Moika, in St. Petersburg. N. V. Dydykin took part in the restoration of the Peterhof ensemble "Tritons". The last work of Nikolai Vasilyevich Dydykin was a portrait of the great composer S. Rachmaninoff.
The first director of the museum was German Vasilyevich Zhidkov, a fairly well-known art critic who worked at the Tretyakov Gallery. In the 30s of the XX century he was expelled from Moscow. His knowledge found application in Palekh lacquer miniature. His most valuable work is the 1934 book "The Pushkin Theme in the Works of Palekh Artists". He believed that Palekh art needed to be popularized and educated by new generations of masters, based on ancient traditions.
The museum regularly organizes thematic and sightseeing tours, as well as lessons on the topic of sculpture.
