The second novella. Dedicated to Vsevolod Sadprokhorov.
In the city of Lipetsk in the dormitory lived a girl Nina. Cute, dyed blonde, medium height, not skinny, but absolutely without excess completeness. We called her a niochkoj for ourselves.
Then, as a student, I regularly rested in Lipetsk. The ancestral manor, the old merchant’s house was located near the dormitory where Nyotchka lived. And we, me and my friend of the Lipetsk childhood Vsevolod, often suggested to visit her as guests. At that time I had no bohemian hobby of vodka. We came with Port wine. Nina took us warmly. No one has ever sought it even in their thoughts. It was pleasant to us to drink in comfort with presence of attractive woman.
I wrote two portraits of Niochki. In a red hat that shades her hair with a color of light straw. and the second. In the picture is the whole figure sitting on the “Viennese” chair Niochki. Dark Ultramarines background and black sleeveless dress to shade the whiteness of the skin of her hands and bare feet. Niotchka was not fond of tan. To myself I have attached to this work the name “Barefoot”. The names of the paintings arise and are fixed most often by accident. In this portrait, I thought the resulting painting echoes with the style of Derena. I admired the painting of the Parisian school. In the first of my novel mentioned Still Life, in which there is a feeling of my delight van-Gogom.
And Vsevolod was obsessed with fishing. He dreamed of a night fishing catfish in a place with the name of Paada, where enough near the Lipetsk were the famous banks of the river Voronezh. I didn’t have a knack for catching fish. And one Saturday he managed to persuade me, only for the company, to go to realize his dream. I brought with me a sketch with paints. In it there were always also the primed cardboard for etudes. Catfish at night did not catch, but early in the morning Vsevolod caught some a mountain of red pepper and while he, after the night of his activities, plunged into a previously planned brief dream, I performed a sketch of the red-pepper on the grass. White silver scales of fish, bright greens of grass in the sun, alo-Red fish fins. White, green, red. Still life turned out. I admired the kind of nature of the fish playing glare. Later I felt the same strength similar delight at the sight of Korarina’s works in the picture gallery of Yaroslavl. It was donated to the museum by Russian emigrant, paintings, already late Parisian period in the artist’s works, with the image of only fish and indication in the labels for the pictures that caught fish from Marseille.
I immediately prepared a redperku from my still life at the river on a bonfire for breakfast with Vsevolod, the other part, previously tucked away with a damp sething in the shade, we decided to fry at Nyochki, to celebrate the appearance of my still life. This time we decided to drink a bottle of champagne. And here is a large cast-iron frying pan, which was picked up from the old utensils of my ancestral home, with a roasted, sizzling red-pepper in sunflower oil, now alo-golden tone, is hoisted Vsevolod in the center of the table covered with starched white tablecloth. In the Fifties, much remained of the habits of patriarchal life. I’m starting to open the bottle. And suddenly the champagne explodes and pours a red-pepper in a frying pan. As it was delicious in the seasoning of champagne. How would you like to repeat such a feast.
But who is capable and where to catch now the usual redperku.
April, 2012.