: The story of a talented aspiring artist who died tragically and ridiculously at the age of fifteen.

Part one

Kolya Dmitriev was born into a family of textile artists, Fedor Nikolaevich and Natalya Nikolaevna. He spent his childhood in a small Carpathian courtyard. Most of all, Kolya liked to tell his best friend, the fiery-red Zhenya (Zhenche) Striganov, and the younger sister Katya, stories he had invented. Along the way, the boy drew pictures for these stories on small - a little more stamp - pieces of paper. Kolya also had a foe - a boy from a neighboring courtyard Victorin Lanevsky, the son of the director of a fashion studio.

Drew Kolya from early childhood. The very word “work” was associated for the boy with brushes and paints. The concept of perspective, the most difficult in the craft of the artist, Kolya comprehended independently at the age of six. Parents, however, did not associate the future of their son with art. Kolya found an “almost absolute pitch”, and the boy learned to play the piano for several years.

Kolya loved his yard very much and respected its inhabitants, especially Zhenya's father, carpenter Stepan Porfiryevich, who built pavilions for the All-Union Agricultural Exhibition. Another respected person in the yard was the tenth grader Kostya Ermakov. This tall, broad-shouldered and friendly young man loved to mess with kids and was an indisputable authority for them.

In the fall, Kostya planned to enter the Institute of Transport Engineers, but his plans were not destined to be fulfilled - the Great Patriotic War began, and right after graduation Yermakov received a summons from the military enlistment office. Stepan Porfirevich also went to war.

And everyone was leaving, people were leaving, and trains were leaving the stations to the edge of Soviet land that the enemy had crossed, everything in its path was scorching and bloody ...

Kolya tried to draw a war, but it did not fit on small pieces of paper, and the boy was not yet able to work with large sheets.

Famine soon began. Colin’s parents, along with other artists, “did some new, not yet entirely understandable military business” - they drew samples of camouflage, which would hide buildings and military units from fascist aircraft.

The Germans were getting closer to Moscow. The city was bombed almost every night. Kolya began to be afraid of air raids when he saw a boy blinded by shell shock and imagined what it was like to live in eternal darkness.

In the fall, evacuation began. I left for Novosibirsk Quiz, and my aunt took Zhenchu ​​to the village. The Dmitrievs did not have time to leave - the Nazis were already in Moscow. One night a speaker announced the failure of the "German plan to encircle and capture Moscow." Parents woke Kolya so that he could be glad. This night the boy remembered for many years.

In the spring, a funeral came - Kostya Ermakov died. Kolya tried to play Kostya’s favorite melody on the piano, but he couldn’t, and he no longer approached the instrument. He drew too little now. The boy wanted "to participate in the work of adults in some simple, feasible way." And he had to work hard in the summer in a garden near Moscow, in Mamontovka, where the Dmitrievs grew potatoes.

The war began to recede, people came back from evacuation. The matured Zhench came home and became the master and ruler of the surrounding courtyards. But this did not hurt Kolya - the boy went to school, and now he had other interests.

Victorin Lanevsky also returned. In the evacuation, he was engaged in a circle of artistic words and now uncontrollably boasted of his ability to articulate and acquaintance with famous actors. Zhenya, who was several years older than Kolya, now treated him like a baby and was getting closer and closer to Victorin.

Kolya's artistic talent was discovered in the third grade, when the boy helped arrange a school wall newspaper.Pioneer leader Yura Gayburov decided that it was time for Kolya to be accepted as a pioneer. Having looked at Colin’s drawings, Yura, who was a little versed in painting, advised the boy “not to give up this business”. The words of the pioneer leader served as an impetus for Kolya - he began to draw more.

In the spring, Stepan Trofimovich returned from the front. In battle, he lost his right hand and could not carp, but soon found a job - he began to train young carpenters.

Kolya's parents, having looked at his latest drawings, admitted that his son would draw. Soon the boy entered the art studio of the Pioneer House.

Part two

After a month of study in the art studio, the teacher Kolya noticed the obvious talent and perseverance of the boy and transferred him to the older group. Soon, Kolya was chosen as the head of the studio. Now the boy constantly carried a small album in his pocket and sketched into it genre scenes spied on the street.

The girls in the studio believed that Katya was lucky to have such a talented brother as Kolya. The boy himself did not think so. He remembered how often he offended his sister, drew in her notebooks, and decided to improve - he again became close to Katya.

