Nikolai Ge

Nikolai Nikolaevich Ge (; – ) was a Russian painter who was influential in the development of Russian symbolism. He was famous for his works on historical and religious subjects.

Early life

Nikolai Nikolaevich Ge was born on in Voronezh, Russia, to a family in the Russian nobility. His great-grandfather, who was a French nobleman, immigrated to Russia during the 18th century and married a Russian woman. The original French spelling of the surname was Gay, and many French sources use this spelling rather than the Russian transliteration. Ge's mother died of cholera when he was three months old.

Ge grew up on a family estate in Popelukhy near Mogilev-Podolskiy in the region of Podolia. His grandmother and a serf nurse cared for him. Many "were acquired by a young collector, Christoph Bolman [...] he had no idea of their origin, simply recognizing their value. Only some 15 years later, when he was visited during the Perestroika by Soviet acquaintances, did the attribution become clear. Negotiations for their acquisition and return to Russia – as a full collection, rather than sold off in parts – failed repeatedly during the 1990s. They were only concluded in 2011 after the Tretyakov Gallery was able to arrange sponsorship from a Russian state bank to purchase them for donation to the gallery's permanent collection."

Selected works