Nikolay Nikolayevich Punin (russian: link=no, Никола́й Никола́евич Пу́нин; – August 21, 1953) was a Russian art scholar and writer. He edited several magazines, such as ''Izobrazitelnoye Iskusstvo'' among others, and was also co-founder of the Department of Iconography in the
State Russian Museum
The State Russian Museum (russian: Государственный Русский музей), formerly the Russian Museum of His Imperial Majesty Alexander III (russian: Русский Музей Императора Александра III), on ...
. Punin was a lifelong friend and
common-law
In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipresen ...
husband of poet
Anna Akhmatova
Anna Andreyevna Gorenko rus, А́нна Андре́евна Горе́нко, p=ˈanːə ɐnˈdrʲe(j)ɪvnə ɡɐˈrʲɛnkə, a=Anna Andreyevna Gorenko.ru.oga, links=yes; uk, А́нна Андрі́ївна Горе́нко, Ánna Andríyivn ...
who is famous for writing the poem
''Requiem''.
Biography
A key figure in the Russian art world
Nikolay Punin was born in Helsingfors (now Helsinki),
Grand Duchy of Finland
The Grand Duchy of Finland ( fi, Suomen suuriruhtinaskunta; sv, Storfurstendömet Finland; russian: Великое княжество Финляндское, , all of which literally translate as Grand Principality of Finland) was the predecessor ...
, into the family of Nikolay Mikhaylovich Punin, a Medical Doctor of the Imperial Russian Army stationed in Helsingfors. Nikolay’s younger brother
Leonid Punin was later to become a commander in the
White armies. Young Punin moved to
St. Petersburg and attended the classical gymnasium where he first met young student
Anna Akhmatova
Anna Andreyevna Gorenko rus, А́нна Андре́евна Горе́нко, p=ˈanːə ɐnˈdrʲe(j)ɪvnə ɡɐˈrʲɛnkə, a=Anna Andreyevna Gorenko.ru.oga, links=yes; uk, А́нна Андрі́ївна Горе́нко, Ánna Andríyivn ...
. From 1907 to 1914, Punin attended the
St. Petersburg University
Saint Petersburg State University (SPBU; russian: Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет) is a public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in 1724 by a decree of Peter t ...
, studied history of art under professor
Dmitry Aynalov
Dmitry Vlasyevich Aynalov ( rus, Дми́трий Вла́сьевич Айна́лов, p=ˈdmʲitrʲɪj ˈvlasjevʲɪtɕ əjˈnalɐf; 20 February (8 February O.S.) 1862—12 December 1939) was a Soviet and Russian art historian, a university pr ...
, graduating in 1914, as an art historian, and began a career as an art critic and editor. Punin's involvement in such schools as
Acmeism Acmeism, or the Guild of Poets, was a transient poetic school, which emerged in 1912 in Russia under the leadership of Nikolay Gumilev and Sergei Gorodetsky. Their ideals were compactness of form and clarity of expression. The term was coined after ...
,
Constructivism
Constructivism may refer to:
Art and architecture
* Constructivism (art), an early 20th-century artistic movement that extols art as a practice for social purposes
* Constructivist architecture, an architectural movement in Russia in the 1920s a ...
,
Formalism
Formalism may refer to:
* Form (disambiguation)
* Formal (disambiguation)
* Legal formalism, legal positivist view that the substantive justice of a law is a question for the legislature rather than the judiciary
* Formalism (linguistics)
* Scient ...
, and other developments in art and culture, eventually made him one of the key figures in the Russian art world.
Punin was among the first art critics who focused on the emerging new trends and styles. Punin's own multi-cultural exposure, as well as his diverse education and broad vision, made him the leading ideologist of the "Left Art," embracing and representing many innovative and experimental movements. Punin was nicknamed a "Futurist" and a "Leftist" by both artists and historians. His circle of friends included artists
Kazimir Malevich
Kazimir Severinovich Malevich ; german: Kasimir Malewitsch; pl, Kazimierz Malewicz; russian: Казими́р Севери́нович Мале́вич ; uk, Казимир Северинович Малевич, translit=Kazymyr Severynovych ...
