There are many people whose talent is discovered in early childhood. However, not all of them become famous and gain worldwide fame. Many remain unknown geniuses who are forced to barely eke out their miserable existence. But there are also individuals who, on the contrary, die early at the peak of their popularity. Nadya Rusheva belongs to them exactly. This is a little 17-year-old artist with a tragic and at the same time happy fate, which we will talk about in our article.
Birth, adolescence and youth of a little artist
One can only speak positively about the forever young 17-year-old girl, who was destined for such a short but very bright fate. She is a little sunshine, who during her lifetime caused only delight. Nadezhda was born on January 31, 1952 in the family of the talented master of fine arts Nikolai Konstantinovich Rushev and the first Tuvan ballerina Natalia Doydalovna Azhikmaa-Rusheva. However, Nadyusha did not grow up as an ordinary child.
An inexplicable urge to draw
The girl developed a penchant for drawing in early childhood. At the age of five, the baby’s father began to notice one interesting feature: as soon as he began to read fairy tales aloud, his daughter immediately jumped up, ran away somewhere and returned with a pencil and paper. Then she sat down next to him, listened carefully to her father’s voice and carefully drew something on paper. That’s how little by little Nadya Rusheva began to draw.
School and drawing
Parents loved Nadyusha very much, so before school they tried not to “fill their child’s head” with the exact sciences and humanities. They did not specifically teach her to write or read. When the baby was seven years old, she was sent to school. This is how Nadezhda first began to master the sciences, learn to write, read and count. Despite her fatigue and workload within the school curriculum, the girl still found time and spent half an hour a day after school on drawing.
The artist’s interest in Russian fairy tales, myths and legends of Ancient Greece, and biblical parables has not dried up over the years. At this age, Nadya Rusheva continued to combine her favorite pastime, drawing, with listening to evening fairy tales performed by her dad.
The first record for the number of pictures
One day, Nadya, as usual, sat and listened to her dad, who read for her “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” by A.S. Pushkin and traditionally made sketches. When Nikolai Konstantinovich’s curiosity took over and he decided to see what the girl was drawing there, his surprise knew no bounds. As it turned out, while reading the fairy tale, Nadyusha created as many as 36 pictures that corresponded to the theme of the work. These were wonderful illustrations, the simplicity of the lines of which amazed the imagination.
What are the features of Nadya Rusheva’s drawings?
The main feature of Rusheva’s painting was that during her young career the girl never made sketches or used a pencil eraser. The artist preferred to create her masterpieces the first time. And if something didn’t work out for her or she wasn’t satisfied with the result, she simply compressed it, threw out the picture and started over.
According to the youngest talent, she heard or read some story, took a sheet of paper and already mentally saw what image to draw on it.
Nadya Rusheva (biography): recognition among adults
First exhibition and first life experience
The efforts of the Soviet artist Nikolai Konstantinovich Rushev were not in vain. When Nadezhda was 12 years old, with his help her very first personal exhibition was organized. How much joy and positive emotions she brought to a fifth-grader who dreamed of becoming a famous animator!
And although many critics were wary and somewhat distrustful of the schoolgirl, who did not have a diploma from a specialized art school and extensive life experience, this did not repel, but, on the contrary, became a certain incentive for the artist. Nadya Rusheva (her photo can be seen above) did not abandon her hobby, but continued to develop and improve her abilities.
However, along with the unexpected popularity, practically no changes occurred in the girl’s life. She still continued to go to school and study, hang out with her friends, read and draw a lot.
Creation of a new series of illustrations
At the age of 13, Nadya Rusheva created a new series of pictures that are illustrations for the work “Eugene Onegin”. To the surprise of all relatives, friends and acquaintances, the teenage girl managed to combine two incredible things: not only to depict people corresponding to a certain historical era, but also to even convey their mood.
Drawings are a ray of Hope
Nadezhda Rusheva's paintings are ordinary pencil or watercolor sketches, which are a set of contours and lines. As a rule, they were almost completely absent of shading and tinting.
According to the famous sculptor Vasily Vatagin, Nadya Rusheva painted paintings with simple lines. However, they were made in such an easy technique that many experienced, adult painters could envy such skill.
If we talk about the artist’s characters, they are so carefully selected and drawn that, looking at them, you are simply amazed. Her mythical characters are not evil at all. On the contrary, they are kind and are designed to evoke only positive emotions.
