Princess Maria Klavdievna Tenisheva. Tenisheva Maria Klavdievna Bryansk land - public figure, philanthropist Klavdiya Tenisheva

The Russian noblewoman Tenisheva Maria Klavdievna, whose biography will be described in this article, bore the surname Pyatkovskaya as a girl. She was a prominent public figure, teacher and philanthropist. She is also known as a creative person, enamel artist and art collector. Tenisheva Maria Klavdievna founded the St. Petersburg Art Studio, the Museum of Russian Antiquity in the city of Smolensk, the Drawing School (also in St. Petersburg), the Bezhitsa Vocational School, as well as art and industrial workshops on the Talashkino estate, which belonged to her.

Tenisheva Maria Klavdievna: brief biography

Of course, the story of a person’s life begins with the exact date of his birth. Unfortunately, history has not preserved information about exactly what year the future talented artist was born, since she was illegitimate, albeit a metropolitan noblewoman. No one today knows what her father's last name is. After marriage, she took her husband’s surname and began to be called Tenisheva Maria Klavdievna. Her date of birth is April 20, but the year is indicated approximately, between 1865-1867. By the way, there are suggestions that her father could be the Russian Emperor Alexander II himself. Apparently, it is precisely because of this that the story of her birth is so shrouded in mystery.

Unhappy childhood

Her mother Maria Alexandrovna married Claudius Stefanovich Pyatkovsky and bore his last name. Little Masha’s second stepfather was M. P. von Diesen, a very wealthy man who owned several houses both in St. Petersburg and Moscow. The mother did not treat her daughter with tenderness and care, and the girl had to always be on her guard so as not to incur her displeasure, which could result in severe punishment and even beatings. The girl grew up easily vulnerable and withdrawn; she could be hurt with just one glance. In addition, she held the grudge for a long time and could not forgive. At the same time, she was a very strong and strong-willed person, independent and active. She dreamed of a different life, opposite to the one she had in her stepfather's house.

Education

Until 1869, the future Princess Maria Klavdievna Tenisheva studied at home under the watchful supervision of a French tutor. However, having learned about the recently opened first girls' gymnasium in Russia, where girls were taught according to the program of men's schools, she decided to take the exams and entered. The founder of the gymnasium was M. Speshneva. Studying was easy for young Masha, and she soon became one of the first students of this educational institution.

First marriage

In 1876, Maria got married. Her husband was the lawyer R. N. Nikolaev. A year later, her daughter was born, Maria Rafailovna - the future Baroness von der Osten-Sacken. However, this marriage was short-lived and soon broke up. Later, in her autobiographical book “Tenisheva Maria Klavdievna: Impressions of My Life,” she wrote that the reason for the divorce was the incompatibility of their natures with her husband.

Paris

When the baby was 4 years old, Maria Klavdievna left home, taking her daughter with her. She went to Paris, where she began studying vocals at the M. Marchesi music school. Meanwhile, Masha was looked after by her faithful maid Lisa, who would remain with them for the rest of her life. Soon Paris becomes a very hometown for Maria Klavdievna Tenisheva, here she feels like a fish in water. Here everything is close and understandable to her. She leads a social life and meets creative people. At the music school she meets Charles Gounod. Her circle of acquaintances is growing every day. Among her friends is also Ivan Turgenev. The artist is also glad that Maria Klavdievna Tenisheva accepted him into her circle of friends. He paints her portrait based on the first impression she made on him.

First meeting with Talashkino

After living in the capital of France for two years, the future princess returns to Russia and goes to the estate to visit her childhood friend Kitty. She really likes Talashkino, despite the fact that there is nothing remarkable here. She likes her native nature, hills, copses and fields. Having rested a little, she and her friend go to Paris again, because she needs to finish her studies at a vocal school. In the French capital, they begin to study art history on their own, visit various museums, galleries, etc. At the Louvre, Maria Klavdievna Tenisheva meets the artist Gilbert and begins taking drawing lessons from him. It was during this period that she began to become interested in enamels.

Beginning of social activities

In 1887, having again arrived in Talashkino, the friends opened a school for peasant children. They decided not only to teach them to read and write, but also to introduce them to crafts and give them the opportunity to succeed in life. Tenisheva was a true patriot, and she really wanted to somehow contribute to the prosperity of her country. Perhaps it was the blood of her crowned father that spoke in her?

Finding yourself

A year later, Maria Klavdievna Tenisheva became acquainted with Konstantin Stanislavsky. She decides to try herself in the theatrical field. Being gifted by nature, she begins to make progress, and the great director gives her the opportunity to prove herself as an actress in the theatrical production of “The Minion” on the stage of the Paradise Theater. However, fine art takes over, and she continues her studies in watercolors with N. Golitsinsky, and then enters the Baron Stieglitz School in the drawing class. Moving in creative circles, she met the young artist I. E. Repin, and then Alexander Benois, with whom the artist’s brother Albert introduced her.