In the same winter, playing hockey in the wasteland, Zhenya, Victorin and Kolya met the twins Kira and Nadia Suzdaltsev. Soon, Quiz “lagged behind the company,” and for Kolya and Zhenya, acquaintance turned into a friendship. A particularly strong young artist became close to quiet, calm Kira.

Kolya did not like to show off his talent. Kira learned that her new friend is a talented artist only after Kolya helped the girl draw up a school wall newspaper. The boy no longer liked his work, he felt that he was not growing professionally, and believed that he was being praised. He couldn’t “make up the right color, mix the colors correctly”, although he picked up the color shades very accurately.

Sergei Nikolaevich understood that the studio would not give Kolya the necessary knowledge and skills, and advised Dmitriev to attach his son to an art school. Kolya doubted whether he would be able to combine fine science with school subjects, and decided to consult with counselor Yura, who introduced him to his father, the famous professor-geologist Alexander Nikolayevich Gayburov.

The professor believed that the artist, like any talented person, must be a master, and in order to become him, one must study.

Talent is more a property of the soul. Knowledge is the weapon of the mind. Mastery is ‹...› an expression of will that seeks means and ways to apply the power of mind and soul to the cause.

A conversation with the professor helped Kolya decide. Now the boy often visited Alexander Nikolaevich and consulted with him.

Soon, Kolya was admitted to the City Art School. The real science began - the boy had to comprehend all the techniques of fine art from the very beginning. Kolya studied eagerly and read a lot about famous artists. He spoke less and less with Zhencha, who enrolled in a vocational school.

Suddenly, Fyodor Nikolaevich fell ill with the flu, the disease caused complications, and Kolya's father went blind. Vision returned to him only after a few long and difficult months, on the eve of Victory Day. The whole country celebrated the surrender of Germany, and Kohl and his friends pushed into the festive crowd until late at night.

Soon the Tretyakov Gallery opened, and Kolya first saw the original works of artists, about which he knew so much. The boy began to visit the museum every Sunday and even dragged a respectable hard worker Zhenchu ​​there. He was so imbued with the power of art that on the way home he tamed a loafer who tore a poster from the wall.

Fyodor Nikolaevich decided to check once again whether Kolya had chosen the right path in life, and took the work of his son to his cousin, the famous artist Vladimir Vladimirovich Dmitriev. He recognized the talent of his nephew and invited him to enter the Secondary Art School, promising to support him upon admission.

The artist-teacher Antonina Sergeyeva, with whom the boy had been studying all summer, helped to tighten Kolya's lame painting and color rendition so far. Kolya sometimes showed his drawings to Kira, who was not enthusiastic, but looked attentively, with respect and rejoiced at his successes. While walking around the city, friends chatted about everything except Kolya’s activities, but Kira believed that Kolya would become a great artist.

Once, at a party before Kira’s departure with her mother to the Crimea, Kolya admitted to his girlfriend that he wanted to paint the picture “Early Dawn”. It was then that Kolya's first kiss took place - Kira kissed him on the cheek. Two days later, the boy painted a pencil portrait of Kira in profile and asked not to show anyone.

In the fall, however, it turned out that this portrait was seen by Zhench and Victorin. Zhenya added fuel to the fire, accusing Kira of female treachery. Nadia rushed to defend her sister, saying that she showed everyone the portrait, but Kolya was too offended. He took the portrait, erased the mole, which distinguished the twins, and said that he painted exactly Nadia, and then completely tore the drawing.

It seemed to him as if he had torn out something from himself, like a page being torn from a book. And then a very important line was cut short in the middle of the word, and the next page starts pointlessly.

Kolya entered the Art School himself, without using the patronage of Uncle Volodya.

Part three

Kolya rejoiced at an honestly won victory. He was only upset that he could not share his joy with Kira. The boy completely broke up with Quiz, which quarreled them, Zhenya also stopped talking to him. Katya invited her brother to reconcile him with Kira, but Kolya, on the contrary, wrote a note in which he forever refused friendship with the girl.

The school year has begun. The art school was given a new building opposite the Tretyakov Gallery, and now Kolya could run into his favorite museum after school. The classroom leader of the boy was Antonina Petrovna.

It was not easy for Kolya to learn, but his classmates liked his work, and some of them began to give way to him. The boy was seized by “inspired adult zeal that turned into a persistently ripening passion”, he worked constantly, and his mother had to persuade his son to go out for a walk.

Kolya was very fond of books on art, but Dmitriev could not afford the thick illustrated editions, so on weekends the boy went around all the bookstores and in each read several pages of the desired book. So in a few weeks he managed to read a book without buying it.

