We live in an amazing city. Only here can people (even if they’re famous) who lived in the city for, say, two years—and who don’t identify with Kharkiv in the slightest—be counted among the “great people of Kharkiv.” They demand that memorial plaques be erected and streets be named in their honor. Only in our beautiful city can funds be found to erect ridiculous and absurd monuments, while at the same time there is absolutely no money available to honor the memory of those who truly loved our city and glorified it with their lives.
Today, the name “Sergeyev” means little to the people of Kharkiv, yet there was a time when the fame of this family’s deeds resonated not only in Kharkiv but throughout the Russian Empire of that era.
Right at the beginning of Kontorska Street is a cozy park. No matter the season, you’ll often see parents sitting on benches with their children or dog owners walking their pets there.
From the mid-17th century through the 1930s, the Church of the Nativity of Christ (the Church of the Nativity) stood on this very spot.
In the book *The Origins of Stone Temple Architecture in Sloboda Ukraine*, researcher Andrei Fedorovich Paramonov writes:
Most researchers of Kharkiv’s history believe that the first Christmas Church was built no later than 1655. It is reliably known from the records of the Kuryazh Monastery for 1687 that there was a brotherhood associated with this church… The congregation consisted mainly of Cossacks and auxiliary soldiers, who were renamed “military residents” in 1765. Among the most well-known parishioners were Centurions Ivan Kvitka and Yakov Dovgal, as well as Quartermaster Vasily Kovalevsky. Beginning in the second half of the 18th century, members of the nobility and the merchant class began to settle here…
Originally, the church was made of wood. In 1783, a stone church was erected based on a design by architect P. A. Yaroslavsky; it was subsequently rebuilt several times.
In the 1882 book *Chronicle of the Church of the Nativity of Christ in the City of Kharkiv (1655–1882)*, written by Archpriest Dmitry Fedorovsky, the following can be learned about the events of 1860:
Beyond all expectations, by the will of Providence and with the assistance of one of the priests (now the rector, Archpriest Dmitry Fedorovsky), a devout parishioner was found who had long been seeking an opportunity to offer his services for the common good; He was Alexander Sergeyevich Sergeyev, a hereditary honorary citizen, with the heartfelt support and full readiness of his son, Alexander Alexandrovich Sergeyev, also a hereditary honorary citizen, for this holy cause.
It is Alexander Alexandrovich Sergeev who is considered one of the main founders of the church.
He did not, however, limit himself to building a single side chapel or a new, spacious church. Through his efforts as a trustee and church elder, an elegant iconostasis was installed in the church, the church itself was significantly renovated both inside and out, a stone fence was erected around the church, and significant acquisitions were made for the church itself. It goes without saying that all of this was done entirely at his own expense!
Contemporaries wrote at the time:
So, thanks to Mr. Sergeev, we now have one of the finest churches currently in Kharkiv in terms of comfort, elegance, and splendor.
The Sergeevs’ donations to the church amounted to a considerable sum—more than 50,000 rubles.
Alexander Alexandrovich Sergeev held the position of church warden for a full 15 years. Born in 1855 in our city, Alexander Alexandrovich’s son, Nikolai, brought even greater fame to the family. He was educated at home and later completed his studies at the 2nd Kharkiv Gymnasium.
In 1876, Nikolai Alexandrovich traveled to St. Petersburg to begin his studies at the Institute of Transportation. However, he never enrolled in the institute, as he decided to fulfill his long-held childhood dream—to become an artist. After being accepted as a student at the private school of one of Russia’s most famous marine painters—Lev Feliksovich Lagrio—Sergeev fully realized his calling.
From the late 1870s until 1890, his paintings were not only exhibited at the annual Academic Exhibitions but also received awards. And in 1889, Nikolai Sergeev was awarded the Order of St. Stanislaus, 3rd Class, in recognition of his achievements in the field of art.
Our fellow townsman also played an active role in drafting the charter of the St. Petersburg Society of Artists in 1890. From 1890 to 1903, his paintings were exhibited annually at the society’s exhibitions.
In late 1908, Sergeev was invited to participate in the founding and organization of the A. I. Kuindzhi Society. And in 1910, Nikolai Alexandrovich Sergeev became an academician in landscape painting.
The paintings by our fellow townsman were quite popular among his contemporaries. Even a brief list of the owners of his paintings speaks for itself:
— His Imperial Majesty Emperor Nicholas II
— Her Imperial Majesty Empress Alexandra Feodorovna
— Her Imperial Majesty Empress Maria Feodorovna
— Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich
— Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich
— Count A. D. Sheremetev
— The Tereshchenko Gallery in Kyiv
— The Imperial Academy of Arts
— The Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow
— The Kharkiv Regional Museum
Sergeev’s contemporaries wrote about his paintings:
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 varied moods. His paintings are always poetic and original in conception; they are full of light, radiance, and sunbeams; 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.
However, our talented fellow Kharkiv resident didn’t just paint pictures.
As is well known, the first art postcards (then called “open letters”) appeared in the Russian Empire in 1898. A distinctive feature of these postcards was that they did not feature reproductions of paintings. The artist who undertook the work created individual, complete, and independent works of art. As a result, many of the most talented and famous painters of that time went on to create a whole series of artistic open letters.
Issue No. 41 of the magazine *Ogonyok* from 1910 featured a short article with a photograph that contained a number of very interesting facts.
Artist N. A. Sergeev is painting the work “A Small River” in his studio. The painting is the property of the Officers’ Association of the First Railway Regiment. On the left, on an easel, is a display case containing the originals of open letters published by the “Red Cross.” The photograph was taken at that time for the magazine “Ogonyok” by the artist’s son, Second Lieutenant E. N. Sergeev of the 1st Railway Regiment.
In addition to a unique photo of the great Kharkiv native at work, the magazine also featured images of open letters (postcards) created by Nikolai Alexandrovich. The originals of these six postcards, presumably due to their exclusivity, were immediately acquired by the magazine’s editorial staff. The material published by *Ogonyok* magazine is currently the ONLY mention of the fact that our great fellow citizen, Nikolai Alexandrovich Sergeev, created not only paintings but also beautiful artistic postcards. And, judging by the material found, there was more than one series of them.
As a landscape painter, Nikolai Alexandrovich was convinced that nature must be painted from life, which is why he spent a great deal of time outdoors. A native of Sloboda Ukraine, our fellow countryman strove in his paintings to capture and masterfully convey all the beauty of Ukraine and his native region.
Nikolai Alexandrovich Sergeev died of typhus in Kharkiv in the fall of 1919. The exact date of his death and his place of burial are unknown…
Well, the most expensive painting by our fellow townsman N. A. Sergeev is currently considered to be the work “Winter’s Autumnal Whim: The First Snow” (oil on canvas, 1894; dimensions: 115.5 × 195 cm).
In 2011, at a Russian auction, it was valued at just 250,000–300,000 foreign currency units. The painting sold for 540,500 rubles.
Kharkiv is an amazing city. It effortlessly produces extraordinarily talented people who shed light on its life, yet it forgets them just as easily. But isn’t it a shame that the homeland no longer remembers the Sergeyevs?
- About the military pilot school and the airfield in Kharkiv… - 04.11.2020
- Nikanor Savich—A Political Career by Mistake - 13.07.2020
- And once again, about the Cavalry Guards… - 21.01.2020