Second marriage

In 1892, she remarried and now enters high society as Princess Maria Klavdievna Tenisheva. A philanthropist, entrepreneur, scientist and simply a big-hearted person, Vyacheslav Nikolaevich supports all his wife’s endeavors. Soon he founded the famous Tenishev School in St. Petersburg. Marriage to a man of such high caliber gave her many advantages and opened up opportunities that she had never dreamed of. However, she uses them not for personal prosperity, but for the benefit of the development of domestic art. This suggests that Maria Klavdievna Tenisheva is a philanthropist in the truest sense of the word.

Life in Bezhitsa

Her husband owned the Bryansk Rail Rolling Plant, which was located in Bezhitsa. Arriving here, on her estate, Maria Klavdievna begins to engage in educational activities. Of course, her husband helped her a lot with this. Without his capital, she would not have been able to accomplish even a fraction of her plans. In addition, he was a very wise man, respected in scientific circles, and he helped her a lot with advice. V.N. Tenishev received international recognition as a sociologist and ethnographer, the author of valuable scientific works. However, in Russia he was under the secret supervision of the authorities, who were wary of his freedom-loving views, as well as disagreement with state policies, with which he shared from time to time in narrow progressive circles. Meanwhile, his wife, who understood nothing about politics, felt that she needed to develop the talents of people who could not afford to get ahead and make themselves known to the world. Poor artists, performers and singers, in a word, people of art, constantly gathered in her house. However, all this irritated the prince, he could not stand manifestations of “bohemianism,” he did not like antiques, and he did not understand how he could spend money on purchasing art objects for his personal collection. However, there was something that united these two such different people - a love of music and enlightenment. Tenishev played the cello beautifully and was friends with many famous musicians.

Meeting Tchaikovsky

In 1892, thanks to Vyacheslav Konstantinovich, Tenisheva Maria Klavdievna met the great Tchaikovsky. Once in their house on the English Embankment in St. Petersburg, the princely couple organized an evening in honor of the composer, and the princess herself decided to perform Tchaikovsky's romances especially for him. The great musician was delighted with her singing and rushed to accompany her. The evening was surprisingly good, and the composer did not want to leave; he was even late for the opera rehearsal of Iolanta.

Tenisheva Maria Klavdievna: Talashkino, transformation

Ekaterina Svyatopolk-Chetvertinskaya was the owner of this estate. She happily agreed to sell it to her friend’s husband, Prince Tenishev, and he, in turn, gave his wife a royal gift for her name day. At the same time, Kitty received permission for a life annuity and remained to live on the estate. From this day on, Talashkino has been transformed beyond recognition. Here, an active woman establishes an oil mill, for which she brings high-quality equipment from abroad. This time the princess proves to herself and those around her that she can be not only bohemian, creative and romantic, but also a great businessman. All products from the factory are imported to both Russian capitals - Moscow and St. Petersburg, as well as to Paris. A grandiose construction project begins throughout the estate. Extensive greenhouses, a steam mill, animal enclosures, and various workshops, including those for repairing agricultural machinery, are being built. The workers who arrived to work in Talashkino begin building their own housing. Tenisheva Maria Klavdievna spent all her time on the estate; she brought a car for herself from Paris and drove it around her estate. Then a stud farm consisting of 50 horses was transferred here from Khotylev. Hot water supply is provided for horses. And horse breeders are invited from England. Later, a racing arena and a box are built next to the stud farm.

Expansion of domains

Tenisheva Maria Klavdievna, whose family only occasionally gathers in Talashkino, has found a new activity for herself. She began to buy nearby villages and farmsteads. She founded schools and built dormitories. Soon the whole district began to talk about the school in Flenovo. From time to time she visited St. Petersburg. Here in their own home she founded a drawing school. Young talented guys who wanted to enter the Academy of Arts came here to study. Among the students were M. Dobuzhinsky, Z. E. Serebryakova, S. V. Chekhonin, Repin’s son Yuri, A. Pogosskaya, M. Chambers-Bilibina and others. The school, at the request of the princess, is led by Ilya Repin himself.

Dedications

Friends, art critics, whom she patronized at the beginning of her career and with whom she developed friendships, began to dedicate works to her. Thus, composer A. S. Arensky wrote the notes for the romance “Lily of the Valley,” and P. I. Tchaikovsky composed the words for them. The artist offers the princess his services in systematizing the Tenishev collection of drawings and watercolors. He also paints many paintings with views of the Talashkinsky estate. 1896 was a special year for the Tenishev family. The Bryansk plant and the Bezhitsa craft school, owned by the prince and princess, were presented at the All-Russian exhibition. They were awarded the highest royal gratitude.