Kolya still doubted his talent and did not like being called a genius. One of the classmates, Julia Makovkina, bowed before him and demanded a special attitude towards him. This annoyed Kolya very much, because he was an ordinary boy, he loved to run, play hockey or football, and on occasion could fight. Kolya increasingly compared Julia with Kira.

Winter has passed. Thirteen-year-old Kolya easily passed the spring exams. Around this time, the boy made a new friend - funny, looking like a teddy bear Vitya Volk.

In the summer, Kolya and Vitya had a rest together at the school camp. There were many beautiful places, and the boys painted intensely. However, hard work did not prevent Kolya from participating in a pillow fight. When the guys in the squad decided to celebrate Ivan Kupala, the boy was serving his sentence - he was peeling potatoes - along with everyone, although he did not manage to participate in this event.

A red tie of a pioneer is a sign that a person has voluntarily assumed some share of responsibility for everything that happens in the world of people.

In the coming school year, Kolya corrected his mistakes in the expression of color, and became the best in the class in painting. He read a lot and became even stronger friends with Vitya. The works of the young genius became airy, bright. Looking at them, no one knew how much work Kolya put into his watercolors.

At that time, Kolya and Vitya were fond of “psychological portraits”.The boy spent his free time on Gogolevsky Boulevard, where he secretly noticed and sketched the most interesting faces. However, Kolya painted everywhere - in the subway, and even at a football match.

Often Kolya ran to his grandmother Evdokia Konstantinovna. Grandmother was well versed in painting and was familiar with many artists. One day, Kolya met her with a very ancient old man - Uncle Vokoi - who turned out to be Vsevolod Mamontov, the son of the famous philanthropist Savva Mamontov.

Because of all these matters, Kolya saw Zhencha less often, but did not forget about his old friend. Zhenya, meanwhile, joined the Komsomol, enrolled in continuing education courses, began to read, go to museums and lectures.

Kolya felt what strength was ripening in him, but sometimes he suddenly began to doubt the necessity of his work. At such moments, he envied Zhenche, his calloused hands. Katya believed that her brother was just yearning for Kira, and offered to reconcile them. Fedor Nikolaevich understood his son. In order for the boy to believe in himself, his father and grandmother showed his works to eminent artists, and each time they recognized that Kolya was very talented. The boy described all these meetings in his diary.

Kolya has been to performances many times, the scenery for which was painted by his famous uncle Volodya. At one of the performances, the artist approached his nephew, but they did not have time to talk or even say goodbye. That evening, Uncle Volodya died of a heart attack. His uncle’s death hit Kolya so much that he didn’t take up his brush for several days and stopped making notes in his diary.

Spring came. Kolya successfully passed the next exams. Returning home from the last exam, the boy met Kira.

And not even a minute, not a single moment could be put up for, so that this absurd and alien distance remained between them.

They reconciled and agreed so far to be just friends. The next day, Kolya and Katya left for the village of Repinka, where Nyusha lived, who helped the Dmitrievs with the household during the war.

The area around Repiinka turned out to be picturesque, and Kolya worked a lot. In addition to landscapes, he painted portraits of Repin, with whom he quickly became friends. The boy also got acquainted with the eighteen-year-old Leningrad resident Misha Khrupov, whose family rented a summer house in Repinka. Local respected Kolya for skill and hard work, and Misha was surprised by the knowledge of a fifteen-year-old boy in art history.

By the end of the holidays, Kolya had two voluminous folders of drawings. The boy, full of strength and inspiration, dreamed of returning home and showing them to his parents and teachers.

A few days before departure, Misha led Kolya far into the forest, to a picturesque ravine with a windbreak. A Leningrader took a gun with him, which he begged from a hunting neighbor, although Kolya was against it - his father forbade him to touch firearms.

We left at dawn. On the horizon, a dawn flared up, which Kolya so dreamed of writing. The day has just begun ...

Epilogue. Word at the door

In the winter of 1951, an exhibition of works by Kolya Dmitriev was held in the USSR. When the paintings were exhibited in Moscow, Professor Gayburov brought a group of pioneers to the exhibition. In front of the doors of the hall, he informed the children that Kolya had died on August 12, 1948.

Then, in Repinka, Misha walked ahead, along the edge of a deep ravine. Suddenly, he slipped, began to fall, and mechanically leaned on his gun, the cock of which was cocked. Kolya rushed to help him, and then the gun fired. The bullet hit the boy in the temple, and he died instantly.

From Kolya watercolors made a large exhibition. The most prominent artists were amazed by both the number of works and the mature skill with which they were written.