At one time, the outstanding architect Lev Kekushev was able to avoid the military career that his father, a court adviser, predicted for him. The son managed to convince his parents of his demand. He became the first brilliant architect working in the Art Nouveau style. The architect Kekushev marked all his works in Moscow with a sign in the form of a lion.
Family of Court Counselor
The biography of the brilliant architect Lev Nikolaevich Kekushev is replete with dark spots. Some researchers of his work and biography believe that he was born in 1862 in Saratov. Others claim that the architect was born in Vilna, in the Warsaw province. We will start from this fact.
Lev Nikolaevich Kekushev grew up and was brought up in a military family. His father served as a major in the Pavlovsky regiment, which was stationed in the Kingdom of Poland. Apparently, it was there that he first met his future wife. Her name was Constance. She was the daughter of a Polish landowner.
In 1861, the head of the family decided to retire. Heentered the civil service. His new place of work was the engineering corps. He had to move to other regions on several occasions. At different periods he lived in St. Petersburg, Pskov, Novgorod, until he settled in Vilna. It was there that his son, the future architect, was born. By this time, the father of the family had risen to the rank of court adviser.
Besides Lev Kekushev, who was the 3rd child, there were 6 more children. The family lived rather poorly. That is why parents oriented their offspring to receive a decent education, as it made it possible to count on a good career in the future.
First experiments
By 1883, young Kekushev Lev Nikolaevich graduated from a real school in Vilna. And since he had already shown obvious artistic abilities and hated military drill, he went to St. Petersburg. He intended to enter the Institute of Civil Engineers, which happened in the same year.
Within the walls of this educational institution, he studied with such future famous architects as V. Velichkin, I. Ivanov-Shits and N. Markov.
When he was a student, Kekushev Lev Nikolaevich had to perform a number of independent student works, where he once again showed his extraordinary ability to paint.
At the end of his studies, he defended his graduation project, which was called "Slaughterhouse in St. Petersburg." Shortly before graduation, he managed to find a job in the Technical and Construction Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. As a result, in 1888 he graduated from the university, becomingprofessional civil engineer. In addition, he was awarded the Silver Medal for his excellence in architecture.
After that, Lev Kekushev worked for a short time as an assistant urban planner. However, already in 1890, he decided to retire, going to the Mother See.
Mentor
In the capital, Kekushev decided to devote himself mainly to private architectural practice. So, he began to train with the fashionable architect S. Eibushitz, and also became his assistant. In this capacity, he took part in the construction of Okhotny Ryad and the Central Baths.
By and large, these lessons of a prominent architect helped not only crystallize the style of a young architect, but also form a circle of potential customers, among whom were we althy people from merchant families.
In addition, during the internship, Kekushev managed to master the skills of various applied decorative techniques. This refers to forging, electroforming, as well as etching on glass and metal.
Own architectural workshop
Kekushev completed his internship in 1893. After that, he opened his own architectural firm. Unfortunately, there are practically no documents on the activities of this workshop. But there is information about the architects who carried out his tasks, watched the construction of a number of construction projects and developed decorative decoration for interiors and facades.
Such helpers were, for example, the Schutzmann brothers. They also took part in the designKorobkov's mansion and Frank's tenement house. They also monitored the construction of Nikolsky shopping malls.
V. Voeikov and N. Shevyakov became other assistants to Kekushev. In addition, prominent Russian architects A. Kuznetsov and I. Fomin passed through the architect's school.
In addition to working in the bureau, Kekushev worked as a teacher at the Technical School in the capital. For the needs of the institution, he managed to build a chemical laboratory.
Kekushev also taught at the Stroganov School of Industrial Art. He gave students his lessons on silvering, iron forging and composition. Then he started working at one of the engineering schools.
For five years, Kekushev served as a district architect. And he was able to independently erect a building with elements of the Moorish style for the almshouse named after Hera.
Imperial order
By the mid-90s, the first fame came to Kekushev. Gradually, he began to turn from an ordinary architect into an eminent architect. It was then that he received an order from Emperor Nicholas II himself.
In these years, the official coronation of the new autocrat was being prepared. For the event, it was decided to decorate part of Tverskaya Street, the building of the City Duma and Voskresenskaya Square. For this, a corresponding competition was announced, where the best architects took part. As a result, the order was in the hands of Kekushev. And after a while he successfully completed this work. Since then, the name of the architect was already known throughout the empire.
New direction
The same period of the master's lifewas also marked by the fact that the architect Kekushev, whose biography is full of interesting facts, gradually moved to the modern architectural style.
The first such work was the profitable house of the Khludovs, which is considered one of the brightest examples of this trend. To date, this building has been rebuilt, but the facade has been preserved.
This style of the architect was supported by a number of capital developers and well-known patrons, among whom were the Kuznetsovs, Nosovs and many others.
Savva Mamontov and tenement houses
By this time Kekushev had a serious financial success. He became a popular specialist in this field. A well-known businessman Savva Mamontov decided to involve a well-known architect in his projects. For example, Kekushev took part in the construction of the Northern Railway, and also designed a water tower at one of the capital's railway stations.
But perhaps the most ambitious joint project was the construction of the Metropol Hotel.
At this time, Kekushev was appointed chief architect of two organizations. These were the insurance company, which planned to build fashionable turnkey mansions in the Art Nouveau style, and the House-Building Society, which was just building the Metropol. The idea belonged to the owner of the hotel S. Mamontov. Unfortunately, at some point he decided to give the contract to the architect V. Vilkot. Construction began, but Mamontov could not implement the project, as he was accused of large embezzlement and arrested. Throughhe was acquitted for a while, but the business was ruined.
