Star girl. A wonderful collection of paintings from one short life

Artist
Awarded the gold medal of Christ the Savior “For life, worthy of a person"(1998, posthumously)
Awarded the Order of St. Nicholas the Pleasant “For increasing goodness on earth” (2000, posthumously)
Awarded the national prize of the All India children's association Nehru Bal Samiti - Kalasari Award (2001, posthumously)

“The dizziness of this amazingly talented girl’s talent is incommensurate with the sad fact of her death,” from the book of reviews of visitors to exhibitions of Sasha Putri’s works.

Her father Evgeniy Vasilyevich Putrya was an artist, and her mother Victoria Leonidovna was a professional conductor-choirmaster who taught at a music school. Sasha developed amazingly quickly, surprising both her parents and their artist friends. WITH three years She held a pencil and brush well in her hands. She painted without ceasing, often falling asleep, all stained with paints. “When I grow up,” she said, “I will certainly become an artist and will draw from morning to evening. Even at night".

Evgeniy Vasilievich, in order not to send his daughter to kindergarten, took work home. From a small bedroom two-room apartment he made an art studio in which he placed two tables - for himself and for his daughter. In it, father and daughter each created at their own table, never looking over each other's shoulders. On those occasions when Sasha wanted to show her father finished work or she needed help, she quietly put a note on his table: “Dad, come!”

Dad and mom in the form of hamsters.

“I see what needs to be done, but I can’t do it,” my daughter sometimes told Evgeny Vasilyevich. He helped, advising how to complete the painting. “No, that’s not it,” Sasha usually answered. And after a while I found a solution myself. “I was literally stunned by one of Sashenka’s very first works, which, unfortunately, has not survived,” recalled Evgeniy Vasilyevich. - Once we read the memoirs of Pushkin’s friends from the lyceum and learned that they called him Cricket among themselves. This made Sasha laugh, and within fifteen minutes she drew the poet in the guise of a cricket. I was shocked. Such a resemblance! No institute will teach you this.”

Egeniy Putrya also said: “Usually in the morning, after breakfast, Sashenka would come up and say: “I want to draw. Please give me the paper." She sat down at her separate table and became quiet, sometimes humming some melody under her breath. And after a while you look - he gets up, comes up to the side, hugs him and quietly says: “Are you very busy? Please see what I got?” And it was always a surprise. It is clear that there were works that were more successful and not entirely successful, she saw this herself and suffered if she could not achieve the one perfection known to her. Sasha for a long time I didn’t use an eraser, but when I got used to it, her drawings became more accurate and proportionally correct. How did it happen? He draws and draws, then he makes a mistake somewhere and, crying, starts all over again, this happened three or four times. We have up to five hundred of her unfinished drawings: sometimes only eyes, sometimes a face, sometimes half a figure...”

Sad horse.

Dad made an attempt to teach his daughter according to the academic program; he wanted Sasha to start drawing sketches and still lifes, but he encountered a delicate but firm rebuff. As an artist, Sasha developed independently, guided by her own desires and imagination of an internal, multifaceted and unique world.

Good Snake Queen.

Evgeniy Putrya talked about his daughter’s childhood: “At school, Sashenka studied easily and naturally, and immediately became the favorite of the class and teachers. When they praised her (“you’re our professor”), she modestly walked away, and at home she told us how uncomfortable it was for her. At the end of the first grade she was awarded " Certificate of commendation" Then the illness began to worsen, and she was forced to leave school. I studied at home or went with my mother to the teacher. School program she wasn't happy with it. I started my own library, which consisted of about a thousand books, and reread them all. Among her favorite authors are Cooper, Mine Reed, Stevenson, Mark Twain, Dumas, Hugo, Pushkin, Gogol... every evening, after the “Time” program, I went to bed with my mother and read until there were “moths” in my eyes. It was easy and pleasant to communicate with her. In her entire short life, she never offended anyone. She was kind to everyone. We still feel her childhood hugs, the pleasant touch of warm cheeks, her tired body on her shoulder... Sashenka loved to draw while listening to music. Her music library contains about a hundred records: recordings of children's fairy tales, musicals, dramatizations, and songs. She knew almost everything by heart. I especially loved “The Blue Puppy”, “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves”, “The Adventures of Pinocchio”, “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen”, “The Prince and the Pauper”, “The Three Musketeers”, “Hottabych”, “ The Bremen Town Musicians"," The Adventures of Captain Vrungel.

Denis Davydov - hussar.

