Painting by Yuri Kuznetsov

Painting by Yuri Kuznetsov

In addition to icons, during the last year of his life Yuri Kuznetsov has created more than 100 paintings. He painted them “greedy”, quickly, as if he wanted to say a lot, but the time, he intuitively felt, there was little. He often said that he could show or tell about something if he would be asked the right question. Typically, these “right” questions came to him from somewhere, and not from men. But even if you know answers, how to tell about the “Beyond”, or “The Creation,” or how “Angels play”? World for many of these images seems unreal or even invented. Yuri Kuznetsov saw angels, knew what a man feels when his “Earthly life passed”, realized that his soul would find itself in a dark forest”, or what fire “the Cross” burns. And as if by a twist of fate, or perhaps deliberately one of the last pictures appeared to be “Code” – the final chord of earthly life …

October 10, 2012 in a Moscow hospital on the 65th year of life died Russian artist Yuri Erosovich Kuznetsov. Death overtook him suddenly. He worked tirelessly recent years, the artist only occasionally complained of malaise. A trip to a Moscow clinic for examination was his last journey in life. There, in the hospital he soon was diagnosed – cancer.

In addition to icons Yuri Kuznetsov drew amazing pictures, full of deep moral philosophical content, and he called them “rough sketches” because they were drawn hastily, in obedience to the feelings and intuition. Disciplined icon painter did not make mistakes, putting on velvet paper only true lines with brush with tempera.

In the works of Yuri Kuznetsov you see Love and Honesty, courage and tirelessness, determination, self-discipline and simplicity as they opened to the artist at the moment of insight in the process of penetration into the inner world of an intangible that can not be measured or determined. So by the creative act of the artist to our eyes become available emanation of our thoughts, feelings and aspirations. These internal states – the finishing touches to a general picture of the life.

As the artist himself said: “I’m not driven by an unseen force. With this guidance of the harmony between the choice of brush, the direction of its movement, color saturation tempera, density of smear and its character. If I was trying to portray something special, nothing would have happened”. As a result, we see the finished product, in which neither subtract or add anything are needed.

Yuri Erosovich Kuznetsov (August 18, 1948, Kovrov, Vladimir region – October 10, 2012, Moscow) – Russian icon painter, creator of his own iconographic style, called ‘Kuznetsovsk’. For 18 years, Yuri Kuznetsov painted 1446 icons that are in private homes, churches and monasteries. In the area of the Istra reservoir was built the Church of St. Nicholas, fully decorated with his icons. There are two exhibition halls, constantly presenting icons and pictures of Kuznetsov – Municipal Budget Institution of Culture “Exhibition Hall” in Vladimir and Art Gallery “Kristina” in Moscow. Currently, in the style of “Kuznetsovsk” painting works only one painter – his daughter and successor Marina Filippova.

Painting by Yuri Kuznetsov

Awards:
– City Award “Recognition” (Kovrov, Vladimir region.) In the field of culture, art and literature.
– “Peter’s Honorary Letter” and the medal “For sacrificial service” from All-Russian Public Movement “Orthodox Russia”.
– Silver medal “For the contribution to domestic culture” from the Creative Union of Artists of Russia.
– Medal “Russian Land” of All-Russian Public Movement “Orthodox Russia”.
– Golden Diploma and malachite medal “For a great contribution to the implementation of programs to protect mothers and children”, from international public association of charitable funds “Mama”.
– Honorary sign of the All-Russian public organization of veterans.
– Diploma “For creative activities, a great contribution to the revival and preservation of traditions of Russian spirituality.”