Nikolai Petrovich Sychyov (; 27 April 1883 – 16 July 1964) was a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and Russian

art historian Art history is the study of artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Traditionally, the ...

, specialist in museum conservation and restoration, artist and a

university professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a 'person who professes'. Professors ...

. Among his students were Mikhail Artamonov and

Savva Yamshchikov Savva "Savely" Vasilyevich Yamshchikov (; October 8, 1938 – July 19, 2009) was a leading expert on Russian provincial art, particularly medieval icon painting and portrait painting of the 18th and 19th centuries. Yamschikov graduated from the ...

Early life

Nikolai Sychyov was born in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

. He studied at Gymnasium 11. At the age of 15 years he met the Professor A. Gorovsky who made a strong impression on him. He became interested in painting, got permission to go to the museum of the

Imperial Academy of Arts The Imperial Academy of Arts, informally known as the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts, was an art academy in Saint Petersburg, founded in 1757 by Ivan Shuvalov, the founder of the Imperial Moscow University, under the name ''Academy of th ...

and learn to paint. He spent so much time drawing that it nearly got him expelled from the Gymnasium. Inside the Academy he saw a lot of famous painters, such as

Vladimir Makovsky Vladimir Yegorovich Makovsky (; – 21 February 1920) was a Russian painter, art collector, and teacher. Biography Makovsky was the son of collector, Egor Ivanovich Makovsky, who was one of the founders of the Moscow Art School. Vladimir ha ...

Arkhip Kuindzhi Arkhip Ivanovich Kuindzhi ( ; ; – ) was a Russian landscape painter. Date of birth Kuindzhi's exact date of birth is not known. Although it was believed that he was born in 1842, the latest discoveries in archives suggest that he was born i ...

Ilya Repin Ilya Yefimovich Repin ( – 29 September 1930) was a Russian painter, born in what is today Ukraine. He became one of the most renowned artists in Russian Empire, Russia in the 19th century. His major works include ''Barge Haulers on the Volga' ...

. Sychyov wanted to be a student of the Imperial Academy of Arts, but his parents refused. After much debate Sychyov decided to devote himself to history.

Career

Nikolai Sychov graduated from the

Saint Petersburg State University Saint Petersburg State University (SPBGU; ) is a public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in Russia. Founded in 1724 by a decree of Peter the Great, the university from the be ...

in 1910. He earned a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in art history. He then taught at the university and at the

. Sychyov headed the

Russian Museum The State Russian Museum (), formerly known as the Russian Museum of His Imperial Majesty Alexander III (), on Arts Square in Saint Petersburg, is the world's largest depository of Russian fine art. It is also one of the largest art museums in ...

from 1922 to 1926, where he was in charge of first permanent exhibitions and shaped its collection to a considerable degree. He wrote several works and monographs on different periods of Russian history and various Russian artists. Sychyov continued to paint and was a member of the Artists Society (1921). Nikolai Sychyov was arrested on 17 September 1933 as a member of "the

counter-revolutionary A counter-revolutionary or an anti-revolutionary is anyone who opposes or resists a revolution, particularly one who acts after a revolution has occurred, in order to try to overturn it or reverse its course, in full or in part. The adjective "c ...

national and

fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...

organization" during the so-called '' Slavists Trial'' (), a series of

false accusation A false accusation is a claim or allegation of wrongdoing that is untrue and/or otherwise unsupported by facts. False accusations are also known as groundless accusations, unfounded accusations, false allegations, false claims or unsubstantiated al ...

s against Saint Petersburg

intelligentsia The intelligentsia is a status class composed of the university-educated people of a society who engage in the complex mental labours by which they critique, shape, and lead in the politics, policies, and culture of their society; as such, the i ...

. He was sentenced to eight years in a

labor camp A labor camp (or labour camp, see British and American spelling differences, spelling differences) or work camp is a detention facility where inmates are unfree labour, forced to engage in penal labor as a form of punishment. Labor camps have ...

. After discharge he lived in

Chistopol Chistopol (; ; , ''Çistay'') is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in Tatarstan, Russia, located on the left bank of the Kuybyshev Reservoir, on the Kama River. As of the Russian Census (2010), 2010 Census, its population was&nbs ...

, and then in

Vladimir Vladimir (, , pre-1918 orthography: ) is a masculine given name of Slavic origin, widespread throughout all Slavic nations in different forms and spellings. The earliest record of a person with the name is Vladimir of Bulgaria (). Etymology ...

. In 1944 he started working on the reconstruction of Vladimir's Dormition Cathedral and participated in the restoration of the

fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

es by

Andrei Rublev Andrei Rublev (, ; ) was a Russian artist considered to be one of the greatest medieval Russian painters of Orthodox Christian icons and frescoes. He is revered as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church, and his feast day is 29 January. Ear ...

. He was arrested again, but in 1954 his

criminal record A criminal record (not to be confused with a police record or arrest record) is a record of a person's criminal Conviction, convictions history. The information included in a criminal record, and the existence of a criminal record, varies betwe ...

was cleaned. He died in Vladimir at the age of 81.

Publications

* ''The Keeping of the Russian Iconography and the Ancient Works of Church named after the Emperor Nicholas II at the Russian Museum'' (), 1916 * ''The Forgotten Fragments of the 12th-century Novgorod Frescos'' (), 1918 * ''The Miniatures Painting Instructions'' (), 1922 * ''The Stroganovsky School Works of Art Exhibition'' (), 1923

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sychyov, Nikolai 1883 births 1964 deaths Soviet art historians Soviet male writers Art historians from the Russian Empire Conservator-restorers Saint Petersburg State University alumni Soviet realist painters Directors of museums in the Soviet Union