Sculptural portrait of A. F. Mikuli performed by S. T. Konenkov.
He was born in 1882 in Warsaw, in the family of a regimental musician. It is curious that his father studied with the famous teacher of the violin, the former, in turn, a pupil of Paganini! First lessons Anatoly took from his father; in 1905 graduated from the school of the Moscow Philharmonic society at the virtuoso division; perfected his education abroad. His performances brought him quick fame, criticism unanimously recognized him as an outstanding violinist. Mikuli was the only other performer of works by Paganini for such technical difficulties that were only given to outstanding instrumentalists. Most difficult passages were executed it easily, elegantly and flexibly. Deeply and keenly the work that he infected, fascinated his listeners. After the revolution, the musician lived private lessons, lectures about music. Lecture on Paganini accompanied the execution of the works of his genius idol, accompanied Mikuli his wife. In their room in the house at Pokrovsky gates always "lived" together konarkowski "Bach" and "Portrait of A. F. Mikuli". With them were the sculptures from tree roots that is influenced by who in different years has established himself Anatoly Frantsevich. Mikuli, as is common among gifted people, had multiple talents. He wrote poetry, and in 1916 appeared in the light of his poetry collection "the Bird-a jackdaw". Since his youth, studied painting. Known today the artistic heritage of A. F. Mikuli is just over 30 paintings. Information about them is fragmentary and rare. They reflected the avant-garde search, the topic of national lubok and primitive, but the bulk of the work, we would define the term "mystical expressionism." Mostly they were created in the 1910-ies and presented to the public. In December 1910 – January 1911 he participated in the acclaimed exhibition "Jack of diamonds", organized at the initiative of David D. Burliuk and Mikhail Larionov, which was held in the cabin home Lewiston on Bolshaya Dmitrovka street and marked the beginning of activities of the two art associations "Jack of diamonds" and "Donkey's tail". In 1917 he participated in the first exhibition of paintings of Moscow society "the Link" in "Salon of arts" the Pokrovskie gate. In 1923 the Museum of fine arts hosted the "Exhibition of five", where among other works he exhibited and paintings Mikuli (14).
The exhibition had a great response. In 20 years Mikuli befriended and collaborated with members of the Moscow group "Amaravella", which United artists-cosmists. Adherents of the ideas of Russian scientists-cosmists, they worked in the mainstream of artistic and ideological aspirations Ciurlionis, Kandinsky, Roerich (15). Once you've mastered and you break their picturesque language, proclaiming a fundamental principle of the art of creative intuition artists "Amaravella" wanted to combine faith and science, earthly and heavenly, real and mystical. They were to talk about the great philosophical problems of man in the Universe and the Universe in man, the evolution of the creative mind, about death and immortality. Most likely, Anatoly Frantsevich together with the members of the group "Amaravella" also participated in the exhibition of 1927 in the art centre "Corona Mundi" in new York. In the 50-60-ies of the scientific concepts and philosophical views of cosmists deeply fascinated and Konenkov. His "cosmism" – this sculpture, but mostly graphic in color composition, in which a revolutionary kind of bizarre symbolism and interwoven with biblical motifs.
According to one of his biographers, "the day of death of the artist becomes the first day of his immortality."
. Mikuli, the famous violin virtuoso, who had a European reputation, shared the fate of millions of Russia's best people. In those terrible years, when his friend (Konenkov), while in America (1924-1945), was consumed by the notorious homesickness and isolation from "the sky and roots" were not his best works (one of the chapters of the book of memories Konenkov called "the American dead"), Anatoly Mikuli homeland was killed in the camp by the feet of the criminals. Thus died this slim, brilliant man of the era – a well-known musician, painter, poet. I dare to hope that a terrible day of his death and it was the first day of immortality.
(Magazine "Russian art". Natalia Ardashnikova. From the article "the Sphinx's tragic and beautiful")