She often drew her favorites - chickens, kittens and puppies. The drawings “Puppy Bimochka”, “Fisher Cat”, “Dog Nika and Kitten Tishka in his castle”, “Feast of Animals” became a reverent revelation of pure childish trust and tenderness.

Beam with rattle.

Artist cat.

“If people have holidays, then animals should have them too!” – Sasha thought. Valiant and just princes, kings and knights filled her albums.

Little Bonaparte.

Sasha imagined herself as beautiful and beautiful in this company good princess. “I was still little, then I was a star and dark night without the moon, and that’s why I have such big eyes,” said Sashenka. In her huge, icon-like eyes, the audience caught deep compassion and sadness.

Indian.

Two of her personal exhibitions took place one after another. Unexpectedly for everyone, Indian themes appeared in her drawings.

Portrait of Indira Gandhi.

Sasha painted dozens of portraits of Mithun Chakroborty - an actor from the Indian film "Disco Dancer", Indira Gandhi, Indian boys and girls in love, a self-portrait in the form of a six-armed goddess. Evgeniy Putrya said that Sasha loved to repeat: “Well, where did my four hands go?”

Indian youth with a jug.

At first my parents didn’t give special significance daughter’s passion for India, although they supported him. Together with her older sister and friends, they kept her company on trips to Indian films.

Indian film actor Mithun Chakraborty.

The father recalled: “A brilliant, charming young man - Mithun Chakraborty - Sasha’s last and strongest love. She wore his portrait, framed, on her chest, near her heart... We cherished her love and quietly rejoiced at her happiness. So they buried her with a portrait of Mithun. In 1986, Sashenka watched Indian film"Disco dancer". The picture made such a strong impression that the whole future life passed under the sign of interest in India, its culture, in particular its artists. She didn’t miss a single Indian film that was shown on the city’s screens, and she watched some of the ones she especially liked several times. Naturally, the theme of her drawings also changed - portraits of Indian cinema actors, dancers, princes, the god Shiva, etc. appeared. We didn’t attach any importance to such a change; if you like it, let him draw. But once Sasha said:

Mom, do you remember we had an elephant? So big!

Elephant? We have? No, daughter, I don’t remember.

Well, of course, mommy! Was! I remember well: I was still sitting on his back, in such a beautiful basket. Well, remember!

No, daughter, it wasn’t like that. You probably saw this in the movies.

Not in the movies! I remember well! I was little then. And the elephant is big, real, alive, and I was even a little scared that I was sitting so high. I remember!

We knew for sure that Sashenka had not seen a living elephant: there was no elephant in the zoo where we went. Then what is it? Soul memory? In this case, the theme of India in her drawings is not accidental. But what do we know about the secret of our birth and death, about the subconscious?”

Sasha with dad.

Suddenly, a serious illness burst into Sasha’s happily calm, measured life. “It took a long time for Sashuna to be diagnosed,” recalled Evgeniy Vasilievich. “She used to complain of weakness: either her arm would hurt, or she couldn’t stand on her legs. But after my daughter had a fever and screamed in pain in the hospital for four days, and the doctors did not know what to do with her, I wrote a letter in despair to the USSR Ministry of Health. Literally a day later, professor-hematologist Svetlana Kireeva flew to Poltava. And she gave us a verdict: “The girl will live for a month or two. She has leukemia and her blood is 92 percent white.” On the recommendation of the professor, we urgently went to Kyiv for treatment. After a two-month course of intensive therapy, Sashuna had to learn to walk again - she was so weak. And before sending her home, I put her in a baby carriage and took her to the Kiev Pechersk Lavra. We crossed ourselves before the relics of each saint, asking them for healing. Perhaps somewhere in heaven our prayers were heard, and our daughter was granted six more years of life. According to experts, it is almost impossible to live this long with leukemia.” At that time, Sasha was only five years old.

Leukemia was inexorably advancing, gradually taking away the girl’s strength. Evgeniy Putrya said: “Doctors recommended that she avoid bright sun, so we walked with her early in the morning or in the evening, when the heat subsided, or when it was cloudy outside. On such days, they got on a bicycle and traveled around the outskirts of the city, through parks or to museums. Most of all she liked the Poltava Local History Museum. Although I’ve been here more than once, I always went there as if it were a holiday. She liked small animals - hamsters and weasels. She only regretted that they were not alive and kept asking:

Did they die themselves or were they killed?

By ourselves, by ourselves, from old age.

How about old age? Are they so tiny?

And they don't grow anymore.

Then what kind of children were they?

And here they are,” he showed her half his little finger.

