Pokhitonov

The exhibition “The Artist-Sorcerer”, organized by the Tretyakov Gallery to mark the 160th anniversary of Ivan Pavlovich Pokhitonov (1850-1923), featured works from the collections of the Tretyakov Gallery and Otar Margania (Moscow). The dates of the exhibition, initially scheduled to run from March 2 to November 28, were twice extended due to the great public interest in Pokhitonov’s oeuvre. Visitors to the show in their comments talked not only about gratitude for “the feeling of joy and harmony of life” they experienced viewing Pokhitonov’s works and admiration for the artist’s consummate workmanship, but also about his painting techniques, which were described as “spellbinding” and appearing “a miracle”. As if echoing Ilya Repin’s opinion about Pokhitonov - “this is an artist-sorcerer”, which gave the title to the exhibition - viewers wrote that they visited the show several times to engage with this “miracle” again and again.

IGOR MARKEVITCH, A GRANDSON OF IVAN POKHITONOV WAS AN OUTSTANDING CONDUCTOR AND COMPOSER. HE WAS BORN IN 1912 IN KIEV, THE SON OF BORIS MARKEVITCH, A PIANIST, AND HIS WIFE ZOYA POKHITONOVA, THE ARTIST'S DAUGHTER. HIS PATERNAL GREAT-GRANDFATHER WAS THE RENOWNED UKRAINIAN HISTORIAN AND ETHNOGRAPHER NIKOLAI MARKEVITCH (1804-1860), THE AUTHOR OF THE FIVE- VOLUME “HISTORY OF MALAYA [SMALL] RUSSIA". NIKOLAI MARKEVITCH MAINTAINED CLOSE FRIENDSHIPS WITH MANY DISTINGUISHED CULTURAL FIGURES OF HIS TIME, INCLUDING ALEXANDER PUSHKIN AND TARAS SHEVCHENKO. HE WAS ALSO AN AMATEUR MUSICIAN AND A FRIEND OF MIKHAIL GLINKA. IGOR'S GRANDFATHER, ANDREI MARKEVITCH (1830-1907) WAS A WELL-KNOWN LAWYER, CHAIRMAN OF THE ST.PETERSBURG COURT OF JUSTICE AND PHILANTHROPIST. A BRILLIANT CELLIST, HE PARTICIPATED IN MANY CHARITY RECITALS.

"I WILL BE THE FIRST ONE TO REJOICE IN OUR VERY OWN ART," TURGENEV WROTE TO THE ART CRITIC VLADIMIR STASOV, AND THE PHRASE BECAME THE TITLE FOR AN ARTICLE BY ILYA ZILBERSTEIN, A RENOWNED ART EXPERT, MAN OF LETTERS AND COLLECTOR*. HIS ARTICLE INTRODUCED READERS TO LITTLE- KNOWN PAGES FROM TURGENEV'S BIOGRAPHY, WHICH WERE ASSOCIATED WITH THE WRITER'S ROLE IN THE LIFE OF MANY RUSSIAN ARTISTS, INCLUDING IVAN POKHITONOV

THE COLLECTION OF IVAN POKHITONOV'S LETTERS TO PAVEL TRETYAKOV AND ILYA OSTROUKHOV AT THE TRETYAKOV GALLERY'S DEPARTMENT OF MANUSCRIPTS IS THE MOST COHERENT SET OF DOCUMENTS TO BE FOUND IN THE BODY OF ARCHIVAL MATERIALS, INCLUDING LETTERS, BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION, COMMENTS AND REVIEWS, RELATING TO POKHITONOV'S LIFE AND ART. OTHER COLLECTIONS INCLUDE THOSE AT THE CENTRAL ARCHIVE OF LITERATURE AND ART (MOSCOW), THE RUSSIAN MUSEUM'S DEPARTMENT OF MANUSCRIPTS (ST. PETERSBURG), THE ARCHIVE OF THE KOVALENKO REGIONAL ART MUSEUM IN KRASNODAR, AND THE STATE ARCHIVE OF THE KRASNODAR REGION (KRASNODAR). THESE LETTERS REVEAL NEW DETAILS OF THE ARTIST'S BIOGRAPHY AND SHED LIGHT ON MANY ASPECTS OF HIS CREATIVE METHODS.