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Ryzhenko's paintings with the artist's commentary. Great Russian artist - Pavel Ryzhenko

22.04.2019

- Russian painter, representative of “classical Russian realism”, master of historical painting, Honored Artist of the Russian Federation, one of the leading masters of the Grekov Studio of Military Artists.

Pavel Ryzhenko was born in 1970 in Kaluga. Graduated from Moscow secondary school art school at the Institute named after Surikov, then the Russian Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. He studied at the historical and religious workshop of Professor Ilya Glazunov.

Since 1999 he taught at the Russian Academy of Painting in the composition department.

In 2007, Pavel Ryzhenko began working at the Grekov Studio of Military Artists, where he became one of the leading masters of diorama and panoramic art. Over the years of working in the studio, he created about six large-scale dioramas.

In 2012, Ryzhenko was awarded the title “Honored Artist of the Russian Federation.”

Diorama “Standing on the Ugra”, last work master, was created for the Kaluga St. Tikhon's Hermitage. The twenty-two-meter diorama was completed shortly before the artist’s death. Pavel Ryzhenko died suddenly on July 16, 2014.

In recent years, Pavel Ryzhenko has created many large-scale paintings, dedicated to the Battle of Kulikovo, Sergius of Radonezh, the First World War, the era of Nicholas II...

Farewell of the Emperor to the troops.

The main theme in the work of Pavel Ryzhenko is historical picture. According to the artist, turning to the past allows one to find answers to the questions of the present.

A rich palette, realism, detail, transmission of reliable events through the author’s vision, the scale of the canvases speak of the artist’s talent.

The Battle of Neva (1240) is one of the key moments in Russian history. An example of courage, valor, and faith of Russian warriors and common people, who joined the fighting squad of Alexander Nevsky, at that difficult moment when the Swedish army significantly surpassed the Russian in the number of soldiers and weapons.

Prince Alexander Nevsky is canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church.

Royal decree. Malyuta Skuratov.

The Tsar's guardsman, a fierce executioner, famous for his boundless cruelty, holds the Tsar's decree in his hand. Tsar Ivan the Terrible sends him to certain death, to the war with the Livonians, where Malyuta is destined to die like a simple soldier, in atonement for his grave sins.

The Tsarev's secret. Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich.

The Russian Tsar, no matter how difficult it was for him, could, in the greatness of his God-given glory, bow to his people, like a kitten, and take pity on them. And our kings did this, although among them there were not only saints, but also those tormented by passions and great sinners... But they all loved their people, and did not exalt themselves over them.
So, maybe we shouldn’t be like the arrogant idols - the boyars, but be able to see greatness in kindness and condescension?

A souvenir photo from the triptych “Russian Century”.

The bell strikes. (No. 1 from the triptych “Repentance”.

The triptych “Repentance” is about the fate of a Bolshevik, who from a simple soldier of the revolution becomes a division commander, and from a division commander - through the grief of loss and rethinking his life - into an elder monk.

Triptych “Repentance”

“I hope that my paintings will awaken the genetic memory of my contemporaries, pride in their Fatherland, and perhaps help the viewer find the only right path for themselves. And then - I will be happy with my duty fulfilled.” - Pavel Ryzhenko.

Happy memory to the great artist!!!

1928

City of Sverdlovsk. Museum of the Revolution. Ipatiev's house. (1927-1932)

Painting by O. Bernhard (b. 1909) Ipatiev House, 1997

Painting by O. Bernhard. Ipatiev House, 1992

“Ipatiev’s House in Yekaterinburg. 1976" on Yandex.Photos
In 1976 this house housed music school, at the time of photography, exams were going on.
They wanted to demolish the building immediately after the exams, but it was demolished a year later, in the fall, on October 18, 1977.
Now on this site there is a wooden chapel in the name of the Venerable Martyr Elizabeth Feodorovna and the Church of All Saints who shone in the Russian land, the “Church on the Blood”, illuminated in 2003, as well as a monument to the royal family.

