The versatility of talent allowed this person to realize himself in several creative professions at once. He is an eminent theater artist, and a portrait painter, and a director, and a teacher. Of course, this is the notorious Akimov Nikolai Petrovich. It was said about him that he stood out from the crowd by the fact that when he began to speak, he overshadowed all the men of "Apollo" appearance.
His creative path, like many other creative people, was not rosy and cloudless. Akimov Nikolai experienced both ups and downs, but he never forgot about his great goal, which was to serve art. And he achieved it.
Biography
Nikolay Akimov is a native of the city of Kharkov (Ukraine). He was born on April 16, 1901 in the family of a railway worker, and when the boy was 9 years old, the Akimovs were forced to move to Tsarskoe Selo, since the head of the family was transferred to a new place of work.
After a while, the young man with his parents finds himself in the cityon the Neva. It was in St. Petersburg that he woke up a real interest in the fine arts. There Akimov Nikolay becomes a student of the evening drawing school of the Society for the Encouragement of Artists (OPKh). In 1915, a teenager learns the basics of fine arts in the studio of S. M. Seidenberg, and after some time continues to study painting at the New Art Workshop under the guidance of M. V. Dobuzhinsky, A. E. Yakovlev, V. I. Shukhaev.
First exhibition
In 1919, in his homeland, Nikolay Akimov took part in an exhibition and sale of works by eminent masters of drawing: A. M. Lyubimov, V. D. Ermilov, M. Sinyakova-Urechina, Z. Serebryakova. Landscapes by novice illustrators were also presented at the event.
By that time, Nikolai Akimov (artist) was already working in the Proletkult poster workshop in Petrograd.
In the period from 1920 to 1922, the young man taught at the Higher Courses of Political Education Workers in Kharkov.
In his youth, Akimov realizes himself as a book illustrator. In 1927, a major exhibition of his work was held, the visitors of which could enjoy with their own eyes how skillfully the maestro was able to arrange the popular publications of that time.
The beginning of a theater artist's career
In the early 20s, a young man was invited to work at the Kharkov Children's Theater as a graphic designer. His debut in this field was the play "The Labors of Hercules" (A. Beletsky). Then Nikolai Pavlovich was entrusted with the work in the production of "Alinur" (based on the fairy taleO. Wilde "Star Boy").
In 1923 he came to the Higher Artistic and Technical Workshops. Here he begins decorating in the play "Give Hamlet" (N. Evreinov). Soon the young man begins to cooperate with the "temples of Melpomene of small forms", namely: "Free Comedy", "Musical Comedy" and "Modern Theater".
In 1924, Akimov decorated the production of "The Virgin Forest" (E. Toller), which was successfully staged at the Bolshoi Drama Theater. Nikolai Petrovich also designed the play "Lake Lyul" (A. Faiko), staged at the Academic Drama Theater.
In addition, the maestro worked on the play by the notorious A. Faiko "Evgraf - Adventurer", which theatergoers could see on the stage of the 2nd Moscow Art Theater.
During that period, Akimov Nikolai Pavlovich (artist) comes up with his first theatrical posters.
Working as a director
Maestro took place not only in the profession of an illustrator. He also became famous for his directorial work.
In 1932, Akimov made his debut with the classic play "Hamlet", which premiered on the stage of the theater. E. Vakhtangov.
Music Hall
A year later, Nikolai Pavlovich is offered to become the chief director of the Leningrad Music Hall, and he agrees to this.
He creates an experimental workshop and puts on the play “The Shrine of Marriage (E. Labiche). Occupying an honorary position in the music hall, director Akimov Nikolai Pavlovichtries to create a "permanent" creative team, and diversify the theater's repertoire by genre. With his wards, he was engaged in acting for a long time, wanting to educate them in actors who would be able to play diverse roles. However, he had to leave the aforementioned "temple of Melpomene" because he had disagreements with his leadership. Their essence boiled down to the following: the maestro was not allowed to stage a performance based on the play by E. Schwartz "The Princess and the Swineherd".