And again Paris

No matter how much Maria Klavdievna loved Russia, Paris was nevertheless the city where she felt most comfortable. And now, after a long break, she finds herself again in her beloved city. Here she is again drawn to study and enters the Julien Academy. In B. Constant's class she continues her studies in painting and drawing. Here she meets someone in distress and helps him. In addition, she buys most of the artist's graphic works. Meanwhile, revolutionary unrest is brewing in Russia, and its drawing school is beginning to be suspected of organizing various gatherings. Because of this, a conflict arises between her and the school director, Repin, but Repin, not wanting to lose the school, resolves this problem with the authorities. In the same year, another drawing school opened in Smolensk. The premises for the creative workshop are the house of E.K. Svyatopolk-Chetvertinskaya, and one of I. Repin’s students A. Kurennaya is appointed head.

Collectibles and exhibitions

In 1897, an exhibition opened in St. Petersburg, where watercolors and drawings from the collection of Maria Tenisheva were exhibited to visitors. The entire St. Petersburg elite is talking about the exhibition. And now Tretyakov himself honors her with his attention. He offers the princess to buy back several paintings, but she refuses him, explaining her refusal by her reluctance to lose the integrity of the collection. By the way, in the end she offers her collection to the Russian Museum, which was supposed to open soon. But they tell her that they can only take paintings by Russian artists. At the same time, Prince V.N. Tenishev received a government appointment as General Commissioner and head of the Russian department at the World Exhibition in Paris. And his wife, together with the philanthropist and head of the St. Petersburg ballet troupe Sergei Diaghilev, went to Finland to organize a joint art exhibition.

Magazine "World of Art"

At the very beginning of the 20th century, Maria Tenisheva and Sergei Mamontov created a new cultural magazine - “World of Arts”. It is from this period that the portrait of the princess, painted by Serov and kept in the Smolensk Museum, dates back. While working on the magazine, she met the outstanding photographer of her time, I. Borshchevsky. And they begin to travel around ancient Russian cities and photograph local attractions for the magazine.

Enamel art

Some time after the creation of the magazine, she returned to her old passion - enamel art and founded a special art school in Smolensk. The craftsmen who took part in it began to decorate the church, built at the expense of the Tenishev family. A brick factory was also built for this purpose.

Further activities

Over the next few years, Tenisheva did so much for the development of Russian culture that it is impossible to count everything. Exhibitions, museums were opened, concerts were given, and much more. In Moscow, the “Rodnik” store was created, where products produced in Talashkino workshops were sold. Tenisheva's house in Talashkino is always full of celebrities. He even comes here himself. As a result of the revolution of 1905, the Talashkino workshops are closed, the princess stops funding the magazine “World of Arts”, and it also closes. Maria Klavdievna, having taken her precious collection, goes to Paris and organizes an exhibition there. Living in the French capital, she continues to engage in enamel art. In 1907, returning to Russia, she learned that she had been awarded the title of honorary citizen of Smolensk. In 1912, the Emperor of All Rus' Nicholas II honored the Tenishevsky Museum with a visit.

First World War

In 1914, with the outbreak of war, a military hospital was opened in Smolensk. Maria Klvdievna cannot remain indifferent and works in it herself, and her car is used to transport the wounded. Nicholas II arrives at the infirmary to greet and reward the army men. The Emperor highly appreciated the princess's patriotism and thanked her for her service to her homeland. In 1915-1916 Tenisheva is working on her dissertation and defending it. The October Revolution is approaching. Cultural life in the country freezes, and Tenisheva experiences severe depression. Then it was October, and she and a group of close people had to flee to the south of the country, from where she crossed to France, where she lived until 1928.

Epilogue

Many famous people in art began to come to her cozy house. It was during this period that she began working on her book, which was mentioned at the beginning of our article. Princess Tenisheva died in 1928 in a foreign land, but in her beloved city. She never saw her beloved Mother Russia again. Her Parisian house was called small Talashkin.

Maria Klavdievna Pyatkovskaya was born in St. Petersburg on May 20, 1858 into a noble family, but was considered illegitimate. At the age of 16, she was married to lawyer Rafail Nikolaev, but the marriage was unsuccessful. Leaving her little daughter Maria in the care of her husband, she went to Paris in 1881, where she received a musical education and became a professional singer. There, Maria Klavdievna studied painting, and also began to get involved in collecting art and folk art.

For the summer, Maria Klavdievna returned from France to Russia and lived on the estate of A.N. Nikolaev (her husband’s uncle) near Smolensk. There she found her best friend - E.K. Svyatopolk-Chetvertinskaya, nicknamed “Kitu”, and also met the largest Russian industrialist who subsidized the construction of the first automobile plant in Russia, one of the pioneers of electromechanical production in our country - Prince V.N. .Shadow.

Despite the fact that the prince was 22 years older than Maria Klavdievna, they got married in 1892 after the prince’s quick divorce from his first wife and the dissolution of the marriage by Maria Klavdievna. However, her husband’s relatives did not recognize the dowry, and Maria Klavdievna was never included in the genealogy of the Tenishev princes.