According to the girl’s dad himself, she was good at capturing the mood of the authors who wrote this or that work, and also transferring it to paper. Centaurs, mermaids, gods and goddesses, characters from the Bible and fairy tales seemed to come to life under the pencil of a talented artist. It’s a pity that Nadya Rusheva passed away early. Death overtook her at such a young age. We will tell you more about how this happened below.
Exhibitions and new achievements of the girl
Over the next five years, many publishing houses, as well as representatives of the arts sector, became interested in Nadezhda’s works. During this period, 15 new exhibitions of the young artist’s works were held. They were successfully held in Poland, Romania, India, Czechoslovakia and other countries of the world. Among Nadyusha’s paintings were illustrations of ancient Greek myths and legends, fairy tales and works of Soviet poets and prose writers.
Bulgakov's work in the creative life of Nadezhda
A special touch on Nadezhda’s life path was a series of illustrations she made while reading such a landmark as “The Master and Margarita.” At that time, the girl had just turned 15 years old.
For those who do not have the information, the main characters of this novel are vivid prototypes of the author himself and his beautiful wife. Without even realizing it, Nadya Rusheva intuitively sensed this similarity and did everything possible to transfer her thoughts to paper.
An extraordinary passion for ballet
Few people know that, in addition to literary works, the artist was also interested in ballet. Little Hope often attended her mother’s rehearsals and admired her grace during her performance. Once, Nadezhda even managed to draw an illustration for the ballet “Anna Karenina,” long before the music for this work was written.
Bulgakov's choice
When the author of today's sensational novel saw Nadya's illustrations, he was amazed by them. So he immediately decided to use them as effective illustrations for the book. Thus, the young artist became the first fifteen-year-old author who was officially allowed to illustrate a novel. Later she illustrated the novel “War and Peace” by L. Tolstoy.
Unexpected death
No one could even think that Nadya Rusheva would leave this world so quickly and unexpectedly. The cause of her death, according to official data, was the rupture of one of the vessels followed by hemorrhage in the brain.
“Everything happened suddenly,” the girl’s father shared his impressions. - Early in the morning, Nadezhda, as usual, was getting ready for school, when suddenly she felt bad and lost consciousness. The doctors fought for her life for more than five hours, but they still failed to save her.”
And although the girl’s parents did not want to lose hope, the news of their daughter’s death completely unsettled them. For a long time, father and mother could not believe that their sunshine was no longer around. This is how Nadya Rusheva passed away. The cause of death was congenital aneurysm.
A lot of time has passed since the death of the talented artist, but even today her memory is alive in the hearts of connoisseurs of her work and other artists.
Classmates
There are many people whose talent is discovered in early childhood. However, not all of them become famous and gain worldwide fame. Many remain unknown geniuses who are forced to barely eke out their miserable existence. But there are also individuals who, on the contrary, die early at the peak of their popularity. Nadya Rusheva belongs to them exactly.
This is a little 17-year-old artist with a tragic and at the same time happy fate, which we will talk about in our article.
Birth, adolescence and youth of a little artist
One can only speak positively about the forever young 17-year-old girl, who was destined for such a short but very bright fate. She is a little sunshine, who during her lifetime caused only delight. Nadezhda was born on January 31, 1952 in the family of the talented master of fine arts Nikolai Konstantinovich Rushev and the first Tuvan ballerina Natalia Doydalovna Azhikmaa-Rusheva. However, Nadyusha did not grow up as an ordinary child.
An inexplicable urge to draw
The girl developed a penchant for drawing in early childhood. At the age of five, the baby’s father began to notice one interesting feature: as soon as he began to read fairy tales aloud, his daughter immediately jumped up, ran away somewhere and returned with a pencil and paper. Then she sat down next to him, listened carefully to her father’s voice and carefully drew something on paper. That’s how little by little Nadya Rusheva began to draw.
School and drawing
Parents loved Nadyusha very much, so before school they tried not to “fill their child’s head” with the exact sciences and humanities. They did not specifically teach her to write or read. When the baby was seven years old, she was sent to school. This is how Nadezhda first began to master the sciences, learn to write, read and count. Despite her fatigue and workload within the school curriculum, the girl still found time and spent half an hour a day after school on drawing.
The artist’s interest in Russian fairy tales, myths and legends of Ancient Greece, and biblical parables has not dried up over the years. At this age, Nadya Rusheva continued to combine her favorite pastime, drawing, with listening to evening fairy tales performed by her dad.