The new owners of the hotel again invited Kekushev so that he could work on the processing of the entire Wilkot project. Professionals in their field believe that Kekushev's participation ensured the colossal success of the entire enterprise.
In addition to the construction of the "Metropol", Kekushev began to build his own tenement houses. The architect also built his own mansion on Ostozhenka. Entrepreneur G. List was delighted with the house of the architect Kekushev. He offered a huge price for the building. Kekushev could not refuse.
The culmination of creativity
Leo Kekushev's creative peak came at the beginning of the twentieth century. At the turn of the century, he was already considered the founder and faithful follower of the capital's Art Nouveau. It was during this period that the Moscow architect Lev Kekushev designed and built such buildings as the mansions of I. Mindovsky and Nosov, the Iversky shopping malls, and the railway station in Tsaritsyno. Also, according to his sketches, the entrance from the Arbat and a number of premises of the Prague restaurant were designed. In addition, Kekushev had to decorate the halls of I. Morozov's mansion on Prechistenka.
In general, architect Kekushev performed all the work in Moscow at a high level. His soul is invested in these buildings. They are worthy of attention. All of its objects are characterized by an almost perfect study of interiors.
The Age of Troubles
When the first Russian revolution broke out, public tastes began to change. If before the events of 1905 in architecturethe luxurious early modern prevailed, then after that the laconic and restrained northern modern was a new trend.
Unfortunately, the architect Lev Nikolaevich Kekushev either did not want or could not work in a new direction, and his popularity and authority began to decrease.
In 1907 he was going to build a restaurant called "Eldorado". In fact, this project was supposed to be one of the architect's biggest ideas. However, another specialist began to erect the building. As a result, the construction was completed, but with large and serious deviations from the drawings of L. Kekushev. The last bright creation of the architect is the hospital in Preobrazhensky. It was built on the eve of the First World War, in 1912.
The architect Kekushev performed subsequent works without much expressiveness and individuality.
Death
After 1912, the fate of Kekushev acquired a truly tragic shade. It seemed that the architect did not take contracts at all. He only placed pictures of his old creations in various publications.
Also, there was no mention of him at all. True, in professional magazines one could make sure that, fortunately, he was alive and sometimes moved to new apartments.
This self-elimination, according to the biographers of the architect, was caused by a mental illness. Other historians believe that the architect Kekushev withdrew into himself due to recent personal and career failures.
Be that as it may, when the October Revolution and the civil war began, the master in generaldisappeared. It is still unknown when he died and when he was buried … True, according to one of his relatives, Lev Kekushev died in 1917 in the hospital. And they buried him in one of the capital's churchyards … How the architect Kekushev left a memory of himself building in Moscow. You can see photos of his work in the article.
In the bosom of the family
The personal life of an architect is eventful. There were also family dramas. In the late 90s of the XIX century, Kekushev met Anna Bolotova, the daughter of a retired staff captain. She was born and lived in Kremenchug, in the Poltava province. At the time of the meeting, this charming girl was only nineteen. The successful metropolitan architect was already almost 35. Despite the difference, the lovers got married. This happened at the end of April 1897.
Initially, the couple were genuinely happy. They raised children. They owned a dacha in the magnificent Serebryany Bor. Also, a few years after the wedding, they moved to their own mansion on Ostozhenka, as previously mentioned. In fact, this "exclusive housing" spoke of a real rise in the professional career of an architect. Agree, luxurious houses that were built according to author's projects were owned by a few.
According to the stories of the only grandson of the architect, Kekushev had a wonderful character. He was cheerful and kind to relatives, friends and colleagues. Loved the pranks. But his true passion has always been architecture. As a rule, he got up at six in the morning,after which he began to work in his office. According to the recollections of Kekushev's wife, he was a very enthusiastic person. And when he designed, he often exceeded the necessary estimates. In such a situation, he sometimes paid for what was missing from his wallet in order to see the embodiment of his plans. Unfortunately, it was precisely because of this character trait that he later left nothing behind except debts.
At least family happiness lasted about ten years. In 1906, Kekushev decided to move to a rented apartment. According to unconfirmed sources, the cause of the gap was treason on the part of the architect's wife. According to the researchers, she started an affair with one of Kekushev's workshop colleagues.
Nevertheless, the couple repeatedly tried to mend their relationship. In any case, there was a period when they again lived together. But then they parted again. All these attempts to save the marriage were in vain.
Architect Kekushev: children
As mentioned above, the young Kekushev family has children. The first-born of the famous couple was the son Nikolai. He was born at the very end of February 1898. In 1901, the architect's wife gave him a daughter, Tatyana. And the next year, the youngest daughter Katya was born.
Son Nicholas later became a famous aviator. In 1924 he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. He then fought in the territory of the Central Asian republics.
In 1930, he worked as a flight mechanic in polar aviation. At that time, he was part of the crew of P. Golovin. These pilots managed to land at the North Pole for the first time when they were preparinglanding of the expedition of the famous polar explorer I. Papanin.
When the Great Patriotic War and the blockade of Leningrad began, Nikolai took the residents of the northern capital to the mainland on a civilian plane. He has about fifty flights to his credit.
After the war, he ended up in prison, after which he went to the camp by stage. When he was released, he decided to write a book about his memories. Most surprisingly, this work does not contain any details about the life and death of the famous father.