,
Vladimir Tatlin
Vladimir Yevgrafovich Tatlin ( – 31 May 1953) was a Russian and Soviet painter, architect and stage-designer. Tatlin achieved fame as the architect who designed The Monument to the Third International, more commonly known as Tatlin's Tower, whi ...
,
Vladimir Lebedev, ,
Nikolay Tyrsa, and others. He welcomed the October revolution as an opportunity to establish new art.
In 1917, Punin married Anna Arens, a physician; they had one daughter, Irina.
In 1918, Punin was appointed by
Anatoli Lunacharsky
Anatoly Vasilyevich Lunacharsky (russian: Анато́лий Васи́льевич Лунача́рский) (born Anatoly Aleksandrovich Antonov, – 26 December 1933) was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and the first Bolshevik Soviet People' ...
to several important positions, such as the Head of the Petrograd Committee for Education (Narkompros), People's Commissar of the
Russian Museum
The State Russian Museum (russian: Государственный Русский музей), formerly the Russian Museum of His Imperial Majesty Alexander III (russian: Русский Музей Императора Александра III), on ...
and the
Hermitage Museum
The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is the list of ...
. For the next thirty years, Punin held several posts at the State Russian Museum.
Union with Anna Akhmatova
Nikolay Punin was in a civil union with poet
Anna Akhmatova
Anna Andreyevna Gorenko rus, А́нна Андре́евна Горе́нко, p=ˈanːə ɐnˈdrʲe(j)ɪvnə ɡɐˈrʲɛnkə, a=Anna Andreyevna Gorenko.ru.oga, links=yes; uk, А́нна Андрі́ївна Горе́нко, Ánna Andríyivn ...
during the 1920s and 1930s. Punin and Akhmatova had much in common since the years of their youth, when both were students in
Tsarskoye Selo
Tsarskoye Selo ( rus, Ца́рское Село́, p=ˈtsarskəɪ sʲɪˈlo, a=Ru_Tsarskoye_Selo.ogg, "Tsar's Village") was the town containing a former residence of the Russian imperial family and visiting nobility, located south from the cen ...
. They had regular meetings since 1913, when both worked with the "Apollon" publishing in St. Petersburg. At that time, Akmatova was married to
Nikolay Gumilev
Nikolay Stepanovich Gumilyov ( rus, Никола́й Степа́нович Гумилёв, p=nʲɪkɐˈlaj sʲtʲɪˈpanəvʲɪtɕ ɡʊmʲɪˈlʲɵf, a=Nikolay Styepanovich Gumilyov.ru.vorb.oga; April 15 NS 1886 – August 26, 1921) was a poe ...
, and Punin was a regular guest in their home during the 1910s. In 1922, Akmatova came to visit Punin at his home in the garden wing of the
Sheremetyev Palace. She eventually moved in with Punin, and their relationship lasted fifteen years until his arrest and exile in
GULAG
The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= was the government agency in ...
. The home of Punin and Akhmatova was a meeting place for the St. Petersburg's cultural milieu, and later became the
Anna Akhmatova Literary and Memorial Museum
The Anna Akhmatova Literary and Memorial Museum is a literary museum in St Petersburg, Russia, dedicated to the poet Anna Akhmatova (1889–1966). It opened in 1989 on the centennial of Akhmatova's birth.
The palace
The museum is located in the ...
.
Akhmatova had saved Punin's life after his first arrest, in the 1930s, regardless that their relationship ended at that time. Nikolay Punin was released only after Anna Akhmatova's written petition to
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...
, but later he was arrested again. Punin was twice arrested and imprisoned by the Soviet secret service under the dictatorship of Stalin.
In November of 1941, during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
Akhmatova was one of the few writers chosen to be flown out from the
Siege of Leningrad
The siege of Leningrad (russian: links=no, translit=Blokada Leningrada, Блокада Ленинграда; german: links=no, Leningrader Blockade; ) was a prolonged military blockade undertaken by the Axis powers against the Soviet city of L ...
by the order of Stalin, so she and Nikolay Punin were saved from starvation and death, and transferred from besieged
Leningrad
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
to
Tashkent
Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of ...
and
Samarkand
fa, سمرقند
, native_name_lang =
, settlement_type = City
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from the top:Registan square, Shah-i-Zinda necropolis, Bibi-Khanym Mosque, view inside Shah-i-Zinda, ...
for three years until 1944.
