On February 27, 2026, the 195th anniversary of the birth of the great Russian painter Nikolai Ghe will be celebrated. On this day, the gallery at Yasnaya Polyana Museum-Estate will open the exhibition “Nikolai Ghe and Leo Tolstoy. A Dialogue Between Artists.”
For the Yasnaya Polyana museum-estate, this project holds special significance: Nikolai Ghe was not only an outstanding master but also a close friend of the Tolstoy family. “Kind and open, he knew how to win people over, helped those around him, and earned the deep affection of all members of the Tolstoy family,” notes Maria Arshakyan, Head of the Exhibition Department at the museum.
The relationship between Leo Tolstoy and Nikolai Ghe represents a unique example of creative dialogue between painter and writer, permeated with a profound understanding of the meaning of art as a whole. The central idea of the exhibition is to reveal the affinity of their artistic worlds and their mutual influence on one another.
A multifaceted artist, Nikolai Ghe’s legacy encompasses sculpture, painting (portraits, landscapes, genre, historical, and religious works), and graphic art. His work significantly influenced the development of Russian visual art. Many art historians regard his later works as precursors of Expressionism and Symbolism.
Illustrating the works of Leo Tolstoy marked an important chapter in Ghe’s life. The exhibition will feature facsimiles of drawings by N. N. Ghe from the “Gheneva collection” of the State Tretyakov Gallery. The acquisition of this collection in 2011 was a historic event: the principal body of the artist’s graphic works returned to Russia after having remained abroad for more than a century.
Most of the 30 works on display are realistic, finely nuanced illustrations for Tolstoy’s story What Men Live By. Another cycle reflecting the artist’s collaboration with the writer comprises sketches for illustrations to A Short Exposition of the Gospel. Executed in charcoal and large in scale, these works are distinguished by a more expressive manner.
The exhibition will also present the artist’s own copy of a portrait of Leo Tolstoy, an album of his works, and other objects from the Yasnaya Polyana museum collections. The display will be complemented by fragments of correspondence between the painter and the writer from the collection of the State Leo Tolstoy Museum-Reserve in Moscow.
For the Yasnaya Polyana museum-estate, this project holds special significance: Nikolai Ghe was not only an outstanding master but also a close friend of the Tolstoy family. “Kind and open, he knew how to win people over, helped those around him, and earned the deep affection of all members of the Tolstoy family,” notes Maria Arshakyan, Head of the Exhibition Department at the museum.
The relationship between Leo Tolstoy and Nikolai Ghe represents a unique example of creative dialogue between painter and writer, permeated with a profound understanding of the meaning of art as a whole. The central idea of the exhibition is to reveal the affinity of their artistic worlds and their mutual influence on one another.
A multifaceted artist, Nikolai Ghe’s legacy encompasses sculpture, painting (portraits, landscapes, genre, historical, and religious works), and graphic art. His work significantly influenced the development of Russian visual art. Many art historians regard his later works as precursors of Expressionism and Symbolism.
Illustrating the works of Leo Tolstoy marked an important chapter in Ghe’s life. The exhibition will feature facsimiles of drawings by N. N. Ghe from the “Gheneva collection” of the State Tretyakov Gallery. The acquisition of this collection in 2011 was a historic event: the principal body of the artist’s graphic works returned to Russia after having remained abroad for more than a century.
Most of the 30 works on display are realistic, finely nuanced illustrations for Tolstoy’s story What Men Live By. Another cycle reflecting the artist’s collaboration with the writer comprises sketches for illustrations to A Short Exposition of the Gospel. Executed in charcoal and large in scale, these works are distinguished by a more expressive manner.
The exhibition will also present the artist’s own copy of a portrait of Leo Tolstoy, an album of his works, and other objects from the Yasnaya Polyana museum collections. The display will be complemented by fragments of correspondence between the painter and the writer from the collection of the State Leo Tolstoy Museum-Reserve in Moscow.
Posted : 20 february 2026