Maleev Mikhail Biography

Sergiev Posad land is full of memories of the great spiritual and military exploits. From here he left, blessed by Sergius of Radonezh, Prince Dmitry Donskoy on Kulikovo Field; Here, not far from the village of Abramtsevo, the transformation of the youth of Bartholomew into the great St. Sergius of Radonezh was accomplished. Here, in Abramtsev himself, 10 miles from Sergiev Posad, an outstanding Orthodox painter Mikhail Nesterov created a piercing painting “Vision of the Bartholomew’s Pods”, which reflected one of the iconic events of Russian history.

These places themselves, saints for every Russian person, influenced the choice of the path, feelings, thoughts and the formation of the personality of Mikhail Maleev. The son, grandson and great -grandson of priests, the heir to the family of clergymen and a direct descendant of the holy martyr Mikhail Pavlovich Belossov, Mikhail Maleev seemed to be intended for the service of the church.

But the ways of the Lord are inaccessible - and the non -calling road is not easy. In childhood, Mikhail Maleev found great ability to draw. He visited the Island, and in the year entered the famous Abramtsev Art and Industry School. The Abramtsevo Museum with his magnificent collection, with his bench Vrubel, the chapel of Vasnetsov, with the surrounding landscapes, sung by Mikhail Nesterov, Konstantin Korovin, Igor Grabar, Vasily Polenov and many other remarkable artists - the whole world between the rivers of the army and pages, truly the Russian world, played a huge role in the formation of Maleev as Maleeva as Maleev artist.

In his work, he will continue the traditions of Mikhail Nesterov, rethought in the light of the creative searches of Pavel Korin. Stroganova, where in those years the famous “sixties” taught, including Heliy Korzhev, whose uncompromising art was influenced by the artistic methods of a young artist. In the first half of the X, without ceasing to study diligently, Mikhail Maleev takes part in the restoration of a number of Ural churches and travels a lot in holy places: Kizhi, Ferapontovo, Solovki, Valaam, Optina of deserts, Diveevo, Nilo-Stolbensian desert later the northern wanderings of the young master will be reflected in many of his remarkable paintings; For example, the landscape “Waiting for Eternity” is clearly inspired by the Russian North.

The composition of the picture is complex, narrative. For the most complete disclosure of the image of the Orthodox old man, the artist writes his portrait in the interior of the northern hut, through the opened window and door of which a magnificent landscape is visible. This compositional technique, so beloved by painters of the Renaissance and found a modern embodiment in Pavel Korin's portraits, gives a large figure in the foreground a monumental sound: the figure of a monk is the spiritual center of the picture, and it is also a compositional and color center.

The background surrounding it requires a careful, slow reading of all the details, and the author, with the help of simple techniques, directs the viewer's gaze slowly in a circle from left to right: from a burning candle and skull - symbols of eternity - through an expressive “northern” still life with dried fish and cranberry in a wooden bushlass ... and to the mountains over blue water.

Already in this relatively early portrait, the basic principles of the work of Mikhail Maleev, who have found harmonious embodiment and development of the next twenty years, are visible. His paintings are “lives”, designed to teach truth and beauty, and therefore any subject in his works is endowed with super -free, higher meaning. After graduating from the Stroganov school, Mikhail Maleev comes to work in the year in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra.

In the laurel, fateful meetings of a young artist with a confessor, the great elder Fr. Kirill Pavlov, with Monachash Monachs Fr. Rafail Berestov and Fr. Nikolai Samsonov. These righteous people helped Mikhail Anatolyevich Maleev even more close to God, to fully realize his calling. He thinks, travels a lot, paints churches in the suburbs, visits Italy, France, Spain, Greece, England, and he gets acquainted with outstanding examples of the art of the Old World.

In the year, Mikhail Maleev enters the Moscow Theological Seminary, while working at the Lavra church and archaeological office. The very excellent icon painter, he carefully studied the icon -painting skill of the great masters of antiquity. Later, Mikhail Maleev will successfully transfer his knowledge to the beginner icon painters to his workshop, created at the church of the Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Brattsev and the revived efforts of her abbot.

Service in the temple from the year is the spiritual feat of the father of Michael, whose spirit burns faithfully in the name of faith. The clergy are participants in the wars of the XX century ”,“ Subjectors. The ascetics of faith and piety of the XX century. " In the year, Mikhail Maleev is admitted to the Union of Writers of Russia, and later he is awarded the All -Russian Literary Prize named after Generalissimo A.

Father Mikhail and artistic work. In years, together with artist A., this work was awarded high reviews of specialists. In the year, Father Mikhail was admitted to the Union of Artists of Russia.The main artistic achievement of Mikhail Maleev today is the extensive series of portraits of confessors, monks, elders, which became the basis of the Gallery of Eldity, opened at the church of the Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

About the outstanding Orthodox, whose portraits make up the exposition of the gallery, Father Mikhail himself wrote: “They can say about them that the world is not worthy of them. Perhaps this world is holding on their holy prayers. ” The portrait gallery includes picturesque paintings and graphic works close in spiritual content, but different in artistic techniques. The graphics of Father Michael makes a deep impression.

Undoubtedly, the style and internal energy of graphic portraits was influenced by Pavel Korin's drawings for his famous “Requiem”. Like his predecessor, Mikhail Maleev set his creative goal to convey the intensity of faith transforming a person as much as possible. In the portrait of the year with a flower, the Holy Patriarch is that purity, that all -in -spent meekness, that smile of the chosen one of God, who refers us to the gospel times, to the pillars of faith of the distant past.

