The Stars of Fate of the Darkevich Brothers
Boris Krepak
It is believed that the stars written by Christophor Darkevich at the end of his life symbolize sorrow. They are a gift to humanity from the gods, a talisman, an amulet, fragments of a distant star… “The agreement of fate with the freedom of human reason is inaccessible.” Thus wrote Vladimir Dal. Indeed, many human destinies that fell under the steel press of Stalinist repressions in the 1930s are still hard to imagine. Especially when it comes to creative individuals who seemed to be outside of politics and for whom art was the main thing in life… The fate of brothers Pyotr and Christophor Darkevich was tragic: both were arrested in Vitebsk on the same day – April 27, 1937, sentenced on October 20, and shot two weeks later under Article 58, Clause 10 – “Counter-revolutionary activity.” Twenty years later, on September 6, 1957, the Supreme Court of the BSSR rehabilitated Pyotr “for lack of corpus delicti,” and on March 12, 1961 – Christophor. The first was an art historian, educator, lecturing on the history of world art at the college, as well as at the film school and pedagogical institute. The second was a painter and monumental artist, also an educator at the Vitebsk Art School (until 1934 – a technical school).
Today, few people know about them. Even in the six-volume “History of Belarusian Art” (Volume 4 “1917 – 1941,” published in 1990, edited by L. Droba and V. Shmatov), both brothers are mentioned only once – and that in parentheses – as educators, and Christophor – as the author of a fresco in the building of the station at “Sirotina.” And that’s all. The only material titled “Frescoes on the Old Wall,” prepared by the well-known Vitebsk poet David Simonovich, was published more than 20 years ago. There, the author used letters and memories about the Darkevichs from their relatives and contemporaries. At that time, I was also preparing an article about these people, collecting memories from their former students, including P. Yavich, P. Maslenikov, P. Durchin, I. Peshkura, M. Zelyonkin, B. Loseva, and lecturer G. Shultz. I tried to find something in the archives and libraries, but after the publication of the material, colleagues postponed the realization of my idea for an indefinite time. Then, during the XVI Congress of Artists of Belarus (1998), Vitebsk painter Pyotr Yavich, with whom I always had good relations, reminded me of my former promise: it would be “not bad to remember these wonderful people,” it would be unkind for “the memory of them to crumble into dust,” because “the glorious history of the Vitebsk Art Technical School would be incomplete and curt without these educators.” And I took up the pen to organize the materials I had already gathered…
Later, at my request, the artist sent me pencil portraits of the Darkevichs, which he made from memory, as I could not find their photographs, and also gifted me a poem by David Simonovich “A fierce roll rolled…” dedicated specifically to him, Yavich, in which the tragic fate of the Darkevich brothers – the beloved teachers of Pyotr Maksavich – was narrated in the language of poetry. Thus, Yavich knew these people well, studying at the Vitebsk Technical School for almost four years – until their arrest. And shortly after our meeting, he sent me his supplemented memories: the memory of the artist, despite his old age, was wonderful. “I hope,” he wrote to me, “that from these brief memories and considering your rich art history experience, you will be able to prepare an article about the Darkevichs.” I did publish a small essay then, but it was only, so to speak, a “sketch” of the tragic biographies of the Darkevich brothers, an “invitation to acquaintance.” But after that, as far as I know, no one else mentioned them in the media.
Thus, for today’s readers, I will first offer brief biographical notes about Christophor and Pyotr Darkevich, and then I will try to look at them through the eyes of those who personally knew these wonderful people.
Pyotr Yevgenievich Darkevich. Born in 1898 in the village of Mikhalevo, Velizh District, in Smolensk region – at that time part of the Northwestern Territory. (According to his son Vladislav Petrovich, he was born in the city of Velizh in 1902.) Graduated from the Faculty of Theory and History of Art at Moscow University. From 1927 to 1937, he taught at the Vitebsk Art Technical School and other institutions in the city. He published in the republican press since 1927. Among his fundamental works of that time are the articles “On the Question of the Problem of Artistic Style” (magazine “Polymia,” 1929, No. 11 – 13), “On the Broad Creative Path” (magazine “Flame of the Revolution,” 1935, No. 10), articles about the V All-Belarusian Art Exhibition of 1932, about the I Exhibition of Artistic Book Design in the BSSR of 1934, and the autumn exhibitions of works by Belarusian artists in 1936 and 1937.