Abstract: Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich the Quiet, the father of the first Russian Emperor Peter I, is the last sovereign of the so-called “pre-Petrine” time. It is generally accepted to consider this time to be dark, ignorant, and the Sovereigns to be almost fairy-tale old bearded men. But they weren't really like that. Not fussiness, passed off as excessive efficiency, but prayerful peace and strength were characteristic of these giants of spirit. These were not chosen by the crowd and money, but anointed ones appointed by God. No wonder Alexey Mikhailovich was called the Quietest by the people. In this naming one feels both filial love and recognition of the power of the royal service, which, like any true power, is always quiet like the ocean. Perhaps now, when everyone thinks so much about power, it is worth remembering that power and strength are always from God. And the consequence of this power is always silence and piety in the state.

Technique: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 2.8x1.8 m

on Yandex.Photos

Confession of Faith of the Holy Great Martyr George the Victorious and Queen Alexandra

His eyes are so clear
Photos from a trip to the exhibition of artist Pavel Ryzhenko
Church of the Holy Great Martyr Nikita
Pavlovo-Posadsky district, Byvalino village

Now I would like to talk about one beacon of Russian art - this is Pavel Ryzhenko. Our correspondence with him began about three years ago, when the work of the Russian artist was widely discussed.

Reproductions of his paintings “The Choice of Faith”, “The Quiet One”, “Anthill”, “The Janitor” gave rise in our hearts to a burning desire to see the original sources, and even more so, other works. As it turned out, getting to the annual exhibition of works by Pavel Ryzhenko is quite simple - there is a Moscow address, there is an opening and closing date and opening hours. All that remains is to come and admire, absorb the beauty, cry, cleansing your soul with a touch of Divine art. But not everything is so simple!

In addition to the visible opponents of everything Russian, Orthodox and national, there are also invisible enemies of the revival of Holy Rus'. The enemy of our salvation plots all sorts of intrigues, never getting tired and becoming more and more cunning. The year before last, we were unable to get to the exhibition due to a cordon that was established in connection with some anti-terrorist actions near the State Duma. Last year, we were prevented from getting there by a change in the opening schedule of the exhibition and an accident in which our bus got into. This year the exhibition is located in the Central Museum of the Armed Forces on Novoslobodskaya. We got there quickly without traffic jams, but even here at the entrance to the museum there is the last step - “Monday - Tuesday are days off.” And we were already saddened and were about to go home “without a sip,” but the Lord, seeing our zeal, at that very moment revealed to us the abysses of His generosity and mercy. Unexpectedly, a museum employee appeared, who explained to us the complexity of the situation, but at the same time took on the function of interceding for us. She agreed with the security, the security let us through. The exhibition staff were also supportive and even allowed us to photograph the works. And we found ourselves in four huge halls dedicated to the creativity and works of Pavel Ryzhenko.

Our feelings were slightly akin to those experienced by a child who finds himself in a huge store." Children's world“When there is not a single buyer there, and you can take any toy, no one will stop you. I will talk about the paintings below, but for now, looking ahead, I am happy to inform readers that our holiday did not end there. In one of the halls the Master himself was working on a painting. He turned out to be a simple Russian man with a small brown beard, a fair face and eyes... Alexander Nevsky, Dmitry Donskoy, Seraphim of Sarov probably had such eyes. We all had a happy opportunity to talk with him, express our feelings and wishes. “What pure eyes he has,” said the girls from the children’s building. Indeed, only with such pure eyes can one contemplate those prototypes that the author then reflects in his paintings. Without being at all arrogant, and without making a face tired of star fever, the magician of the Russian brush took a photo with us, patiently waited for the photographer’s organizational actions and asked our comments on the exhibition and some of its attributes. And he walked away, still smiling, with heavenly clear eyes.
And there is something to see at the exhibition.

Artist P. Ryzhenko. Choosing Faith. video 45:14

Artist on the Scales of Eternity
(c) Egor Kholmogorov. 04/28/2008 00:00

On Saturday, the Lord destined for me to be in the Manege at the exhibition of Pavel Ryzhenko, taking place as part of the exhibition “Moscow Family: Traditions and Modernity”. I learned about it a week earlier in the St. Daniel Monastery, where you can buy reproductions of many paintings of this wonderful artist. And I hoped to see “live” his “Kulikovsky” and “Tsar” cycles, portraits of Ivan the Terrible and Alexei Mikhailovich, and the magnificent painting-icon “Choice of Faith. The Martyrdom of St. George,” and his legendary first masterpiece, “The Battle of Kalka”...