The first record for the number of pictures
One day, Nadya, as usual, sat and listened to her dad, who read for her “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” by A.S. Pushkin and traditionally made sketches. When Nikolai Konstantinovich’s curiosity took over and he decided to see what the girl was drawing there, his surprise knew no bounds. As it turned out, while reading the fairy tale, Nadyusha created as many as 36 pictures that corresponded to the theme of the work. These were wonderful illustrations, the simplicity of the lines of which amazed the imagination.
What are the features of Nadya Rusheva’s drawings?
The main feature of Rusheva’s painting was that during her young career the girl never made sketches or used a pencil eraser. Artist Nadya Rusheva preferred to create her masterpieces the first time. And if something didn’t work out for her or she wasn’t satisfied with the result, she simply compressed it, threw out the picture and started over.
According to the youngest talent, she heard or read some story, took a sheet of paper and already mentally saw what image to draw on it.
Nadya Rusheva (biography): recognition among adults
First exhibition and first life experience
The efforts of the Soviet artist Nikolai Konstantinovich Rushev were not in vain. When Nadezhda was 12 years old, with his help her very first personal exhibition was organized. How much joy and positive emotions she brought to a fifth-grader who dreamed of becoming a famous animator!
And although many critics were wary and somewhat distrustful of the schoolgirl, who did not have a diploma from a specialized art school and extensive life experience, this did not repel, but, on the contrary, became a certain incentive for the artist. Nadya Rusheva (her photo can be seen above) did not abandon her hobby, but continued to develop and improve her abilities.
However, along with the unexpected popularity, practically no changes occurred in the girl’s life. She still continued to go to school and study, hang out with her friends, read and draw a lot.
Creation of a new series of illustrations
At the age of 13, Nadya Rusheva created a new series of pictures that are illustrations for the work “Eugene Onegin”. To the surprise of all relatives, friends and acquaintances, the teenage girl managed to combine two incredible things: not only to depict people corresponding to a certain historical era, but also to even convey their mood.
Drawings are a ray of Hope
Paintings by Nadezhda Rusheva are ordinary pencil or watercolor sketches, which are a set of contours and lines. As a rule, they were almost completely absent of shading and tinting.
According to the famous sculptor Vasily Vatagin, Nadya Rusheva painted paintings with simple lines. However, they were made in such an easy technique that many experienced, adult painters could envy such skill.
If we talk about the artist’s characters, they are so carefully selected and drawn that, looking at them, you are simply amazed. Her mythical characters are not evil at all. On the contrary, they are kind and are designed to evoke only positive emotions.
According to the girl’s dad himself, she was good at capturing the mood of the authors who wrote this or that work, and also transferring it to paper. Centaurs, mermaids, gods and goddesses, characters from the Bible and fairy tales seemed to come to life under the pencil of a talented artist. It’s a pity that Nadya Rusheva passed away early. Death overtook her at such a young age. We will tell you more about how this happened below.
Exhibitions and new achievements of the girl
Over the next five years, many publishing houses, as well as representatives of the arts sector, became interested in Nadezhda’s works. During this period, 15 new exhibitions of the young artist’s works were held. They were successfully held in Poland, Romania, India, Czechoslovakia and other countries of the world. Among Nadyusha’s paintings were illustrations of ancient Greek myths and legends, fairy tales and works of Soviet poets and prose writers.
Bulgakov's work in the creative life of Nadezhda
A special touch on Nadezhda’s life path was a series of illustrations she made while reading such a landmark work by Bulgakov as “The Master and Margarita.” At that time, the girl had just turned 15 years old.
For those who do not have the information, the main characters of this novel are vivid prototypes of the author himself and his beautiful wife. Without even realizing it, Nadya Rusheva intuitively sensed this similarity and did everything possible to transfer her thoughts to paper.
An extraordinary passion for ballet
Few people know that, in addition to literary works, the artist was also interested in ballet. Little Hope often attended her mother’s rehearsals and admired her grace during her performance. Once, Nadezhda even managed to draw an illustration for the ballet “Anna Karenina,” long before the music for this work was written.
Bulgakov's choice
When the author of today's sensational novel saw Nadya's illustrations, he was amazed by them. So he immediately decided to use them as effective illustrations for the book. Thus, the young artist became the first fifteen-year-old author who was officially allowed to illustrate a novel. Later she illustrated the novel “War and Peace” by L. Tolstoy.
Unexpected death
No one could even imagine that Nadya Rusheva would leave this world so quickly and unexpectedly. The cause of her death, according to official data, was the rupture of one of the vessels, followed by hemorrhage in the brain.
