Fyodor Nesterov’s painting The Chessplayer depicts a man playing chess against himself, away from the hustle and bustle of the city. The painting is filled with solitude and peace. There is tension in the face and hands of the person — this is how the author conveys that the man’s mind is at work, filling the picture with energy. In this small canvas, we see the leisure time of a person who is obviously intellectual. Perhaps, the artist himself, who had a tense life full of difficulties, valued solitary pastime activities.

The future artist Fyodor Nesterov was born in 1877 in a very poor peasant family. His mother died when he was only six, and he didn’t know his father at all. Since the early age, the boy demonstrated an aptitude for drawing. When he was eleven, his aunt Aksinya took him to Moscow to study in the Painting and Iconography workshop of Pavel Pavlovich Pashkov. There he quickly gained fame as a young but very talented iconographer. A few years later, the young Nesterov entered the Penza Art School, where he studied with the famous master of genre painting Konstantin Savitsky. He graduated with honours from the Penza School and entered the Higher Art School of the Imperial Academy of Arts. There his teachers were Ilya Repin and Pavel Chistyakov, a student of Savitsky. Despite the difficulties associated with the difficult financial situation, which increased the period of study at the academy, Nesterov finally received the title of artist of painting. His diploma work, the painting Meeting of Varlaam Khutynskyi by Metropolitan Anthony of Novgorod took the second place.

Unfortunately, Nesterov’s graduation from the school coincided with the beginning of the First World War, he was drafted into the army, where he stayed until 1916. After demobilizing, he went to Moscow, where he directed his talent onto propaganda posters and portraits of revolutionaries.

And with the beginning of the Civil War the Commissariat of National Education directed him as a mobilized artist to the city of Sudzha, Kursk province. Only there, after a five-year break, did Nesterov manage to return to his creative work and resume painting from life. During that period, he created a series of works The Kursk people, which depicted portraits and figures of people of that difficult time. And when in Sudzha in 1921 a house for homeless children was opened, Nesterov created another series, Homeless children. In addition to painting and graphics, the artist was engaged in the creation of scenery for theatre performances and took part in the decoration of the city.

Nesterov’s legacy includes dozens of paintings and graphic works that are not only of artistic value. They can be rightfully considered artistic and historical documents. His paintings, watercolors and drawings can be found in many museums and private collections.