Pavel Ryzhenko is amazing historical painter. He is distinguished by his ability to draw (in our crazy time Few people have this skill, which is normal for an artist, so it has to be specifically mentioned), exceptional skill in building a plot, idea, meta-meaning of a picture, amazing ability to write out details, love for things and the ability to characterize a situation through a thing, subtle humor built on the game of man with nature (“Anthill”, the cat at the feet of Alexei Mikhailovich, the hedgehog at the hand of Peresvet on the eve of the Battle of Kulikovo)... Someone said that Ryzhenko is Semiradsky, Surikov, Vasnetsov and Nesterov “in one bottle”. And indeed, what was created by the artist in previous years is enough to ensure his place in the first rank of geniuses of Russian painting...

And this place would be all the more outstanding because Ryzhenko is the rare sincerely Orthodox and sincerely patriotic of Russian historical realists, many of whom once used their talent rather to destroy and humiliate Russian history, rather than to create it. So expectations from this meeting with the art of a wonderful painter were high...

But what I saw completely shocked and turned me over. I knew about Ryzhenko as a master of portraiture, historical and spiritual painting, but not about Ryzhenko as an ideological icon painter. "The Last Judgment" by Ryzhenko is a real revolution in Russian art. It shocked me both because the artist expressed my thoughts about God and Russia and how skillfully and boldly it was done.

"The Last Judgment" is a painting on the western wall for cathedral Yakutsk, written with the blessing of Bishop Zosima of Yakutsk and Lensk. Ryzhenko says that he immediately warned that he would not be able to write a work that was “canonical” in the sense of reproducing ancient examples. But the bishop said that the artist should not doubt - to modern man it is more important to see the icon in current forms, the main thing is that the patristic spirit is preserved. It is joyful to hear today about such bishops who choose the path of genuine contemporary conservatism - conservatism and patriotism in spirit with the courage of form, a way of conveying the Truth to people.

And Ryzhenko brilliantly fulfilled the blessing, although he endured many temptations, including an illness that almost took him to the grave. The devil had something to fight against - unbelief, Russophobia in all its forms from liberal to Hitlerite, lukewarmness and “broad-profile Christianity” were dealt a terrible blow. “The Last Judgment” is a painting in the tradition of such works of Russian icon painting as “The Church Militant” - eternal content clothed in topical political form, which precisely because of this becomes more than just political. This icon contains a wonderful formula that I once came across on the Internet: “carrying out Last Judgment in the interests of the Russian people" was cast into a magnificent iconic image.

Biography of the artist Pavel Ryzhenko

Pavel Ryzhenko was born in 1970 in Kaluga.
In 1982 he entered the Moscow Secondary Art School at the Surikov Institute.
In 1990 he entered the Russian Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, studied with professor folk artist Russia I.S. Glazunov.
In 1996 he defended himself with his diploma film "Kalka".
From 1996 to 1999 independent creative activity.
Since 1999 he has been teaching at Russian Academy Painting, Sculpture and Architecture at the Department of Composition.

Pavel Ryzhenko writes in the style of “classical realism”. Art critics consider him one of the most talented graduates of the Academy. His teacher - Ilya Glazunov - says that "Pavel Ryzhenko is passionate in his work talented artist, he has a great future." Galina Vishnevskaya calls young artist"master of Russian classical school painting".

Ryzhenko says about his work: “I invite people to take another look at our controversial past, full of tragic events, in which the great spirit of our people was fully manifested. Understand that we are not a gray mass, not the so-called “electorate,” but the people with a rich history and self-awareness. I want to believe that I offer people an alternative to mass, "tinsel" culture, which makes us forget about the main questions of existence."

Umbrella. Artist P. Ryzhenko (c)

) - Russian artist, graduate and teacher of the Russian Academy of Painting, representative of “classical Russian realism”.

In 1982 he entered the Moscow Secondary Art School at. In 1990, he entered the Russian Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, studied with professor, People's Artist of Russia Ilya Glazunov. In 1996 he defended his diploma film “Kalka”.

From 1996 to 1999 - in independent creative activity. Since 1999 he has been teaching at the Russian Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture in the Department of Composition.

"Wreath."