“Everything happened suddenly,” the girl’s father shared his impressions. — Early in the morning, Nadezhda, as usual, was getting ready for school, when suddenly she felt bad and lost consciousness. The doctors fought for her life for more than five hours, but they still failed to save her.”
And although the girl’s parents did not want to lose hope, the news of their daughter’s death completely unsettled them. For a long time, father and mother could not believe that their sunshine was no longer around. This is how Nadya Rusheva passed away. The cause of death was congenital aneurysm.
A lot of time has passed since the death of the talented artist, but even today her memory is alive in the hearts of connoisseurs of her work and other artists.
About a brilliant girl who was never destined to become an adult - Nadya Rusheva.
This girl lived a short but colorful life, and left behind more than 12 thousand works done in ink and ink. A brilliant young artist with a unique gift, she always lived the lives of those she painted. Having never made sketches, she immersed herself in her own world, where she felt absolutely free. Nowadays they rarely talk about the famous girl in the USSR, and I would like to remember the most interesting moments of her life and dwell in detail on her interesting work.
Biography of a young genius
On January 31, 1952, a girl with sad eyes was born in Ulaanbaatar. She was given the name Naidan (Nadezhda), which translates as “Immortal,” and, as it turned out, the parents seemed to have foreseen the fate of their baby. Her father was a famous theater artist, and her mother was a talented ballerina. Six months later, the family changed their place of residence and moved from the capital of Mongolia to Moscow.
Already at the age of four, Nadya Rusheva showed her remarkable talents as a painter. It was her father who played a huge role in her fate. Having noticed a unique gift, he tried to do everything to ensure that his daughter developed it. A professional painter read fairy tales to the girl, and she drew her favorite characters on paper and did this on her own initiative, since no one taught her this art. After she picked up a pencil and paper, the girl never parted with them again. In her works there is a whole world created with a fountain pen. “I see them, they appear on paper like watermarks, and all I can do is trace them,” Nadya said about her drawings.
The young artist had a real flair: she amazingly conveyed the character of the characters, accurately depicted the costumes of past eras and was never mistaken, although she did it intuitively. The girl’s impressions of the magical stories she heard and observations of those around her were preserved on paper.
Young Nadya Rusheva made more than 30 beautiful drawings for one of her favorite fairy tales. "The Little Prince" by Exupery charmed the girl, and she was ready to listen to the philosophical story again and again.
Favorite author
However, the little genius’s favorite author was Pushkin, and when her father read to her “The Tale of Tsar Saltan,” the girl immediately began to draw. She created many amazing works and never used an eraser. It seemed that her hand was tracing lines invisible to someone else’s eyes, already drawn on the paper. Each laconic image accurately revealed the character of the heroes, and such illustrations for the fairy tale were created once and for all. Young Nadya Rusheva never changed anything in her works. Her masterpieces are pure improvisation inspired by reality.
Pushkinian by Nadya Rusheva
Pushkin became the whole world for the young genius; it was he who awakened in her the sleeping instinct to create. While working on the image of the poet, she tried to feel the atmosphere of a past era. She felt it, imagined the people around her, their surroundings, and all the drawings from this series were specially made with sharply tucked goose feathers.
Researchers who compared the drawings of Rusheva and Pushkin concluded that their writing style is very similar. Nadya draws with the same ease and grace, but her work shows an individual style. She remains herself and improvises easily.
Nadya Rusheva, whose biography and work never ceases to excite her most devoted fans, sought to understand the inner world of the great poet and constantly delved into the topic. She depicted Pushkin the lyceum student, his fellow students who rebelled against the informer Piletsky, paid attention to love lines, created portraits of her beloved women, and painted the poet with his family.
Of particular interest are the works telling about the last hours of Alexander Sergeevich’s life, and the work of the little genius cannot be squeezed into the framework of ordinary talent. Her drawings indicate a special talent that the girl possessed: she clearly saw what was not given to others, and was transported to past eras, becoming a participant in distant events. And such an accurate depiction of the 19th century was not explained only by a rich child’s imagination.
Before starting work, Nadya wandered through significant places, turned to the work of genius and absorbed the atmosphere of the 19th century. By the way, many of her works are in the State Pushkin Museum, and live drawings can be seen in the public domain.
Series dedicated to Ancient Greece
Even in the earliest drawings, the hand of a true artist is visible with his unmistakable sense of selecting beauty and elegant language. Nadya captured the most dramatic moments and depicted them on paper.