Under Stalin's dictatorship
![PuninCoat](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/PuninCoat.jpg)
In 1949, Punin was arrested on accusations of "anti-Soviet" activity, because he said that many thousands of
Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...
's portraits are tasteless. The Soviet government punished Punin by imprisonment in the
Gulag
The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= was the government agency in ...
camp in
Vorkuta
Vorkuta (russian: Воркута́; kv, Вӧркута, ''Vörkuta''; Nenets for "the abundance of bears", "bear corner") is a coal-mining town in the Komi Republic, Russia, situated just north of the Arctic Circle in the Pechora coal basin at ...
, northern Russia. This time nobody could help Punin, because the intellectual elite of Leningrad was devastated by the
Leningrad Affair. Most intellectuals who could help, were imprisoned, killed, exiled, or silenced by fear of Stalin's attacks.
A secret file on Punin was created with numerous accusations of his anti-Soviet activity. Most accusations were fabricated by various agents of the former Soviet KGB office in Leningrad, such as Lt. Prussakov, who accused "former professor of Leningrad University and Academy of arts, Punin" of "anti-Soviet" propaganda. Punin's popular lectures about European artists, such as
Rembrandt
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally consid ...
and
Impressionists
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating ...
were seen by the communists as evidence of his anti-Soviet activity.
In 1953, just months after Stalin's death, Punin died in the Gulag camp of Vorkuta, after spending the last four years of his life under harsh conditions of cold and hunger, in an old barrack crowded with two hundred prisoners lit by one light bulb.
Legacy
Punin was known as "savior of art collections" because he protected many valuable paintings of western artists, which were labeled "decadent bourgeois art" by the communist propaganda. In doing so, Punin took many risks by raising his voice in opposition to the Soviet officials. As curator of the
Hermitage Museum
The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is the list of ...
and the
Russian museum
The State Russian Museum (russian: Государственный Русский музей), formerly the Russian Museum of His Imperial Majesty Alexander III (russian: Русский Музей Императора Александра III), on ...
Punin saved many important masterpieces of art from destruction by revolutionary mob and undereducated communists. He was severely attacked by the Soviet communists for his efforts in preservation of "Western" art in Soviet museums. He was respected by artists and intellectuals as a key figure in Russian art history.
Punin was also a remarkable lecturer; his lectures were extremely popular among open-minded members of the Soviet Academia, and among his numerous students.
Punin's art essays and his memoirs were published in English and in Russian.
In June 2012, the first biography of Punin, ''The Unsung Hero of the Russian Avant-Garde. The Life and Times of Nikolay Punin'', written by art historian Natalia Murray, was published by Brill.
[Natalia Murray, ''The Unsung Hero of the Russian Avant-Garde. The Life and Times of Nikolay Punin'']
/ref>
See also
* Fine Art of Leningrad
The fine art of Leningrad is an important component of Russian Soviet art—in the opinion of the art historians Vladimir Gusev and Vladimir Leniashin, "one of its most powerful currents". This widely used term embraces the creative lives and th ...
Rykov A. Between a Conservative Revolution and Bolshevism. Nikolai Punin’s Total Aesthetic Mobilization” // The New Literary Observer №140 (4/2016) pp. 240-258.
Rykov A.V. Nikolay Punin’s Views on Art and Politics in the Early Soviet Period // The Social Sciences 2016 Vol.11 №19 pp. 4745-4750
Rykov A. Russian Modernism as Fascism. The Case of Nikolay Punin // Art and Politics in Europe in the Modern Period. Zagreb, 2016. pp. 81-82.
* Rykov A. Between a Conservative Revolution and Bolshevism: Nikolai Punin’s Total Aesthetic Mobilization // Russian Studies in Literature, vol. 53, no. 2, 2017, pp. 147–171, DOI: 10.1080/10611975.2017.1400270
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Punin, Nikolay
Russian writers
Russian art critics
Soviet art historians
Soviet male writers
20th-century Russian male writers
Russian art historians
1888 births
1953 deaths
People who died in the Gulag
Anna Akhmatova