"OSLYABYA"
Quiet morning pierced by the rays of the warm sun, blossoming apple trees, beehives are visible behind the monk. But the main thing in this little picture is that the monk’s name is Oslyabya. And this monk is preparing not to whiten the trunks, but to give his life - for Christ and for all the Russian people he loved, including for you and me. He leaned his heavy hand on a tree and thought. My whole life passed before my mind's eye. He, Oslyabya, is ready. He - the warrior of Christ - will nevertheless whiten his apple trees, and then, taking a sword, rush into the very hell of the Battle of Kulikovo to beat the enemies of God and lay their corpses in sheaves, and then be cut down himself along with his great brother Peresvet.

"Life of Sergius"

"Anthill"

"Novice"

"Prayer"

" Street cleaner "

What else could touch the soul of a sinner-murderer, yesterday’s sailor from the battleship Gangut? Perhaps the absurdity of the situation and the painful insecurity of the girl who opened her umbrella over her murdered mother? Why should he shoot the girl? But the brave sailor slid down the wall and sank into the snow. He does not have the strength to lift the rifle, and his powerful hand hangs from his knee. He's confused. Will he realize what he has done? And what will happen to him later?

"Ring the Bells"

"Victory of Peresvet"

"THE BLESSING OF SERGIUS"
Venerable Sergius blesses Dimitri Ivanovich Donskoy for the Battle of Kulikovo. Which difficult topic for a painting after the canvases already painted before you! I really wanted to portray the essence. Just the gist and nothing more. It seemed to me that the monk simply gathered these stern, weather-beaten people going to death, and embraced them with his heart. And it was so warm and quiet, as if the victory had already been accomplished and everyone had returned alive... As if he, Sergius, would not have to call out loud at the liturgy the names of the heroes at that moment leaving for Paradise from the blood-smoking field of Kulikov.
And Sergius quietly whispers to Dimitri, but not yet to Donskoy: “You will win!”

"Elder Ambrose"

In the painting “Brethren” there are Athonite monks standing on their prayer guard. I deliberately depicted two aspects of water here. One water - raging sea waves, similar to passions breaking against a rock - a monastic feat. Another water flows from a source, from under the cross. She is quiet, pure and blessed. She's like living water, resurrects souls. This picture is about the meaning of monastic service, which is like a fortress that keeps away the evil of passions. A fortress, behind whose walls, as in a blessed pool, the human soul blossoms.

"THE ROYAL DECREE. MALYUTA SKURATOV"

"Tsar's Silence"

The Great Sovereign of All Rus', Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible, is silent and praying. Grozny is for traitors to the holy monarchical idea that united the gigantic Kingdom accumulated in space. He is silent and, like a Christian, he does not defend himself, does not justify himself, but in the calm greatness of his duty fulfilled, with humility and strength, mentally sums up his life. Quiet, no fuss. In the depths of your spiritual cell.
Can we, each of us, remember and evaluate our path as our great Fathers, the Russian sovereigns, knew how to do it, combining in ourselves all the burden of royal service with monastic work.

"Photo for memory"

"ALEXANDROVSKY PALACE"

"Farewell to the convoy"

" Royal shoulder straps"

"The Unspeakable Light"

"Battle of the Neva"

"Field of Kulikovo. Standing on the bones"

"TIME OF TROUBLES"
I put the answer in the very title of the picture.
“There is cowardice, treason and deceit all around,” St. Nicholas II said about his time. We can say the same about our time and add much more to the words of the passion-bearing emperor. There is something to be despondent about.
It seems that the same thoughts visited the Russian people during the Polish invasion. Orphans cried, sin and its consequences - pestilence, famine and war - then bled the Motherland dry. But the Russian people found a way out - they turned to repentance. And like a child, the Lord pressed the Russian people to his chest. Forgave, consoled, put me back on stronger legs.
Remembering that time of troubles, let us turn to the present, but not in despondency, but in the active correction of each of our lives.