The huge power of life, the firmness of character and wisdom is reflected in the series of graphic portraits of the Holy Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Cyril. In the portrait of the year, the internal energy of the Holy Patriarch is externally reflected in the composition of the graphic sheet. A flying diagonal construction, as it were, enters into an artistic conflict with powerful compositional volumes of the face, cassock, hands, but this technique conveys the versatility and depth of the image of the Primate of the Orthodox faith.

The portrait of Archimandrite Kirill Pavlov of the year is striking, almost unearthly beauty; Strength and conviction shine on the face of Archpriest Oleg Taor for the year; Enlightened simplicity is read in a prone face of a blessed Lyubushka for a year. The portrait schedule of Mikhail’s father is outwardly very simple: he likes to draw on tinted paper using pencils, chalk, occasionally - pastel.

The artist draws faces - these mirrors of the soul, draws anxiously, trying to reflect all the shades of the spiritual life of amazing, holy people with whom his fate brought together. One of the central paintings of the series "Elders and Pupils" is a large -scale canvas "Creation of the world Archimandrite Kirill Pavlov" of the year. This picture is filled with complex symbols, it has many details that carry a certain semantic load.

The viewer gets the opportunity to personally touch the depths of being, but provided that he independently does the unhurried and difficult work of the soul. In contemporary art, simplified forms are popular, the prototype of which is comics and video clips: they, as a rule, do not require a deep analysis from the viewer - the main thing in simplified art is consumption.

The symbols of a pair of inharmonious, vain, vain civilization: stories and “codaks”, “Coca-Cola” and “Malbore”-a common attributes of urban life-surround the humble and powerful figure of Archimandrite Kirill Pavlov. Around the monk, the element of the vain, in it - the justification of the world, the harmony of mental silence. In fact, the “creation of the world” is also a portrait in the background, only the background has grown strongly, tightly filled the space and introduced a certain note of anxiety.

One of the most striking paintings by Mikhail Maleev, “Shadows. Dedicated to Archimandrite Zinon Taeodor »For the year, talks about the fate of the artist in the modern world. Zinon, one of the most talented Christian artists of the 20th century, is depicted with a board for writing an icon and brushes in his hands, in a pose of deep thought. Behind him, the world is, as it were, for a bifurcate: on the left - the temptations of sinfulness and vanity, the faces of the elders and the righteous are quietly shine on the right.

The artist, by his very vocation, should show the world his true, albeit dodger face, and even the monk with a brush should praise the indestructible faith in the Lord; And both of these sides of the artistic understanding of the world find a convex reflection in the picture. Father Michael wrote another excellent, distinguished by a great resemblance to the graphic portrait of Archimandrite Zinon, but in the film “Shadow” the image of the great icon painter is deeper, dramatic, closer to the viewer.

The depth and marginal sincerity differs the painting “The old man's tear of the senimin Rafail Berestov” of the year. This is the canvas, perhaps the most “Korinskoye” in the series “Elders and Pupils”. A tragic black-red color, a well-thought-out composition, a schematic of Raphael, mournfully compressing the tragedy of faith and church, very thinly written details ... I would like to consider the picture many times in the search for more and more meanings.

In a large series of works “Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus', Kirill” can be found all shades of the artistic work of Mikhail Maleev. The very personality of the Patriarch - a diplomat in the name of faith, a fighter in the name of the Lord, a man carrying an unbearable cross of vocation - moves artists to write portraits of the Holy.The portrait gallery of Patriarch Kirill performed by Mikhail’s father is diverse: it included as working with fleeting postures and gestures, characteristic and expressive, but possibly more mundane - more philosophical, deep canvases; Among them is the excellent picture of the “Primate of Russia” of the year.

Today, during the tests of the Slavic world and the Orthodox faith, the paintings dedicated to the soldiers - the defenders of the Fatherland: “Kulikovo Field of the XX Century”, “Requiem” and others are especially relevant. The father of Michael has painfully tragic images, especially in paintings dedicated to the holy martyr and his great -grandfather Mikhail Belossov.

The artist has extremely harmonious, blessed works, for example, a portrait of Archpriest Tikhon Pelikh or Archpriest Gleb Kolyada. The work of Mikhail Maleev is multifaceted, like life itself. And the only thing that is invariably in it is the inexhaustible, radiant light of faith, the light of eternal life, and for centuries stains the immortal beauty of God's world.

Protoire artist Mikhail Maleev, member of the Union of Artists of Russia, the Union of Writers of Russia, the Union of Journalists of Russia, was noted for his work by numerous awards of the Church and the state.

He is the honored artist of Russia, the cavalier of the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky, the Order of the Monk Andrei Rublev, the owner of the medal of the Russian Academy of Arts “worthy” and many other awards. The creative energy of Father Michael is inexhaustible-he, in addition to the huge ascetic work of the clergyman, teaches, educates the young generation, writes books and creates paintings, educates two talented icon painters.

The paintings and drawings of Father Michael multiply good in the world, remind of the true calling of man - to love. Love your neighbor, love the far and even enemy, love our earth, love God. Exhibitions of the works of Mikhail Maleev - always a poisoning event in the cultural life of Russia. Today, the artist - at the zenith of life and the heyday of creative forces and all the time conquers new artistic peaks.

His fate, his ideas, the poetics of his art are closely connected with each other. He creates how he lives - sincerely, God -fearing, spiritualized and trembling. He writes and draws those in whom he believes, to whom he worships, and invites us all of us also to knead the heart before his heroes. This is the strength of the art of Mikhail Maleev - our contemporary and our mentor.