Having received the title and money from Vyacheslav Nikolaevich, Tenisheva began to implement her ideas.

The life’s work for M.K. Tenisheva was Talashkino, which the couple purchased from “Kitu” in 1893, and a year later, the Tenishevs bought the Flenovo farmstead next to Talashkino, opening there an agricultural school that was unique at that time - with the best teachers and the richest library. At the school, on the initiative of the princess, educational workshops for applied arts were created: carpentry, wood carving and painting, metal chasing, ceramics, fabric dyeing and embroidery.

At the turn of the century, Talashkino turned into a spiritual and cultural center of Russia, similar to Abramtsevo near Moscow. It became a meeting place for prominent cultural figures, inspired by the idea of ​​a “new Russian Renaissance”. The educational idea attracted many outstanding Russian artists to Talashkino. V.D. Polenov, V.M. Vasnetsov, S.V. Malyutin, M.V. Vrubel, K.A. Korovin, V.A. Serov, N.K. Roerich visited and worked on the princess’s estate, offering their drawings for painting balalaikas, chests, furniture.

Maria Klavdievna's works were appreciated and in France she was elected a full member of the Society of Fine Arts in Paris and a member of the Union of Decorative and Applied Arts in Paris. After an exhibition of her work in Rome, Tenisheva received an Honorary Diploma from the Italian Ministry of Public Education and was elected an honorary member of the Roman Archaeological Society.

M. K. Tenisheva’s true passion was Russian antiquity. The collection of Russian antiquities she collected was exhibited in Paris and made an indelible impression. It was this collection that became the basis of the Russian Antiquity Museum in Smolensk. In 1911, Tenisheva donated Russia’s first museum of ethnography and Russian decorative and applied arts, “Russian Antiquity,” to Smolensk.

After the revolution of 1917, Tenisheva, together with her close friend E.K. Svyatopolk-Chetvertinskaya, left Russia forever, settling in France.

Maria Klavdievna Tenisheva died on April 14, 1928 in the Parisian suburb of Saint-Cloud. In his obituary dedicated to Maria Klavdievna, I. Ya. Bilibin wrote: “She devoted her entire life to her native Russian art, for which she did an infinite amount.”

Russian aristocrat, patron of art, Princess Maria Tenisheva, née Pyatkovskaya, lived an amazing life, similar to a novel, where love and suffering, luxury and poverty, openness and misunderstanding, respect and misunderstandings, gratitude and oblivion were intertwined...

Having learned the details of the princess's life, Ivan Turgenev was inspired to write a story about her, but, unfortunately, did not realize his intention. “Oh, it’s a pity that I’m sick and didn’t know you before,” he often repeated. Portraits of Tenisheva were painted by outstanding masters such as Ilya Repin and Valentin Serov, but even they failed to fully convey the depth of her extraordinary personality, gifted with many talents - a singer, enamel artist, art collector, philanthropist, and most importantly, a great educator .

Tenisheva was destined to die in a foreign land, and there, far from her homeland, she remained Russian to the end, loved her people and believed that the whole future of Russia lay in them. No wonder Nicholas Roerich called her “the real Martha Posadnitsa.”

“I am drawn somewhere... I painfully want to prove myself in something, to devote myself entirely to some noble cause. I would like to be rich, very rich, in order to create something for the benefit of humanity. It seems to me that I would give my funds to a major project to educate the people, I would create something useful and durable,” we read in the diary of the very young Maria. Yes, her dream came true - when she wrote these lines, it was as if she was looking into water. She really became rich and created many useful and lasting things. But this did not happen right away.

Her childhood cannot be called happy - what happiness could an illegitimate, unloved daughter, born on June 1, 1858 in St. Petersburg, have? There were rumors that Maria's father was Emperor Alexander II himself. And she so missed her mother’s attention and affection... And this feeling of abandonment and uselessness was very difficult to overcome.

When Maria turned sixteen, they rushed to marry her to a young lawyer, Rafail Nikolaev, who was seven years older than her. Or maybe she herself was glad to have the opportunity to leave her parents’ home, where she was not loved. Both the bride and groom belonged to high society, were wealthy, but never became happy.

Nikolaev turned out to be a gambler, an avid gambler, and he was not interested in anything other than cards. He could lie on the couch for hours, leaving it only to beg to borrow money for the next game. Again Maria remained lonely and unloved. The birth of a daughter, also named Maria, did not change anything in the life of the family.

“Everything was so gray, ordinary, meaningless,” Tenisheva recalled. And then she, a young woman, unusually gifted musically - she had a beautiful voice - decided on a desperate act, not wanting to put up with her unhappy fate.

Having sold some of the furniture from her St. Petersburg apartment, she left for Paris, dreaming of becoming a singer, despite threats from her relatives. In Paris, she finally felt free. Fell in love with the universe, fell in love with life, grabbed onto it without looking back at the past.