"Easter in Paris"

"The Fate of Man"

"Alexander Nevsky"

Pavel Ryzhenko

“Mentally addressing the reader, I immediately want to apologize to him for the need to tell about myself, since my biography is completely banal and there is nothing unusual in it. I was born in the not so distant 1970 in Kaluga. The years of my childhood... Many people call this time the “era stagnation.” For me, the seventies were the joy of communicating with my loving parents, my grandmother, whom I still consider almost a saint, and my friends around the yard... Then everything was different, and most importantly, the people were different. I remember the old people especially well (almost all of them fought or went through the war). These old people surrounded us in the yard, knocked on dominoes, looked tenderly at our games and almost never closed the doors of their modest homes in modern times. I went into the apartment of my friend, who was not at home. His mother, Isolda Irinarkhovna, and grandmother, not at all surprised by my appearance in the kitchen, immediately sat me down to dinner, but it was inconvenient to refuse. Slowly devouring the okroshka, I looked at the hanging one. above the table is a reproduction of a painting by Poussin, in which the ancient Romans were celebrating some event, and for some reason one of them threw himself on a sword... These memories are very important to me. More important than dry reports, like reports from the front - you were born, studied, served, entered, comprehended the secrets of creativity, became recognized, successful, and on and on. This for me is the Motherland, bright, quiet, full of love, which many have forgotten, but many have not.
After entering the Moscow Art School in 1981, I found for myself new world smells. Now to the bittersweet world watercolor paints the aroma mixed in oil paints, which I still can’t get rid of to this day, having absorbed it to the roots of my hair. Wonderful world Tretyakov Gallery, the dampness of the ancient streets of Zamoskvorechye, the brown sky over Moscow, when, leaning against the icy glass, I looked at the red flag over the building of the Supreme Council... All this was mixed up in the boy’s mind, and only at the age of 18, having enlisted in the army and finding himself completely in another world, I realized that my path is not a search for what I have not lost, but the path given to me, the path of a painter.
The nineties were the years of my studies at the Academy, these were the tossing, the search for faith, answers to questions, these were meetings with completely new people for me - priests. The first serious thoughts about the purpose of creativity arose precisely then, at the Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, in which I was lucky enough to be a part-time student. My classmates, like me, were imbued with communication with the great teacher, artist, warrior - Ilya Sergeevich Glazunov. I remember the delight that first gripped me in the halls of the Hermitage in front of the paintings of Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Vermeer... It seemed that all these great masters were present here, next to me. I felt the breath of living history, the greatness of powerful empires - Byzantium, Rome, Russian Empire. I felt the coolness of the Sinai desert and the smell of gunpowder smoke over Borodino; the stern faces of Russian warriors, fearless and invincible, stood before me.
Every person, and especially Russians, is drawn in the depths and secrets of his heart towards the light - Christ. Faith in Christ came to me very late, but having believed, I wanted to run after him, hoping to someday get closer to this light. It’s difficult for me to write about this, there are no words to clearly express my thoughts, but I need to say about the people, gone and alive, who are the bearers of the faith and spirit of the Russian Empire. And say it on canvas, because this is my duty to the great truth of Rus'. The duty of a not completely broken resident of the metropolis, who, through the outlines of modern houses, through the smog of the Third Ring, sees how these stern and loving faces of our ancestors, who shed their sweat and blood for Christ and for each of us, appear again and again.
Approaching the turn of my life, the line that the great Pushkin could not cross, at which many stopped, I ask myself the question of questions: who did I serve? Exactly to whom, and not to what, and in general, what is art?
I hope that my paintings will awaken the genetic memory of my contemporaries, pride in their Fatherland, and perhaps help the viewer find the only right path for themselves. And then - I will be happy with my duty fulfilled."

Pavel Ryzhenko

make time. Unfortunately, not all the paintings found on the Internet could be identified, so if I find the missing titles, I will definitely add to the text.

Some recent years I enjoyed the works of this artist. Friends said that he was still relatively young. “This is great,” I thought, “How many more beautiful paintings he will create.”

01. Choice of Faith

I remember on October 15 last year I was just looking at his paintings and thought, “I don’t really know anything about him, it will be interesting to read.” I typed “Pavel Ryzhenko” into a search engine and suddenly found out that almost three months ago, on July 16, 2014, he passed away. Six months have passed since the artist’s death, but I still can’t believe that he is gone. Pavel Ryzhenko was only 44 years old. He was amazing person. I sincerely believe that such artists are born in best case scenario once every 100 years.

Throughout his short life, the man worked selflessly and left behind a huge legacy and many students who admire the strength of his spirit and his creativity. In Kaluga, where he was from, shortly before his death he managed to open the diorama museum “Standing on the Ugra”.

