BIOGRAPHY OF NIKOLAI KUZMIN
Beginning
- 1938, August 14: Nikolai Kuzmin was born in the Talynskoye village, not far from Nizhny Novgorod on the river Volga.
- 1956-1959: He studies at the art college of Pavlovo-on-Oka (close to Nizhnyi Novgorod), an old town with a strong art and crafts tradition.
- 1965: Nikolai Kuzmin moves to Moscow.
- 1965-1970: He studies at the Stroganov Moscow State University of Arts and Industry (also called Stroganovka).
The native house of Nikolai Kuzmin in Talynskoye, not far from Nizhny Novgorod...
...in 2004 with his daughter Luba sitting on the porch.
First works
- 1968-1970: At the end of his studies Nikolai Kuzmin participates in many projects, in particular in the artistic design and decoration of the USSR’s pavilions at international exhibitions in various spheres (e.g. Osaka, Japan, in 1968) and in the creation of reliefs for the Moscow Metro.
- 1988: Designing and making the presentation sleeve of a vinyl record for the international ‘exhibition Praga 1988’ in Prague, Czechoslovakia. On the sleeve he makes his rainbow theme visible.
The Kremlin of Rostov the Great, 200 km (130 miles) north-east of Moscow...
...and its Voskresenskaya church, which the artist has painted several times.
A selection of exhibitions
- 1970:
- First art exhibitions in Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod. Then N. Kuzmin participates in most regional and national exhibitions in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod and other cities of Russia and USSR.
- 1988:
- National exhibition ‘the Millenary of Slavic writing and culture’ in the Great Moscow Manege.
- 1989:
- Regional exhibition ‘Earth and Mankind’, Moscow.
- Exhibition of the artists of the USSR’s republics, Leningrad.
- Exhibition ‘selfportrait’, Moscow.
- 1991:
- Inter-republic exhibitions ‘The National Monuments and the Cultural Memory in Russian, Ukrainian and Bielorussian Painters’, Smolensk.
- National exhibition ‘The Light for every one’ in the Great Moscow Manege.
- 1993:
- National exhibition ‘Russian’s last emperor’ in the Great Moscow Manege.
- London, Royal Institute of International Affairs, ‘Exhibition of Russian painting’, with three other Russian painters.
- 1995:
- Two exhibitions in Denmark, one in Copenhagen (head office of the engineering firm Mann), one in Herning (Seminarium), a town known for its art museum.
- 1997:
- Nikolai Kuzmin’s work presented by the muscovite gallery ‘Expo 88’ at the Strasbourg Contemporary Art Fair.
- Retrospective ‘Connection of times’ with works painted over the last thirty years, Central House of Artists, Moscow.
- 2001:
- Exhibition in the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Paris.
- 2006:
- Exhibition ‘Paris-Moscow, a meeting point’ an artistic event organised with the Montmartre Museum.
- 2006, 2009:
- Exhibitions ‘Once upon a time on the golden porch…’ and ‘nomadic paintings’, personal / retrospective exhibitions, «Carré à la Farine», city of Versailles.
- From 2002 to 2008:
- Personal exhibitions in Chambon-sur-Lignon, France.
- 2007:
- Personal exhibition in Théoule-sur-Mer on the Riviera, France.
- 2008:
- Exhibition in the Château des Tourelles in Plessis Trévise, France, together with 5 other artists.
- 2006, 2007, 2008:
- Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts (‘National Society of Fine Art’) exhibition in Carrousel du Louvre,
- Salon d’Automne exhibition,
- Salon Violet exhibition.
- 2009:
- Carrefour des Arts, Lalouvesc, France.
- 2010:
- Retrospective in the Museum of Allard, town of Montbrison, Loire, France.
- Retrospective exhibition organised together by Matthieu Dubuc gallery and Jacques Baumel multimedia library, town of Rueil-Malmaison, France.
- 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015:
- Personal exhibitions in Matthieu Dubuc gallery in Rueil-Malmaison.
- 2012:
- Exhibition 'Corsica-Russia - Crossed Cultures', with other artists in Calvi, Haute-Corse, France.
- 2014:
- Nikolai Kuzmin participates in the ‘Remembering Josette Bossez’ exhibition in Chaville, France, about Great War 14-18.
- 2015:
- A week-end of art in Marly le Roi, France.
- Invited by Eliane Wauquiez-Motte, mayor of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon (France), to present his work in the Town Hall.
- The new Matthieu Dubuc gallery (Rueil-Malmaison, France) inaugurated with an exhibition of Nikolai Kuzmin's painting.
- 2016:
- Personal exhibition in l'Achronique, a gallery and an artist's workshop in Montmartre, Paris.