Comedy Theatre
After leaving the music hall, Nikolai Pavlovich did not remain without work for long. In 1935, he began directing the Leningrad Theater of Comedy (satire). In fairness, it should be noted that this theater at that time was going through far from the best of times: the audience did not want to visit an institution with a rather monotonous repertoire. It was Akimov who managed to make a colossal reform in the inner life of the comedy theater.
In just one year, he made the theater unrecognizable: Nikolai Pavlovich breathed a “second life” into it, and even the word “comedy” began to be written with a capital letter. Anisimov's "K" still appears in theater programs.
Repertoire and cast are being updated
The premieres, held in triumph, were staged one after another. On the stage of the Comedy Theater, he was able to translate his long-term plans into reality. Nikolai Petrovich had long wanted to stage the famous plays by E. L. Schwartz and did it. So the performances "Dragon" and "Shadow" appeared. The repertoire of the theater also included classical performances,such as: "Dog in the Manger" (Lopa de Vega), "Twelfth Night" (William Shakespeare), "School of Scandal" (Richard Sheredan). Nikolai Akimov, whose photo was regularly published on the pages of newspapers covering the cultural life of Leningrad in the 30s, actively experimented in his "patrimony". In the Comedy Theater, he picked up a new cast, saying goodbye to the prima Granovskaya and refusing to cooperate with the Russian tenor Leonid Utyosov. He invited inexperienced but promising actors to the troupe, some of whom worked in the theater studio "Experiment". In particular, Nikolai Akimov (director) invited Irina Zarubina, Boris Tenin, Sergei Filippov, Alexander Beniaminov to join his team. All of them became famous figures in the art of impersonation. The sketches of costumes that the maestro came up with corresponded as much as possible to the actors whom he approved for the roles. Naturally, Nikolai Pavlovich himself worked on theatrical posters, not trusting this matter to anyone else.
At the end of the 30s, the temple of Melpomene, which he led, became a favorite place of leisure for the theater-goers of the "city on the Neva".
When the Great Patriotic War began, the troupe of the Comedy Theater continued to give performances for some time, but already in the BDT building, since only there were bomb shelters. About 30 artists took up arms and went to fight the enemy. The theater was evacuated to the Caucasus, where the director staged as many as 16 premiere performances.
Breaking from the theater
In the late 40s, Soviet officialsthe maestro was accused of Westernism and a formal approach to art, after which he was removed from the post of head of the theater. Nikolai Petrovich was left without a job, but his “colleagues in the shop” - N. Cherkasov, N. Okhlopkov, B. Tenin, did not leave him in trouble, helping him financially. During this period of his biography, the maestro turned to painting and began to paint portraits. It will create unique images of the above friends.
But already in 1952, Akimov will return to directing work, putting on the stage of the theater. Lensoviet performances "Case" (Sukhovo-Kobylin) and "Shadows" (M. S altykov-Shchedrin). Four years later, Nikolai Pavlovich will once again take the reins of the Comedy Theater into his own hands.
Teaching activities
Akimov was also known as a talented teacher. In 1955, he will come to teach young actors stage skills at the Leningrad Theater Institute. There he will establish an art and production department, which he will later head.
Through his offspring, he will bring up more than one galaxy of masters of theatrics. In 1960, Nikolai Pavlovich was awarded the title of professor at LTI.
Exhibitions
Even in the mid-1950s, an exhibition of theater posters by Akimov was organized in the Soviet capital. After some time, he went to the capital of Belgium for the World Exhibition, where he received a silver medal for his services in art.
In 1963, in the "northern capital" and in 1965 in Moscow, personal exhibitions of his works were held. Maestro was married to actress ElenaJunger, with whom he had a daughter, Nina.
Nikolai Pavlovich died on September 6, 1968, during a tour of the Comedy Theatre. He was buried at the Volkovsky Orthodox Cemetery in St. Petersburg.