Maria studied at the famous Marchesi opera studio, she was invited to perform in Madrid, Barcelona, ​​and Italian opera, but her soul wanted something else. "Singing? This is fun, an exciting activity,” she believed, although Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky himself admired her vocal skills.

In 1892, Maria Klavdievna married for the second time - to Prince Vyacheslav Nikolaevich Tenishev, the largest Russian industrialist, nicknamed the “Russian American” for his knowledge of commercial affairs. The prince was involved in the construction of Russian railways, invested in the construction of Russia's first automobile plant, and owned many factories. At the same time, he loved art very much and played the cello beautifully.

They met in one of the music salons, where the prince, enchanted by Mary's beauty and voice, showered her with lilies of the valley. Now she had a title and a fortune. True, the prince’s relatives did not recognize her and did not include her in the genealogy of the Tenishev princes, but her dream of serving Russia and her people came true.

Was this family union happy, in which two strong personalities, two unusually gifted people united? I think so. They lived together for eleven years, until the death of Vyacheslav Nikolaevich in 1903.

The prince, who was much older than Maria Klavdievna, did not spare money on his wife, he wanted to see her as a luxurious society lady, he bought diamonds and furs, but, in addition, he supported all her projects, helping her realize herself on the basis of enlightenment. Perhaps even he did not fully realize what an extraordinary woman was next to him. She created an amazing creative atmosphere around herself.

Having lived for several years with her husband in Bezhitsa, where he managed a large factory, Maria Klavdievna transformed the lives of the workers: she created schools and vocational schools there, a charitable society to help orphans and widows, an inexpensive canteen with delicious lunches, where the princess herself stood at the distribution of dishes.

Tenisheva's close friend was Princess Ekaterina Svyatopolk-Chetvertinskaya, whom everyone called Kita. The Tenishevs acquired her family estate Talashkino from Kitu, and Maria Klavdievna turned this corner of the earth into a real Russian fairy tale. Everyone knows about Abramtsevo, but they have forgotten about Talashkino. It's a pity. After all, it was a center of arts, crafts, education, and advanced agriculture, famous throughout Russia, created by the tireless efforts of Tenisheva.

“Talashkino has completely changed. It used to be that wherever you go, life is in full swing. In the workshop they plan, cut wood, and decorate carved furniture with stones, fabrics, and metals. There are muffles in the corner, and here, quietly, I have long been fulfilling my cherished dream, which I was afraid to even talk about out loud: I am doing experiments, searching, working on enamel. In another workshop, girls sit at the hoop and sing songs loudly. Women with knapsacks in their bosoms walk past the workshop: they have brought work or received a new one. You go and your heart rejoices,” she recalled.

Artists Ilya Repin, Mikhail Vrubel, Lev Bakst, and sculptor Paolo Trubetskoy often visited here. The collection of Russian antiquities collected by the princess was exhibited in Paris and made an indelible impression. It served as the basis for the Russian Antiquity Museum in Smolensk, and Tenisheva donated a rich collection of watercolors by Russian masters to the Russian Museum.

Her character was contradictory: she left her eldest daughter to be raised by her unlucky first husband, but she loved other people’s children. They wrote about her: “A high-society woman, whose departure was considered the first in the Bois de Boulogne and who in Paris seated up to two hundred people at the table... goes at the first call to school to a boy whose lips are broken or his nose is bleeding...”

The well-being of the people was more important to her than her own well-being. Many did not understand the princess. All her attempts and undertakings in Russia were explained only by fantasy, ambition, and the whims of a spoiled woman. She was probably ahead of her time and constantly looked to the future in her thoughts and projects.

Tenisheva's memoirs, published after her death in France, end with entries on New Year's Eve from 1916 to 1917. “Now there are only 5 hours left until the end of this ill-fated year. Does 1917 promise us something? God! Send us peace on earth!! May we come out of this horrific war with honor! God, have mercy on us and save us from shame!” - she wrote. But she could not predict how the events of the new year would unfold...

She failed to complete the creation of the Temple of the Spirit in Talashkino, undertaken together with Nicholas Roerich: “A storm flew by, unexpected, terrible, elemental... The creation crackled, the creation fell apart, a cruel, blind force destroyed all love activity... The school chicks were smashed, the masters were dispersed...” Tenisheva remained only to mourn our beloved Russia, which did not have the strength to resist the impending tragedy.

In 1919, Maria Klavdievna and Kita Svyatopolk-Chetvertinskaya emigrated through Crimea to France. The princess spent the last nine years of her life near Paris, on the small estate of Vaucresson, which her friends nicknamed “small Talashkino.” Finding herself in poverty, she, already seriously ill, continued to make enamels, earning a living with her own labor.