A novel that had a great influence on the girl
Another series of amazing drawings made by a brilliant girl is dedicated to the events that took place in Bulgakov’s novel. Following her father’s advice, the schoolgirl read the half-disgraced book in one sitting and became eager to depict the characters of the complex work on paper. “Approaching a blank slate, I already know exactly what my heroes will be,” admitted Nadya Rusheva.
“The Master and Margarita” is a literary masterpiece that inspired her creativity, and before starting work, she walked through the places described in the novel.
Strange coincidences
This fact is curious: after the death of the girl, Elena Sergeevna Bulgakova, dreaming of a complete publication of the book, became concerned with the problem of high-quality illustrations. She went to visit the Rushevs, and Nadya’s father showed his daughter’s impeccable drawings. The elderly lady was speechless when she discovered the incredible resemblance of the depicted Margarita to herself, although the artist did not know the writer’s wife.
And on the Master’s hand there was a ring - a copy of the family jewelry that Bulgakov himself wore. It is unknown what forces prompted the young genius to draw exactly this. According to researchers of Rusheva’s work, she was a real seer, capable of looking into the past and future.
Fame in the USSR and abroad
Already at the age of 12, there was an exhibition of works by a young artist who subtly perceives what is happening. It was a real triumph! The entire Soviet Union learned about the girl.
Her works were exhibited abroad, and the foreign press wrote enthusiastically about the young artist. Many did not like such laudatory reviews, and some openly expressed the opinion that the girl’s talent was not as great as it was presented, and an ordinary schoolgirl should not be extolled so much. However, fame did not spoil the girl, because she was always a person devoid of arrogance, looking for hidden meaning everywhere. Disciplined Nadya Rusheva was distinguished by a strong character, inherited from her ballerina mother, and at the same time she was a very gentle person who understood the shades of good and evil.
Diversity of talent
Researchers admired her unique talent and noted that there is no such example in the history of art. Such early creative explosions have been observed among musicians and poets, but this is the first case among artists, because all childhood and adolescence should be spent mastering the skill. And the brilliant girl created from an early age.
The diversity of her talent is simply amazing! She was interested in everything and unerringly selected the most important from the boundless cultural wealth. All lines are completed in a single stroke of the pen. She worked with ink, which does not tolerate correction, and occasionally painted works with watercolors. The artist Nadya Rusheva always correctly chose the only bend, smoothness, and thickness that were necessary in a particular version. And such confidence in the hand is incomprehensible. It seems that little is drawn, but so much is said, and in each drawing, which can be called a painting, a special atmosphere reigns.
Her talent cannot be measured by ordinary categories, and such an early maturation of her mind speaks only of her genius. Nadya's talent is limitless, and the author fearlessly addresses a wide variety of topics and life phenomena. She devolves books, and each one gives birth to a thirst to embody on paper the images born in her imagination. Rusheva created illustrations for the works of Chukovsky, Kassil, Gaidar, Shakespeare, Bazhov, Rodari, Blok, Nosov, Verne, Hugo and many other writers and poets.
Laconicism that touches the soul
It is surprising that there are few means by which excellent results are achieved. For example, the work "Invictus" evokes awe and compassion. Nadya does not draw the barracks and wire of the Auschwitz concentration camp; the paper depicts a face - emaciated, suffering, on which only the coals of the eyes live. There are no details here that would tell about the atrocities of the Nazis, but in this work the viewer understands everything even without them. It is amazing how the girl was able to express the deep images of our century and past eras at such a young age.
Loneliness of a genius
The dearest people to the talented girl were her parents. Due to her unique gift, she did not have close friends, and only shared everything that worried her with her mother and father. She spent a lot of time at various exhibitions and museums, and read serious literary masterpieces with great interest. For example, Nadya Rusheva dedicated more than 400 illustrations to Tolstoy’s “War and Peace.”
A schoolgirl, wise beyond her years with innate culture, once said: “You can’t live for yourself. You have to burn. It’s very difficult, but it’s necessary.” She spent her spiritual wealth, giving herself to people without reserve. And this is the main sign of true talent.
Documentary
A documentary film called “You as First Love” was dedicated to the young artist. At the beginning of 1969, the girl spent a lot of time at the Lenfilm film studio, walked around the beautiful city, got acquainted with its rich history and architectural monuments. She recalled that it was the most wonderful time in her life.
