In 1865, the outstanding artist Nikolai Alexandrovich Sergeev was born in Kharkiv.
He was educated at home and at the local classical high school.
In 1876, Nikolai Alexandrovich traveled to St. Petersburg, where he was accepted as a student at the private school of one of Russia’s most famous marine painters, Lev Feliksovich Lagrio.
In 1889, he was awarded the Order of St. Stanislaus, 3rd Class, in recognition of his achievements in the arts.
In 1910, Nikolai Alexandrovich Sergeev became an academician in landscape painting.
In his paintings, the artist never forgot his distant homeland. That is why the subject matter of many of his works is the nature of Ukraine—and, by extension, the Kharkiv region, where he was born and raised…
The paintings of Kharkiv native Nikolai Alexandrovich Sergeev enjoyed considerable popularity among his contemporaries. Even a brief list of the owners of his paintings speaks for itself:
- His Imperial Majesty Emperor Nicholas II;
- Her Majesty Empress Alexandra Fedorovna;
- Her Majesty Empress Maria Feodorovna;
- Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich;
- Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich;
- Count A. D. Sheremetev;
- Tereshchenko Gallery in Kyiv;
- Imperial Academy of Arts;
- The Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow;
- Kharkiv Regional Museum.
In the second volume of the album of biographies of N. I. Afanasyev, published in 1910, in addition to the artist’s biography, one can find a rather interesting description:
As a landscape painter, Sergeev does not limit himself to merely reproducing the outward forms of nature, but perceives it through the soul of an artist-poet, attuned to its life and diverse moods. His paintings are always poetic and original in conception; they are full of light, radiance, and sunlight; they are highly distinctive in their overall tone and color palette, a quality that has set N. A. apart from the very first time his works appeared in exhibitions.
The works listed above, as well as the list of their owners, are taken from the book by the aforementioned Afanasyev. The photograph of Nikolai Sergeyevich is taken from the second volume of F. I. Bulgakov’s *Our Artists*, published in 1890.
So, as we already know, Nikolai Alexandrovich Sergeev’s paintings were quite popular among his contemporaries. But what about today?! Here are some of the masterpieces by our fellow countryman that can be seen at auctions in Russia and Ukraine.
It’s true that N. A. Sergev’s works are quite rare, so I had to search for these little gems for a very long time…
Well, the most expensive painting by our fellow townsman N. A. Sergeev is currently considered to be the work “Winter’s Autumnal Whim. First Snow.” Oil on canvas. Dimensions: 115.5 × 195 cm. In 2011, at a Russian auction, it was valued at a mere 250,000–300,000 currency units.