Tenisheva died on April 14, 1928. Kitu's faithful friend buried her in the Parisian suburb of Saint-Cloud. The princess did not live long enough to see her seventieth birthday. In his obituary dedicated to Maria Klavdievna, the artist Ivan Bilibin wrote: “She devoted her entire life to her native Russian art, for which she did an infinite amount.” Contemporaries called her the pride of Russia, and it was true. But having given everything she had to her homeland, she died in complete oblivion. Only recently has the glorious name of Maria Tenisheva returned to us from oblivion.

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I.E. Repin, “M.K. Tenisheva at work”; 1897 Image from wikiart.org

Liberty

Maria Tenisheva (née Pyatkovskaya, after her stepfather von Desen) was born in 1858 in St. Petersburg. She grew up without a father and was deprived of parental love. She wrote in her memoirs: “I was lonely, abandoned. My child’s head alone worked on everything, seeking to resolve everything, to understand everything.”

The greater the girl’s interest in the paintings that adorned the walls: “When everything was quiet in the house, I silently, on tiptoe, made my way into the living room, leaving my shoes outside the door.

There are my friends - paintings. There are a lot of them hanging on the walls, one to one. There are also a lot of them in the hall and dining room, but they are black, unfriendly, and scare me. In one of them, against a black background, a basket with fruits and the white wing of a large shot bird stand out: its head is hanging down, its feathers are ruffled... I feel very sorry for this bird, I don’t want to look at it. On the other, a huge fish lies on a table, surrounded by grapes. Her mouth is open, she’s probably in pain... It’s also unpleasant.

In the living room it's a different matter. All the pictures there are cheerful and colorful... My favorite, which always catches my attention, represents a lady asleep in an armchair at the dressing table. The table is all decorated with thin lace, there are many, many interesting things on the table, you just want to take them in your hands. There is a little black dog lying on the train of a lady’s satin skirt, but she is not sleeping, she is guarding her owner...

There were other paintings there: women’s heads, some saints with their eyes raised to the sky, landscapes with bright sunsets, castles. All these pictures aroused surprise in me, but only one touched me: a wide, flowering meadow, a forest and a river in the distance, the sky so transparent... It evoked a quiet sadness in me, beckoning me there, to the forests and meadows. I always sighed when I looked at her. My rounds always began with her and ended with her. Happy hours passed unnoticed, many unclear thoughts flashed through my head, many questions...

M.K. Tenisheva. Photo beginning 1890s Photo from the site va-brk.narod.ru

I thought: how can a person make it as if everything I see is real, alive? What kind of person should this be, good, smart, very special? How I would like to know such a thing... These good, smart people are called artists. They must be better, kinder than other people, they probably have a purer heart, a nobler soul?

Being very young, sixteen years old, Maria married a certain Rafail Nikolaevich Nikolaev, who, however, did not leave a mark on history. And the marriage itself turned out to be fleeting. Not surprising - after all, it was committed not out of love, but in order to provide the young woman with freedom. This was the practice at that time.

A.P. Sokolov, portrait of Maria Klavdievna Tenisheva; 1898 Image from wikipedia.org

Tenisheva wrote: “He is tall, blond, clean, 23 years old, feminine, a former lawyer. We met with him several times. He proposed to me.

When they asked me if I loved my fiancé, I answered: “He’s not good, but he’s good.” I didn't know what love was. I loved my dream in him, but I liked him, he seemed decent, and the main thing that tied me to him was the consciousness that he was the reason for the change in my life, that marriage is a symbol of freedom and that the past is over forever.”

So - early marriage, motherhood. Soon, Maria Klavdievna and her daughter left for Paris, where she took singing lessons from Matilda Marchesi, who was brilliant at that time. Then she returns to her homeland and meets Vyacheslav Nikolaevich Tenishev. They got married in 1892, and then a new, completely new life began

New life

Prince Vyacheslav Tenishev was a major industrialist entrepreneur. He was not shy about his means and looked after his bride beautifully. Tenisheva recalls about her honeymoon: “Vyacheslav had his own steamship, built at the Bezhitsa plant. We boarded the "Grace" at twelve o'clock in the afternoon... In some places the water space imperceptibly narrowed; one could feel the shores overgrown with bushes, shrouded in a pale green haze. The sparkling small ripples on the water sparkled dazzlingly in the sun, and a warm breeze gently tickled my face. We were riveted by this spectacle. There was no room for words or delight.”

Leon Joseph Florentin, portrait of Prince V.N. Tenisheva; 1896 Image from dic.academic.ru

After marriage, Vyacheslav Nikolaevich bought the Khotylevo estate in the Bryansk district of the Oryol province. Here Maria Klavdievna tries herself for the first time in the role of a charity worker. She organizes a one-class school, as well as a vocational school, a canteen and a workers' club at the Bezhitsa rail-rolling, iron-making, steel-making and mechanical plant.

