California Museum of Fine Art

Nicolai Fechin (1881-1955) Today is the birthday of Nicolai Ivanovich Fechin. He was born November 26, 1881 and lived until October 5,1955. Fechin was a Russian...-American painter known for his portraits and works featuring Native Americans. Nicolai Fechin was born in 1881 in Kazan, Russia. As a child, he almost died from meningitis. His father was a woodcarver and gilder, and Nicolai learned carving from him. By age eleven, Nicolai was drawing designs for his father to use in the construction of altars. At the age of 13 he enrolled in the newly established Kazan Art School, a branch of the Imperial Academy of Arts in the capital of St. Petersburg. In 1909 Fechin graduated with the highest grade possible and his final competitive canvas won him the Prix de Rome. The traveling scholarship allowed him to visit and study in the artistic capitals of Europe in 1909. The following year he won a gold medal at the annual International Exhibition in Munich. Fechin was invited to show his work at an international exhibition at the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1910. He began to sell his work in the United States. When Fechin returned from traveling, he resumed teaching at Kazan where he taught for ten years. In 1913, with his position at the school secure, Fechin married Alexandra Belkovitch (c. 18961983), the daughter of the director of the Kazan School of Art. They had a daughter, Eya (19142002). The social disruption and widespread deprivation after the Russian Revolution made life difficult. Fechin's parents died of typhoid fever. Fechin and his family emigrated to the United States, where they settled in New York. He was already well known in the States from canvases at American and European exhibitions, as well as sales. His patron, W.S. Stimmel and John Burnham, the notable architect and a major collector of his work, helped Fechin and his family leave Russia. While in New York, Fechin developed tuberculosis. Lacking effective antibiotics at that time, doctors recommended a drier climate for him. Fechin traveled west and in 1927 eventually settled with his family in Taos, New Mexico, which was developing as an arts center. The Taos mountains reminded him of the beauty he had seen in Siberia. He was soon painting with fervor. He felt particularly close to the Indians. His greatest works done in the United States were of the Native Americans. Fechin had great affection for Taos and became a naturalized American citizen while living there. In Taos the Fechins purchased a two-story adobe house. He spent several years enlarging and modifying it according to his own design ideas. He also carved doors according to Russian style, created triptych windows, and carved furniture for use in the house, which reflects a combination of modernist, Russian and Native American sensibility. Sixty-eight of Fechin's works in a variety of genres can be seen at his former home as part of the Stark Collection of the Taos Art Museum. The house is now used for the Taos Art Museum. Some of the personal spaces have been preserved. In 1979 the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Fechin stopped working on the house when he and his wife Alexandra divorced in 1933. She lived at the house until her death in 1983. After the divorce Eya lived with her father most of the time. Fechin returned to New York with Eya for the winter. After New York, he traveled to Southern California, Mexico, Japan, and the Pacific Islands of Java and Bali. In 1948 moved into a studio in Rustic Canyon in Santa Monica, California. There he taught small groups of students, painted, and happily entertained guests. In 1955 Fechin died and was buried in Santa Monica. In 1976 his daughter Eya took his remains back to Russia for reinterment in Kazan. The Russian artist Sergei Bongart bought the Rustic Canyon studio where Fechin had lived. Bongart painted there until his own death later in 1985. * The largest collection of Fechin's work is held at the Fechin Center in Kazan, Russia where in 1981 they honored the centennial of his birth with a retrospective exhibition.

Onion Lady 40x 40 Oil on Canvas by Dali Higa. Just off the easel.

Завершается прим работ на Международный интернет-конкурс художников ВЕРНИСАЖ 2020

Голембиевская Татьяна Николаевна (1936-2018) Высокая награда

Fiden's Best Friend by Dali Higa 40" x 30" Oil on Canvas LA Art Show January 10-14, 2018 Los Angeles Convention Center

Our last trip to St Petersburg and Moscow.

Misty by Dali Higa. 40x 30 Oil on Canvas. Just off the easel.

Above and Beyond by Dali Higa. 60 x 40 Oil on Canvas. Just off the easel.

Chores At Sunset by Dali Higa. Oil on Canvas 40x 40. Just off the easel.

Sunset Silhouette by Dali Higa. 40 x 40. Oil on Canvas. Just off the easel.

Watching The Parade by Dali Higa. Oil on Canvas. 48 x 68. This larger updated version of the painting sold at our opening exhibition will remain in our permanent collection.

Fishing Boat Blues. Oil on Canvas 30x 40 by Dali Higa

Custom Made by Dali Higa. 30x40 Oil on Canvas.

Cleansing Waters 2.0 by Dali Higa. 72x72 Oil on Canvas. Updated final version from her book published in 2013 which featured a 40x40 original purchased by a collector. Book comes with a Poem and 40 other works. Visit californiamuseumoffineart.com for your free digital copy of the book. This piece will remain in our permanent collection at our new location in San Pedro, CA.

Village Gem by Dali Higa. Oil on Board 24x18. From one of Dali’s many travel to remote villages in China from 2000 to 2010

Tibetan Chores 48 x 60 Oil on Canvas by Dali Higa. Just off the easel

Anastasia Oil on Canvas Dali Higa 30x40 World Champion International Standard Professional Dancer. Just off the easel.

Just in case you don’t have spotify as someone texted me. Maybe you can use Apple Music. Here are all the songs from my album back in the day when I was getting... my masters in commercial music at cal state la under Dave Caffey and Jeff Benedict. Just in case you have nothing to do during corona virus quarantine. I’d be grateful if someone out there was listening to Mauro and Lonnie and me making music for the feast of tabernacles in Palm Springs 1994 or thereabouts. Hope it brightens up your day. See more

When you are retired the schedule is pretty much the same even with a pandemic. Dali is painting everyday while I move things around at our new studio in San Pe...dro. Then we go home and walk the dogs before dinner. Only now instead of watching some basketball I end up playing the same songs I’ve been playing for years. Pulled this one out in memory of Kenny Rogers RIP. Lady. See more