- Since 2006:
- ‘Remembering Corot’ exhibitions in Viroflay, France.
- Art Capital annual exhibitions under the nave of Grand Palais des Champs Elysées, Paris:
- Society of French Artists (until 2009)
- Watercolour and Drawing exhibition
- the ‘Comparisons’ annual exibition (since 2022), with ‘Ut Pictura Poesis’ and later ‘Inevitable Figuration’ group of artists - leader Carole Melmoux.
- 2021:
- Personal exhibition at the ‘Gallery of Painting Art’ (Moscow, Russia).
- 2023:
- Personal exhibition at ‘Carré des Coignard’, together with sculptor Brigitte Bizord (Nogent-sur-Marne, Val-de-Marne, France).
- 2024:
- Personal exhibition at ‘Galerie Le 140’, together with sculptor Charles Favard (Garches, Hauts-de-Seine, France).
- 'Art and Material' annual exhibition (Maisse, Essonne, France).
- Nikolai Kuzmin takes part in exhibitions in Russia, notably with the Moscow Union of artists, of which he is a member.
Finishing the preview of Nikolai Kuzmin's exhibition in Matthieu Dubuc gallery...
...in 2015, at the same time as the inauguration of the new gallery.
Distinctions
- 2008: Gold medal at the Loire School of Artists exhibition, Celettes, France.
- 2008: Prize of « Univers des Arts » review at Salon Violet, Paris.
- 2008: Prize of the town of Chaville at the annual exhibition « Remembering Josette Bossez », Chaville, France.
- 2010: Prize ‘Maxim Juan’ of the Taylor Foundation at the Watercolour and Drawing exhibition, Art Capital, Grand Palais des Champs Elysées, Paris.
- 2024: Prize ‘Lantara’ of the Regional Nature Park of French Gâtinais (PNR)
Nikolai Kuzmin right in the middle of creating...
...not far from Bonifacio, when he was in Corsica in 2005.
Public and private collections
- Museum of Allard, Town of Montbrison, Loire, France,
- Museum of Contemporary Russian Art in Jersey City, New Jersey, USA
- Contemporary art collection of Tsaritsyno Museum, Moscow, Russia,
- Museum of Korčula, Croatia,
- Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation,
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Croatia,
- Embassy of United Kingdom in Moscow,
- Embassy of Croatia in Moscow,
- Holy See (Vatican City State) Embassy in Moscow,
- Church of Théoule-sur-Mer, Alpes-Maritimes, France,
- Private galleries.
The preview of Nikolai Kuzmin's exhibition in Théoule-sur-Mer...
...in 2007, at the same time as the inauguration of this exhibition hall dedicated to the arts.
Press references
- French review ‘Univers des Arts’:
- Patrice de la Perrière, editor in charge of this review, ‘Nikolai Kuzmin, a cascade of light’ (October 2006)
- Thibaud Josset, ‘Kuzmin, a painting in the storm’ (November 2011)
- Thibaud Josset, « Nikolai Kuzmin, light modeler » (February 2024)
- French review ‘Artistes Magazine’, about the painting technique of N. Kuzmin (September-October 2012).
- French newspaper Le Figaro – An article about Nikolai Kuzmin’s painting for the occasion of his exhibition in Versailles (issued on Monday, November 6th, 2006).
- Where Moscow – review on cultural news of the Capital city; ‘Moscow on the paintings of Nikolai Kuzmin’, an article by Igor Pechkin, editor of the Muscovite artist journal.
- The Moscow Tribune - Announcing an exhibition of retrospective works by Nikolai Kuzmin (May 1997, more than 130 paintings) in the Centre of Art Exhibitions and Moscow Museum of Modern Art – currently Central House of Artists – close to the Moscow river.
- Viechernyaya Moskva – the Moscow evening newspaper. An article in Russian about the painter’s life, by Evgeny Nekrasov, a renowned journalist, an author of a series of articles about artists, poets...
- The Moscow Times – The article is about the artist’s journeys that give him a new sense of light, colour.
- Yuniy Khudozhnik, an art review addressing a wide readership, including the students of Fine Arts colleges and schools. The article is about the artistic journeys in Denmark and England of Nikolai Kuzmin. An article in Russian.
- ‘The world of painting’ magazine (Moscow Union of Artists' painters' association), an article (1st release in December 2021) by painter Natalia Yustitskaya, written before Nikolai Kuzmin's personal exhibition in Moscow.
The artist in front of the Muscovite Kremlin in 2015...
...Moscow is his city, and he appreciates its architecture a lot.
Discover how Nikolai Kuzmin is fond of Muscovite architecture.