Forever 17 years old
On the eve of the tragedy, Nadya returned to Moscow. Early on the morning of March 6, the artist, full of new ideas, was getting ready for school, but suddenly lost consciousness. The family did not have a telephone, and the father rushed to the hospital. Without regaining consciousness, the girl died at the age of 17, and her death caused shock among all people, and many refused to believe in her death. Nadya Rusheva, whose cause of death is indicated in the medical report, suffered from a cerebral aneurysm, and at that time such a disease could not be treated. No one knew that the girl had a disease with which people live for no more than nine years, and fate gave her seventeen.
Memory
She was going to enter VGIK to study as a cartoonist, but fate had its own way. Nadya, who gained immortality after life, is buried in the Pokrovsky cemetery, and her drawing of a cute centaur is depicted on the granite monument.
The name of the artist who baffled venerable art critics was not forgotten. A new planet, discovered in 1982, was named in her honor; in Moscow there is a school named after Nadya Rusheva No. 1466, where she studied. It houses a wonderful museum where you can see the original works of the girl, her things, and hear stories about the life and work of the sorceress, who created more than 12 thousand works.
The talented girl is remembered in Tyva, because her mother was one of the first ballerinas of the republic, and in 1993 the Nadya Rusheva Museum was opened in the city of Kyzyl. Here you can get acquainted with the drawings given by the girl’s parents and once again admire her immortal talent.
Moscow competition
Today, the artist’s work, unfortunately, is almost forgotten. There is still no single center, but the Moscow authorities tried to attract the attention of young talents and organized a city drawing competition for Nadya Rusheva in 2003. Over the entire period of its existence, more than 30 thousand schoolchildren took part in it, and a rich fund of children's works of artistic value has been accumulated. The competition is held as a real celebration of art, which provides a unique opportunity to exchange experiences.
The mystery of a genius
I would like to end our material with the words of Academician Likhachev, who wrote that this is exactly the kind of art that the people need. The brilliant girl penetrated into the realm of the human spirit and sought to show as much as possible. No one knows where Nadya got her amazing knowledge of eras and people at such a young age. And this question will forever remain unanswered...
Nadezhda Rusheva was born in the city of Ulaanbaatar in the family of the Soviet artist Nikolai Konstantinovich Rushev. Her mother is the first Tuvan ballerina Natalya Doydalovna Azhikmaa-Rusheva. In the summer of 1952, the family moved to Moscow.
Nadya began drawing at the age of five, and no one taught her how to draw, and she was not taught to read and write before school. At the age of seven, as a first-grader, she began to draw regularly, every day for no more than half an hour after school. Then, in one evening, she drew 36 illustrations for “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” by Pushkin, while her father was reading this favorite fairy tale out loud.
Exhibitions
In May 1964 - the first exhibition of her drawings, organized by the magazine "Youth" (Nadya was in fifth grade). After this exhibition, the first publications of her drawings appeared in issue 6 of the magazine that same year, when she was only 12 years old. Over the next five years of her life, fifteen personal exhibitions took place in Moscow, Warsaw, Leningrad, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania, and India. In 1965, in issue No. 3 of the Yunost magazine, thirteen-year-old Nadya’s first illustrations for a work of art were published - for the story “Newton’s Apple” by Eduard Pashnev. Ahead were illustrations for the novels “War and Peace” by Leo Tolstoy and “The Master and Margarita” by Mikhail Bulgakov and the glory of the future book graphic artist, although the young artist herself dreamed of becoming a cartoonist. In 1967, she was in Artek, where she met Oleg Safaraliev.
Movie
In 1969, Lenfilm produced the film “You, Like First Love...”, dedicated to Nadya Rusheva. The film is not finished.
Death
She died on March 6, 1969 in the hospital due to the rupture of a congenital aneurysm of a cerebral vessel and subsequent hemorrhage in the brain.
Memory of Nadya Rusheva
- She was buried at the Pokrovskoye cemetery in the first plot. A monument was erected at her grave, where her drawing “Centaur” was reproduced.
- Also, Nadya’s drawing “Centaur” became the logo of the Autonomous non-profit organization “International Center for Non-Fiction Cinema and Television “Centaur”, which is involved in the preparation and holding of the film festival “Message to Man”. The annual prizes of the festival “Golden Centaur” and “Silver Centaur” are based on the drawing. In 2003, a monument to the Centaur was unveiled on the stairs of the St. Petersburg House of Cinema.
- Education Center No. 1466 (former Moscow school No. 470), where she studied, is named after her. The school has a museum of her life and work.