Pavel Ryzhenko was born in 1970. In 1982 he entered the Moscow Secondary Art School at the Surikov Institute. From 1988 to 1990 he served in the army. In 1990 he entered the Russian Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, studied with professor, People's Artist of Russia I.S. Glazunov. In 1996 he defended himself with his diploma film “Kalka”.

Since 1997 he taught at the Russian Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture I.S. Glazunov, department of architecture, then restoration, then composition.

All these are dry facts. Fortunately, there is an opportunity to read Pavel Ryzhenko’s story about himself. He's lower.

“For me, the seventies were the joy of communicating with my loving parents, my grandmother, whom I still consider almost a saint, and friends around the yard. Then everything was different, and most importantly, the people were different. For some reason, I felt especially good I remember the old people (almost all of them fought or went through the war). These old people surrounded us in the yard, knocked on dominoes, looked affectionately at our games and almost never closed the doors of their modest homes in modern times."

“I remember once going into the apartment of my friend, who was not at home. His mother, Isolda Irinarkhovna, and grandmother, not at all surprised by my appearance in the kitchen, immediately sat me down for dinner. I didn’t want to eat, but it was inconvenient to refuse.”

“Slowly devouring okroshka, I looked at the reproduction of a painting by Poussin hanging above the table, in which the ancient Romans celebrated some event, and for some reason one of them threw himself on a sword... These memories are very important to me. More important than dry reports, like reports from the front - I was born, studied, served, entered, comprehended the secrets of creativity, became recognized, successful and further and further. This for me is the Motherland, bright, quiet, full of love, which many have forgotten, but many have not."

“After entering the Moscow Art School in 1981, I found a new world of smells for myself. Now the honey-bitter world of watercolors was mixed with the aroma of oil paints, which I still can’t get rid of, having absorbed it to the roots of my hair. The wonderful world of the Tretyakov Gallery , the dampness of the ancient streets of Zamoskvorechye, the brown sky over Moscow, when, leaning against the icy glass, I looked at the red flag above the building of the Supreme Council..."

“All this was mixed up in the boy’s mind then, and only at the age of 18, having enlisted in the army and finding myself in a completely different world, I realized that my path was not a search for what I had not lost, but a path given to me, a path painter."

“The nineties were the years of my studies at the Academy, these were the tossing, the search for faith, answers to questions, these were meetings with completely new people for me - priests. The first serious thoughts about the purpose of creativity arose precisely then, at the Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, in which I was lucky enough to “become kinder.”

“My classmates, like me, were imbued with communication with the great teacher, artist, warrior - Ilya Sergeevich Glazunov. I remember the delight that first gripped me in the halls of the Hermitage in front of the paintings of Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Vermeer... It seemed that all these great masters were present here , next to me."

“I felt the breath of living history, the greatness of powerful empires - Byzantium, Rome, the Russian Empire. I felt the coolness of the Sinai desert and the smell of gunpowder smoke over Borodino, the stern faces of Russian warriors, fearless and invincible, stood before me.”

“Every person, and especially a Russian, is drawn in the depths and secrets of his heart to the light - Christ. Faith in Christ came to me very late, but having believed, I wanted to run after him, hoping to someday get closer to this light. It’s difficult. I don’t have words to write about this to clearly express my thoughts, but I need to say about the people, gone and alive, who are the bearers of the faith and spirit of the Russian Empire, and say it on canvas, because this is my duty to the great truth of Rus'.”

37. For Faith, Tsar and Fatherland. 1905 (The Forgotten War)

38. Triptych "Heir"

39.

40. Royal shoulder straps (No. 1 from the Triptych “Russian Century”)

41. Royal shoulder straps (No. 1 from the Triptych “Russian Century”) fragment

42. Photo for memory (No. 2 from the Russian Century triptych)

43. Easter in Paris (No. 3 from the Triptych “Russian Century”)

44. Renunciation

45. Veteran

“The duty of a not completely broken resident of the metropolis, who, through the outlines of modern houses, through the smog of the Third Ring, sees how these stern and loving faces of our ancestors, who shed their sweat and blood for Christ and for each of us, appear again and again.”

“Approaching the turn of my life, the line that the great Pushkin could not cross, at which many stopped, I ask myself the question of questions: who did I serve? Precisely who, and not what, and in general, what is art?”

Pavel Ryzhenko

54. Brethren