The versatility of talent allowed this person to be realized in several creative professions at once. He is a famous theater artist, and portrait painter, and director, and teacher. Of course, this is well-known to all Akimov Nikolai Petrovich. It was said about him that he stood out from the crowd by the fact that when he started talking, he overshadowed all the men of "Apollonian" appearance.
His career, like many other creative people, was not rosy and cloudless. Akimov Nikolay experienced both ups and downs, but he did not forget for a minute about his great goal, which was to serve art. And he reached it.
Curriculum Vitae
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 Tsarskoye Selo, as the head of the family was transferred to a new place of work.
After some time, the young man with his parents ends up in the "city on the Neva." It was in St. Petersburg that he woke up a real interest in the visual arts. There Akimov Nikolay becomes a student of the evening drawing school of the Society for the Promotion of Artists (OPH). In 1915, a teenager learns the basics of fine art in the studio of S. M. Seidenberg, and after some time he continues to study painting at the New Art Studio under the guidance of M. V. Dobuzhinsky, A. E. Yakovlev, V. I. Shukhaev.
First exhibition
In 1919, in his homeland, Nikolai Akimov took part in an exhibition and sale of works by eminent art masters: A. M. Lyubimov, V. D. Ermilov, M. Sinyakova-Urechina, Z. Serebryakova. Also at the event were presented landscapes of novice illustrators.
By that time, Nikolai Akimov (artist) was already working in the poster workshop of the Proletcult in Petrograd.
In the period from 1920 to 1922, a young man taught at the Higher Courses of Political Enlightenment in Kharkov.
In his youth, Akimov realizes himself as a book illustrator. In 1927, a major exhibition of his works was held, visitors of which could personally enjoy how masterfully the maestro was able to design popular editions of that time.
The beginning of a career as a theater artist
In the early 1920s, a young man was invited to work at the Kharkov Children's Theater as an artist-designer. His debut in this field was the play “Feats of Hercules” (A. Beletsky). Then Nikolai Pavlovich was entrusted with the work in the production of Alinur (based on O. Wilde’s fairy tale Star Boy).
In 1923 he came to the Higher art 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 “Virgin Forest” (E. Toller), which was a success at the Bolshoi Drama Theater. Nikolai Petrovich also designed the play “Lake Lul” (A. Fayko), staged at the Academic Drama Theater.
In addition, the maestro worked on a play by the notorious A. Fayko “Evgraf - an adventurer”, which theatergoers could see on the stage of the 2nd Moscow Art Theater.
At that time, Akimov Nikolai Pavlovich (artist) came up with his first theater posters.
Work as a director
The maestro was held not only in the profession of illustrator. He became famous thanks to his directorial work.
In 1932, Akimov made his debut with the classic performance "Hamlet", the premiere of which takes place on the stage of the theater. E. Vakhtangova.
Music hall
A year later, Nikolai Pavlovich was offered to become the main 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. Labish). Occupying an honorary position in the music hall, director Akimov Nikolai Pavlovich is trying to create a “permanent” creative team, and to make the theater’s repertoire diverse in genre. With his wards, he spent a lot of time acting, wanting to educate them hypocrites, who would be able to play diverse roles. However, he had to leave the above “temple of Melpomene”, as he had disagreements with his leadership. Their essence was as follows: the maestro was not allowed to stage the play based on the play by E. Schwartz “The Princess and the Swineherd”.
Comedy theater
After leaving the music hall, Nikolai Pavlovich was briefly unemployed. In 1935, he began to lead the Leningrad Theater of Comedy (satire). In fairness, it should be noted that this theater was not going through the best of times at that time: the audience did not want to attend an institution with a fairly uniform repertoire. It was Akimov who managed to make a colossal reform in the internal life of the comedy theater.
In just one year, he made the theater unrecognizable: Nikolai Pavlovich breathed “second life” into him, and even the word “comedy” began to be capitalized. Anisimovskaya “K” still appears in theatrical programs.
Repertoire and cast updated
The premieres that were held in triumph were set one by one. On the stage of the Comedy Theater, he was able to realize his long-standing plans. Nikolai Petrovich had long wanted to stage famous plays by E. L. Schwartz and did so. So the performances “Dragon” and “Shadow” appeared. The theater’s repertoire also included classical performances, such as: “A Dog in the Hay” (Lopa de Vega), “Twelfth Night” (William Shakespeare), “School of Slander” (Richard Sherdean). 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 Utesov. He invited inexperienced but promising actors to the troupe, some of whom worked in the Experiment theater studio. In particular, Nikolai Akimov (director) invited Irina Zarubina, Boris Tenin, Sergey Filippov, Alexander Beniaminov to his team. All of them have become famous figures in the art of reincarnation. The costumes designs that the maestro came up with corresponded to the actors he claimed to be in the role. Naturally, Nikolai Pavlovich himself worked on theater posters, not trusting this business to anyone else.
At the end of the 30s, the Melpomene temple he led became a favorite leisure place for 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.
Break with the theater
In the late 40s, Soviet officials accused the maestro 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 work, but he was not left in trouble by his “colleagues” - N. Cherkasov, N. Okhlopkov, B. Tenin, helping him financially. During this period of biography, the maestro turns to painting and begins to paint portraits. He will create unique images of the above friends.
But already in 1952, Akimov will return to directing work, putting them on the stage of the theater. Lensoviet performances "Case" (Sukhovo-Kobylin) and "Shadows" (M. Saltykov-Shchedrin). Four years later, Nikolai Pavlovich will 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 came to teach young lyceum artists stage performance at the Leningrad Theater Institute. There he will establish an art-production department, which he will later head.
Through his brainchild, he educates more than one galaxy of stage masters. In 1960, Nikolai Pavlovich was awarded the title of professor of LTI.