- In the Caucasus there is the Nadia Rusheva pass.
Creation
Among her works are illustrations for the myths of Ancient Hellas, the works of Pushkin, L.N. Tolstoy, Mikhail Bulgakov. In total, the works of about 50 authors were illustrated.
Among Nadya’s sketches there are several that depict the ballet “Anna Karenina”. Such a ballet was actually staged after the death of the artist and Maya Plisetskaya danced the main role in it.
Her drawings were born without sketches, she always drew straight away, and she never used an eraser. “I see them in advance... They appear on paper like watermarks, and all I have to do is outline them with something,” said Nadya.
Nadya left behind a huge artistic legacy - about 12,000 drawings. Their exact number is impossible to calculate - a significant proportion were distributed in letters, the artist gave hundreds of sheets to friends and acquaintances, a considerable number of works for various reasons did not return from the first exhibitions. Many of her drawings are kept in the Leo Tolstoy Museum in Moscow, in the branch museum named after Nadya Rusheva in the city of Kyzyl, in the Pushkin House of the Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg, the National Cultural Foundation, and the City Art Gallery of Sarov, Nizhny Novgorod Region. and the Pushkin Museum named after. Pushkin in Moscow.
More than 160 exhibitions of her works took place in different countries: Japan, Germany, USA, India, Mongolia, Poland and many others.
Cycles and work
- Self-portraits
- Ballet
- War and Peace
- Western classics
- The Little Prince
- The Master and Margarita
- Animal world
- Pushkinian
- Russian fairy tales
- Modernity
- Tuva and Mongolia
- Hellas
January 31, 2008 would have been the 55th anniversary of Nadya Rusheva, a wonderful artist, the author of many beautiful drawings - including for the novel “The Master and Margarita”, according to Bulgakov’s widow, the best illustrations for this work...
There were four hours of waiting time for her exhibition.
In history, she remained an adult child. Just like her favorite character, the Little Prince. Nadya died very early - at 17. The day before, the girl returned from St. Petersburg, where she was filming a documentary about Pushkin.
“That day my daughter met me animated and joyful,” recalls Natalya Doydalovna, Nadya’s mother. “In her hand she held a burning red candle with white wax flowing down it. “Mom, look how beautiful it is!”
And the next morning she burned herself out. Sudden cerebral hemorrhage...
That candle, with frozen wax tears, still stands on the artist’s desk. Only now it has turned from scarlet to pale yellow. Over time, everything loses color - the drawings made with felt-tip pens fade, no matter how hard Natalya Doydalovna hides them from the light, the pages of the books that her daughter leafed through turn yellow - only the memories do not fade.
As cynical as it may be, her early death only fueled the public’s interest in the young artist. There were hours-long queues for her exhibition at the Pushkin Museum. Art critics spoke with aspiration about Rusheva’s graphics. Exhibitions were held in more than two hundred cities - not only in the Union, but also in the USA and Japan. Bulgakov’s widow, Elena Sergeevna, who met the Rushevs after the tragedy, claimed that Nadina’s illustrations for “The Master and Margarita” were the best, and that the artist’s gift was on the verge of clairvoyance. Her Master's ring is an exact copy of the ring that Bulgakov himself wore, while Margarita is the spitting image of the writer's widow... Elena Sergeevna was going to help publish the novel with Nadya's illustrations, but did not have time - shortly after meeting the parents of the artist Bulgakova died.
The 15-year-old girl’s drawings on the theme of the cult novel still look fresh and exciting - it’s even strange that “The Masters” with Rusheva’s illustrations was never published (except for the Barnaul edition of the early 90s, the quality of printing of which left much to be desired). The artist's graphics were rarely printed in the USSR due to poor printing - this was done in Japan and Germany. They are in no hurry to release albums even now, although technical capabilities have improved. “If I were rich, I would at least publish a calendar,” laments Natalya Doydalovna. The parents earned sheer tears from their daughter’s drawings: in 1976, the only album “Graphics by Nadya Rusheva” was released, father and mother were paid 990 rubles for it. But Natalya Doydalovna doesn’t even think about money: “When they make an exhibition, it’s an honor for us. In 1980, Nadina had an exhibition in Japan. The organizers printed drawings from Pushkiniana and gave me several copies.” Now the gift in a beautiful gilded frame decorates Natalya Doydalovna’s living room.