Christophor Yevgenievich Darkevich. Born in 1900, in the same place as his brother Pyotr. Studied painting at VKhUTEMAS – VKhUTEIN under Arkady Rylov and Georgy Savitsky (1921 – 1926). Taught in Leningrad secondary schools, and from 1931 – at the Vitebsk Art Technical School (school). Since 1932, he participated in exhibitions. Among his works, painted in oil or tempera, are the canvases “Hot Days,” “Autumn,” “Sovkhoz ‘Sasnovka’,” “White Terror in China,” “Above the Dvina River,” “Holiday Demonstration,” portraits of Yanka Kupala, Alexey Stakhanov, and Deputy Chairman of the Union of Writers of the BSSR Andrey Alexandrovich (Darkevich painted the poet in 1934 with his book “Selected Works,” which had just been published). In the last year of his life, he created portraits of Pushkin and Gorky, “Spring Landscape,” and the still life “Asters,” and managed to finish a fresco for the art school, which he worked on for almost six years. Other frescoes by the artist were also known. For example, in the building of the station “Sirotina” in the Shumilino District. Practically nothing from the creative heritage of the master has been preserved.
About Pyotr Darkevich: “Not by force is a strong man…”
Pyotr Yavich (1918 – 2008) – a well-known Belarusian painter, participant in the Great Patriotic War. Graduated from the Vitebsk Art School (1938). Mainly worked successfully in the genre of psychological portrait. “Pyotr Yevgenievich taught us the history of art. The first thing I remembered upon meeting him was his extraordinary neatness and tidiness in clothing. He was a true intellectual, of whom there are few now. He came to classes without delay and always in a good mood. That mood was contagious to us, drawing us into the magical world of beauty. He lectured on the history of world visual art, starting from Ancient East to modern Europe. A wonderful connoisseur of the works of the greatest artists and very erudite in all currents and trends in world painting, sculpture, and architecture, he captivatingly “introduced” us into one or another era, where we, students, felt like true participants in planetary artistic processes…”
Pavel Maslenikov (1914 -1995) – People’s Artist of Belarus, painter, scenographer, educator, candidate of art history, participant in the Great Patriotic War. Graduated from the Vitebsk Art School (1938) and the Ilya Repin Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture in Leningrad (1953). “The lectures of Pyotr Darkevich were not just a retelling of the main milestones of the creative path of a particular master. It was important for the teacher that we could not only comprehend the era in which the artist created but also his unique place in the environment of his compatriots. The history of art as a discipline, which Darkevich taught, was our favorite and most interesting subject…”
Pyotr Durchin (1918 -1997) – Honored Worker of Arts of Belarus, graphic artist, participant in the Great Patriotic War. Studied at the Vitebsk Art School (1934 – 1937), graduated from the Moscow Art School named after 1905 (1949). “I first met Pyotr Yevgenievich in the library of our school, which had an excellent collection of books, albums, catalogs, and numerous reproductions on world visual art. I also remember his original pipe, which he, in my opinion, never parted with. It was from him that I learned so much about the secrets of the tangled history of art that this ‘baggage of knowledge’ was enough for many years to come, as I never met such an encyclopedic teacher again…”
Pyotr Yavich: “I would like to note that Darkevich lectured not only at the school. He also ‘taught’ city and regional leaders, conducted art history seminars at the pedagogical institute and drama theater, led a special course at the film school, and often traveled to Minsk for lectures. I also remember that he married Ira – his student, a student of our school, and they lived happily until his arrest. Then, it seems, Irina Yaroslavovna and their little son Vladik moved to Ryazan…”
Gavriil Shultz (1903 – 1984) – sculptor, art historian, educator, Honored Artist of the RSFSR. Childhood spent in Belarus. Studied at VKhUTEMAS – VKhUTEIN. Student of A. Matveev, L. Sherwood, V. Lishav. From 1929 to 1931, he taught sculpture at the Vitebsk Art Technical School. He was a member of the Revolutionary Association of Artists of Belarus (RAAB). Then he moved to Leningrad, where he completed his postgraduate studies at the Institute of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture. After the war, he taught at the Moscow State Academic Art Institute named after V. Surikov and the Higher Art and Industrial School (formerly Stroganov School). Author of monuments to Pushkin in Rostov-on-Don and Petrozavodsk, numerous easel portraits, decorative and garden-park sculptural compositions. “Pyotr Yevgenievich, my close friend and like-minded person, was by nature a very active person, could read five or six lectures in different institutions of Vitebsk in one day, and in the evening still meet with artists of the newly created theater of working youth or employees of the Vitebsk District Society for Local History, including colleagues-art historians I. Furman and I. Gavris, archivist B. Brezhga, sculptors Z. Azgur and M. Kerzin, painters Yu. Pen and M. Ende, architect Ts. Kibardin. He could find common ground with everyone, never went mad, was always calm and at the same time smiling and pleasant. He had a good memory for literary and art historical works, many of which he skillfully retold and even quoted entire fragments from memory. Few knew then, apart from the closest, that Pyotr knew the Bible wonderfully, although at that time this was, to put it mildly, not welcomed, and even the opposite. The Bible (it seems, passed to him from his father, by the way, before the revolution, the owner of a large mill) was for Pyotr a repository of folk wisdom and folk aesthetics. In addition to a huge number of instructive parables and stories, he often used in his lectures such proverbs and expressions as ‘Thomas the Doubter,’ ‘the prodigal son,’ ‘not by force is a strong man,’ ‘man does not live by bread alone.’ Or: ‘Built a house on sand,’ ‘found the scapegoat,’ ‘strike while the iron is hot’… I also remember another of his favorite sayings: ‘It is better to be a good shoemaker than a bad artist.’ In short, he was a person who was just right – a true intellectual, endowed by nature with a sense of good humor for all occasions of life. By the way, he instilled some moral qualities in me, perhaps unconsciously, without my knowledge, without my will. Now I clearly see that some of my views and worldview were formed to some extent under his influence. He was undoubtedly a person of great spiritual strength, who could make those around him think and reflect in his categories and values…”
Basy Loseva – a native of Vitebsk. Author of the memoirs “The City That Is Always with Me” (2002). Graduated from the Vitebsk Film School (1935), and in 1961 – the philological faculty of the Minsk Pedagogical Institute. Worked in the newspapers “Pioneer of Belarus,” “Vitebsk Worker,” at the Minsk Television Studio. For a quarter of a century, until retirement, she taught Russian language and literature at one of the secondary schools in Minsk. At the end of the 1980s, we met and had a very pleasant conversation. In 1991, Basya Semyonovna moved to Sweden for permanent residence, but I know how many times she visited her native Vitebsk. “In 1933, after finishing the seventh grade, I entered the film school that had just opened in Vitebsk on Kanatnaya Street, with my brother. My brother was accepted into the script department, and I – into the technical department, where specialists in the installation and operation of sound equipment were trained. I befriended students of the script department, especially poets Andrey Ushakov and Grigory Zhaleznyak, and often came to their lectures to listen to the wonderful teacher, art historian Pyotr Yevgenievich Darkevich. And the three of us sat at one desk. He was especially loved by the students and seemed to be the only professional art historian in the city. He also taught at the art technical school, which was transformed into a school in 1934. He was a wonderful person: sociable, witty, cheerful. During breaks, he stayed with us, and in the corridor, where a crowd of students gathered around him, laughter always rang out. Often, Pyotr Yevgenievich without ceremony invited us to his home. We, very young, felt very free there, forgetting about his age. He was then about 35 – 37 years old. But the age difference, in general, was not that great, did not bother either him or us. I still remember him with a pipe at his desk. And there flowed an endless conversation – of course, about art, literature, cinema. He could draw us in with his colorful stories and memories so much that we, with our mouths agape, forgot about time and listened to how great artists lived and created. In such conversations, his young wonderful wife – artist Irina Yaroslavovna, who later became my close friend, always participated. Their son was only one and a half years old then…”
Vladislav Darkevich, son of Pyotr Darkevich, – Doctor of Historical Sciences, archaeologist. “My grandfather was dispossessed in 1929 and exiled to Siberia, where he died of starvation. Before that, my father managed to graduate from Moscow University and move to Vitebsk, closer to his homeland. I remember his wonderful library with rare publications on art, which was burned during the war along with our house when the city was occupied by the Germans. My father’s articles were published in local and republican magazines and newspapers. In addition, he conducted extensive educational work: he read lectures and reports among teachers, medical workers, Red Army soldiers, introducing them to the world of beauty. He also fervently defended monuments of architecture, history, and culture, which were being blown up even before the war, for which he was persecuted by local authorities as a supporter of “religious obscurantism.” My father was arrested on March 27, 1937. There was no open trial. The sentence was ten years “without the right to correspondence.” After my father’s rehabilitation, I found out that the initial report of his death from January 7, 1958, turned out to be deceptive: he supposedly died of meningitis on November 17, 1945. In fact, my father was shot back in early November 1937…” This last testimony was obtained by me from the NKVD of the USSR in Moscow and the Moscow region after my inquiry in Minsk. Dad was non-partisan. I do not remember him at all. According to the memories of my mother and residents of Vitebsk who knew him, he was a cheerful and kind person. Everyone treated him with great warmth and sympathy…”
Basy Loseva: “I remember the time when Pyotr Yevgenievich and some other Vitebsk artists, including the talented graphic artist Minin, were unexpectedly arrested. It was simply impossible to believe in their guilt. A certain horror seized us all. We were afraid to speak loudly, to express our attitude towards what was happening in Vitebsk. A terrible series of denunciations began. And at the same time, songs by Dunaevsky were sung in the streets and yards – joyful, bright, life-affirming. They showed films “The Cheerful Guys,” “Volga-Volga,” “Circus.” And we, young and very frightened, hid. And at home, locking the doors with bolts, we whispered our thoughts about the unfortunate fate of Pyotr Yevgenievich. However, in our hearts, we believed that all this was a terrible mistake of the NKVD organs, and soon our teacher would return to the classroom, light his pipe, smile, and everything would be as before…”
According to the magazine “Culture”