It must be said that Maria Klavdievna and her husband lived outside the capitals (both Moscow and St. Petersburg) not only of their own free will. Relatives of Vyacheslav Nikolaevich did not recognize his wife - a divorced wife and a dowryless woman - and Maria Klavdievna was not included in the genealogy of the Tenishev princes. So social life, life in the center, was in a certain sense closed to her. Well, Tenisheva created her own center of gravity.

Marfa-Posadnitsa: art center

Princess Tenisheva posing for sculptor P. P. Trubetskoy, 1898. Photo from the site va-brk.narod.ru

Her circle of friends, however, did not consist of steelworkers at all, but of the bohemian elite of that time. She makes close acquaintances with Vasnetsov, Vrubel, Malyutin, Benois. A year after the wedding, Vyacheslav Nikolaevich gives his beloved wife the village of Talashkino, located twenty kilometers from Smolensk. One and a half kilometers from Talashkino, in Flenov, the new owner organizes art workshops, for which Nicholas Roerich called her “a real Martha the Posadnitsa” and argued that Tenisheva is “a creator in all her manifestations.” He writes to Maria Klavdievna: “Only on the basis of such centers with their pure artistic atmosphere, with the study of primordial folk art, with examples of selected examples of art, can our truly national art grow and occupy an honorable place in the West. From the bottom of my heart, let me tell you: glory, glory!”

Turgenev, in one of his conversations, admitted to Tenisheva: “Oh, it’s a pity that I’m sick and didn’t know you before. What an interesting story I would write.”

Guests in Talashkino. Sitting fifth from left to right is Princess M.K. Tenisheva. Photo from 1899 from the site va-brk.narod.ru

Tenisheva does not hide the reasons why she decided to create workshops. The reasons are purely missionary: “Everything has been sung abroad, everything has been studied, illustrated, published, but we, Russians, have nowhere and nothing to learn from. To this day, in Russia, which has no art publications, where entire periods of Russian art have not found their historians, and the works of outstanding representatives of Russian artistry have not yet been published, there are still people who publish long-famous foreign masterpieces for enormous money... What foreign Madonnas of the 13th century for me? What are marble capitals to me? What do I need the intricate works of Benvenuto Cellini?

M.K. Tenisheva and I.E. Repin on sketches in Talashkino, 1890s. Photo from the site va-brk.narod.ru

The main craft that was revived in the Tenishev workshop was the enamel craft. Tenisheva herself was a recognized enamel artist. Together with the artist Jacquin, who helped her, Tenisheva received more than 200 tones of enamel, which made it possible to raise enamel painting to the level of oil painting, and the Society of Fine Arts in Paris, the Union of Decorative and Applied Arts in Paris and the Archaeological Society in Rome to elect Maria Claudievna as their members.

Photo from drevodelatel.ru

In addition, Tenisheva became famous as a collector. She was interested exclusively in Russian antiquities, but in this field she achieved enviable success.

Pillows with traditional Smolensk embroidery in the interiors of the Talashkino estate, photo from 1905. Photo: humus.livejournal.com

Products from the workshops of the Talashkino estate, photo from 1905. Photo from drevodelatel.ru

And, of course, traditional charity. Maria Klavdievna recalled: “Continuing my favorite activities, I took an ardent part in all of Kitu’s undertakings, diligently helping her in everything. This summer, Kitu (Tenisheva’s closest friend Ekaterina Svyatopolk-Chetvertinskaya - author) decided to open a literacy school in Talashkino. It was necessary to find a suitable room for this. It took a long time to build, and I was impatient to quickly carry out my plans. At the end of the estate there was a rather suitable house, once built for a huntsman. After hunting was abolished, it stood empty for a long time. And our choice settled on it. The teacher needed desks, teaching aids, and furnishings. Little by little, all this was found, even the teacher, Stepan Efimovich Konenkov.

Products from the workshops of the Talashkino estate, photo from 1905. Photo: humus.livejournal.com

Things got better quickly. There were about thirty kids at once. The boys willingly went to study, but there was no way to lure the girls - they were afraid. It used to come, stay for a week and never see it again. To tame them, we set up handicraft classes. We used to buy flowery cotton and cut sundresses according to the height of the girls who would learn to sew from them. I liked it. It seemed that they began to give in, but as soon as the sundress was on her shoulders, sewn with our help, of course, the girl disappeared again.”

What to do - good deeds start out hard.

"Come, possess, ye wise"

In 1905, in the center of Smolensk, next to Tenisheva’s house, a kind of branch of the Talashkino center appeared - the Smolensk Antiquity Museum. A special building based on Russian folk tales was built for it. And in 1911, Tenisheva, following the example of many Russian patrons of the arts, transferred her collection to the state. For this event, Maria Klavdievna personally made an enamel dish with a memorable inscription: “To the Moscow Archaeological Institute. Come and take possession, you wise ones. Observe this secrecy and may there forever be treasures in the city of Smolensk to serve the Russian people. This dish was built by Princess Maria Tenisheva with her labors in the summer of 1911.” And the director of the Moscow Archaeological Institute, Alexander Uspensky, gave a heartfelt speech: “If the museum is the pride of Smolensk, then a woman who showed such a love for education is the pride of all of Russia.”

