Usto Mumin: Metamorphosis

This biography of the Russian painter Alexander Nikolaev (1897–1957) is reconstructed from reminiscences of friends and colleagues, rumors and myths, the few facts and documents that exist, Enna Alennik’s novel Reminder, and the memoirs of art historians and artists.

Nikolaev wished to repeat the experience of Paul Gauguin and Ármin Vámbéry and thus became Usto Mumin. The happiest and most creative period of his life was in the 1920s. That was when the artist created the paintings that became his main works, which were most recognizable to viewers as being by Usto Mumin. They would, however, become problematic for the artist, as they did not fit with the existing ideology.

The author’s first attempt at a biography of Usto Mumin was the 2014 work A.V. Nikolaev—Usto Mumin: His Fate in History and Culture (A Reconstruction of the Artist’s Biography). This book contains a large amount of new material, including previously unpublished illustrations, Usto Mumin’s early poems, his Legend of Obi-Rakhmat, important recollections from Olga Bessarabova about the Voronezh period of the artist’s life and his short stay in Orenburg, reminiscences by Olga Manuilova, Galina Kozlovskaya, and others, and a verbatim report of an evening with Usto Mumin that records an important presentation during which the artist analyzed his own creative path.