Could have become a ballerina
The artist’s mother lives in a cold Khrushchev building without an elevator, four stops from the metro. A petite woman with a neat hairstyle, despite her advanced years, opened the door to me. Showed my daughter's room. On the wall are black and white photographs of Dean Reed and Maya Plisetskaya, idols of the 60s.
And here is Artek, where Rusheva spent more than one summer: a group in swimsuits, with Nadya on the edge - cheerful, long-legged, with straight dark hair. She was not an introverted and reserved prodigy at all. On the contrary, I was drawn to people, new faces. She moved beautifully - she famously danced the Charleston, enjoyed skiing and skating. She could have become a ballerina, like her mother - she had grace and a high, “ballet-like” lift of her feet. But Natalya Doydalovna did not want such a fate for her daughter: “Standing in the crowd is nothing to do, and being the first is very difficult.”
...Nadya’s parents met in Tuva, where Muscovite Nikolai Rushev, a theater artist, was sent on a business trip. The young man was attracted to the East - from this trip he brought not only impressions, but also his wife - a ballerina, a girl of exotic beauty (in old photographs Natalya Doydalovna, a purebred Tuvan, looks like Chinese women from Wong Kar-Wai's films - N.K.). At that time - a rare union.
After Nadyusha was born, I took up housekeeping. In 1953, Nikolai Konstantinovich worked at the Bolshoi, and I wanted to watch all the performances - I put Nadyusha in bed, asked my neighbor to look after her, and ran to watch the production. My daughter was very calm; wherever you put her, you’ll find her. I wasn’t capricious...
I gave birth to her at the age of 25, in Ulaanbaatar: my husband was sent there on a business trip. I suffered from toxicosis throughout my pregnancy. Newborn Nadyusha weighed only 2500. Fortunately, there was a lot of milk, and she quickly grew stronger. At the age of three, already in Moscow, she was sent to kindergarten. I remember that my daughter plays with the guys all day, but as soon as I appear, she comes running, buries herself in her lap and cries - quietly, quietly... But she doesn’t complain. I cried for a whole month until I got used to it. In general, she had an easy-going, easy-going character.
I drew while my father read fairy tales out loud.
For half a century now, Natalya Rusheva has been asked how she managed to raise a child prodigy. And in all these years she never gave a ready-made recipe. Simply because he doesn't exist. The Rushevs raised their only daughter without going to extremes.
– Nadyusha learned to read only at school, at seven and a half. We didn’t teach it specifically at home, we decided we’d teach it early - my daughter would be bored in class. We have never put pressure on her yet. Is it possible to force a child, because he will do the opposite! She started drawing, like all children, as soon as she learned to hold a pencil. My husband designs the book, hangs the drawing on the wall for a better look, and Nadya comes up and sticks hers next to it. What always surprised me about her was her unchildish, caring attitude towards things. She never tore books or broke toys.
Dad came home from work every day, lay down on the sofa and read fairy tales to her with expression - and Nadyusha sat next to her and drew. This is how many of her drawings appeared, including the famous cycle for “The Tale of Tsar Saltan,” which experts still admire to this day. She was already an adult, at the age of 14–15, and often asked: “Dad, read to me!” All children draw, but Nadyusha did it in an unusual way. Her husband showed her drawings to colleagues and art critics. Her daughter’s very first exhibition took place in the editorial office of the Yunost magazine, when she was only 12. After school, she wanted to enter VGIK and become an animator.
They promised to take her without exams...
On March 6, 1969, on a gray, chilly morning, Natalya Doydalovna prepared breakfast, ordered her daughter to dress warmly, and ran off to work. She never saw Nadya alive again. The girl bent down to lace her shoes and suddenly fell. Nikolai Konstantinovich ran to call a doctor. The Rushevs did not have a telephone. It was not possible to save Nadya. She died from a congenital cerebral vascular defect.
– In February, my daughter suffered from the Hong Kong flu that was then spreading around Moscow. She was burning all over, could neither write nor read, and complained of a headache. I was lying at home alone - it was impossible to be late for my work even by five minutes. They called a doctor - he prescribed pills, now I don’t remember which ones. Having barely recovered, my daughter left for filming. If only I knew then how dangerous that flu was...
I found out about Nadya’s death only in the evening, when I returned home, my husband and colleagues simply did not dare to immediately talk about the tragedy. I open the door and the house is full of people... It was difficult to bear it.
Nadya was buried at the Pokrovsky cemetery, where Nikolai Konstantinovich now lies - the father outlived his daughter by only six years. And the mother never ceases to ask herself why her child was taken away by death so early. For what sins?