Alas, Maria Klavdievna immediately encountered the traditional rudeness of Russian officials. As soon as she stopped being the owner, the “mistress,” the attitude towards her changed dramatically. Tenisheva has to defend her rights in everything, even down to annoying little things. She, in particular, writes: “Before the establishment of a government telephone network in the city of Smolensk, I had a telephone connection from the city of Smolensk with my estate Talashkino, located 18 miles from Smolensk. With the opening of the telephone network in 1894, I gave the postal and telegraph department a telephone line and a telephone set connected to the wire free of charge.

I sent a petition: “To reduce the fee, namely the surface fee from 15 rubles to 10, and the subscription fee from 75 rubles to 60, since the subscriber is not a collective, but for personal use and orders concerning my employees... Allow the establishment on my estate to replace a second government device, for which a fee of 50 rubles is charged, your own for a fee of 10 rubles and, in addition, install your own substation of 4 to 5 numbers.”

Contemporary photo of the museum building. Photo from the site slavyanskaya-kultura.ru

And she received the answer: “In view of the fact that no benefits in using government telephone networks are allowed for anyone, the Main Directorate cannot deviate for individuals from the approved conditions for using the Smolensk network.”

The fact that quite recently this phone was the property of Tenisheva, of course, no one took into account.

The Emperor was pleased

Sovereign Nicholas II with his august wife, children and retinue in Smolensk, 1912. Photo from the site smolcity.ru

Nicholas himself noted in his diary: “The city is well located and has beautiful mountainous surroundings. We traveled around all the main streets, visited the ancient Assumption Cathedral, a new boulevard along the old city walls, a historical museum built by Prince. Tenisheva and the Assembly of the Nobility."

The Emperor was pleased.

Interrupted work

M.K. Tenisheva in exile, 1920s. Photo from the site russkiymir.ru

In 1919, Maria Klavdievna Tenisheva left Russia. Her husband had already died by that time, she was traveling accompanied by her friend and associate Ekaterina Svyatopolk-Chetvertinskaya, her faithful assistant V. Lidin and her maid. She settled in Paris, which she knew well, and wrote a book of memories. She died in 1928 in the same place, in the suburb of Saint-Cloud. The obituary written by I. Ya. Bilibin said: “She devoted her entire life to her native Russian art, for which she did an infinite amount.”

The grave of Princess Maria Klavdievna Tenisheva at the La Celle Saint-Cloud cemetery. Photo from the site vkononov.ru

On the preview of the article: Portrait of M.K. Tenisheva by I.E. Repin, 1898

...The illegitimate Maria felt like an unloved child in her mother’s family. They said that Mrs. von Desen, who had a very difficult character, could not forgive her daughter for her unwanted birth (there were even rumors that Masha’s father was Emperor Alexander II).

Mashenka became lonely in her husband’s house. At sixteen, she was given in marriage to twenty-three-year-old R.N. Nikolaev. The marriage turned out to be unsuccessful, although the belonging of the bride and groom's families to high society and wealth seemed to their relatives a sufficient reason for happiness. The husband, an avid gambler, after another loss, spent hours lying on the sofa in his usual inaction, indifferent to everything in the world. It was unbearable to see how he humiliated himself, begging for money from relatives or mother-in-law. And - what’s even worse - he forced his wife to take money from strangers...

After the birth of her daughter, the young woman decided to break with the situation that was weighing her down. The poet A. N. Apukhtin, “the only very interesting, charming, intelligent person” who visited the Nikolaevs’ house, had a certain influence on this decision. Secretly, having sold some of the furniture in the St. Petersburg house, Maria and her daughter went to Paris to become a professional singer. After all, for three whole years before that, she studied singing with the famous vocal teacher Mathilde Marchesi, and C. Gounod, A. Thomas and A. G. Rubinstein listened to her performances. “She was an extremely artistic person, gifted with a wonderful voice, from which everyone was delighted,” wrote her friend E. K. Svyatopolk-Chetvertinskaya.

After finishing her studies, Maria Nikolaeva tried to get a job on the professional stage, auditioned for the Mamontov Opera, but was unsuccessful. However, this did not stop her - she continued to participate in concerts.

During these years she met I. Repin. The artist was fascinated by the young woman, but she did not turn this passion into melodrama, as others expected, but turned the relationship with the master into a business direction. They organized two drawing schools in St. Petersburg and Smolensk.

...Prince Vyacheslav Nikolaevich Tenishev met a young singer with a beautiful voice in one of the music salons. Delighted, he did not leave her side the whole evening and sent her home in his carriage. And the next day he sent the charmer a huge basket of fragrant lilies of the valley...