Oh, little ones! Oh, my good ones!

She treated everything small and living with a kind of tenderness that was not at all childish, rather maternal, as if she felt its insecurity. At home, at her request, we got a dog, then took a kitten for company. The neighbors, knowing her love for animals, gave her an aquarium with fish. We bought newts and turtles there, and Sasha could spend hours looking at underwater kingdom. Then, one autumn, a barely alive albino parrot came to our balcony and, naturally, stayed with us... At the age of six, Sashenka “fell in love” with her cousin Vitya Brazhansky, a fair-haired, blue-eyed boy. Since then, a whole series of “Vitenek” has appeared: either he is a hussar, or he is a groom, or he and Sasha are having a wedding... Soon, after the film about three musketeers, her favorite was D'Artagnan - Mikhail Boyarsky. And again - a whole series of drawings with a dear artist. She even wrote him a letter, but for some reason she never sent it.”

The whole family united common misfortune, courageously guarded every breath of the child. Sasha didn't give up. Her consciousness as an artist went beyond the boundaries of earthly existence. Drawings appeared that depicted God, galaxies, planets and constellations, aliens and UFOs. Evgeniy Putrya said: “She was interested in horoscopes, astrology and was especially interested in reports about UFOs. She firmly believed that these were our ancestors arriving, and the day would come when she would meet them.”

Night eye.

In her drawings, Sasha fought for her right to life. Evgeny Putrya said: “Sasha started drawing at the age of three. Her hands and face were always smeared with felt-tip pens or watercolor paints. Our entire apartment, bathroom, kitchen, toilet, closet doors are painted to the height she could reach with her hand. She generously gave her drawings to friends and relatives - on holidays and birthdays she congratulated her with cards that she drew herself, and she also wrote texts, often in poetry. Drawing was so natural for Sasha - like sleep, like food, it often replaced her friends and children's games, especially when the illness worsened. She fell ill suddenly, unexpectedly, the doctors could not make a diagnosis for a long time, and when they did... it was like a bolt from the blue - leukemia. Sashenka was five years old then. And the fact that she lived six more is a miracle. And at the heart of this miracle is an incredible, fantastic desire to draw. She could sit with markers and paints for eight to ten hours a day. When her health deteriorated and my mother went to the hospital with her, I would come and ask:

How is Sasha? Drawing?

Yes. Look how much I managed!

This meant that my health was improving. And if the wife silently threw up her hands, the condition was disappointing. Everyone at the hospital knew and loved Sashenka: from the nanny to the head doctor. They loved her for the patience with which she endured painful procedures, for her kindness, for her cheerful, cheerful disposition. In the ward where she lay, children always gathered; laughter and fun could be heard. The doctors, thanks to them, did not prohibit such communication, and the hospital was not something scary for the girl, although, naturally, she did not feel much joy. Getting here again. But most of all she loved the house, although she complained: “Oh, this fourth floor!.. Who invented it?” Sitting with us warm autumn evenings on the balcony, she reverently gazed at the flaming sunset clouds, which gradually merged with the dark sky, and the sparkles of stars flashed overhead, and the sky blossomed with the silvery flickering of constellations and galaxies... We talked with her about planets, about “flying saucers”, about God, about people...”

Sasha Putrya fought for life for six years. Every time she went to the hospital, the girl took books and everything she needed for drawing with her. But each time it became more and more difficult to get out. Shortly before her death, Sasha asked: “If I have an exacerbation again, there is no need to treat me. Just don’t be offended or cry - I’m already tired. I know that death is not scary...”

Parents did their best to support their daughter’s interest in the world around her. In between procedures, my father put Sasha on a bicycle, and they rode furtively to one corner of historical Poltava, then to another. Later, seeing the positive results of such walks, doctors “legalized” them. One day, when they stopped near the ruins of the Pushkarevskaya Church, Sasha suggested to her dad: “Let's save her.” “But what can we do, daughter?” - Father sighed. “And you write to the main boss himself and ask him to help us.” Evgeny Vasilyevich did just that. I drew with a felt-tip pen what was left of the church, wrote down what was needed for restoration, and sent a letter to the USSR Cultural Fund. As expected, the letter was forwarded to Kyiv, and from there they announced that money for the revival of the church would be allocated from the budget. So the current church was revived thanks to Alexandra. And Sasha was posthumously awarded the gold medal of Christ the Savior “For a life worthy of a person.”

Later, after the death of his daughter, Evgeniy Putrya said: “When our artists were working on a new exhibition at the Museum of the History of the Battle of Poltava, the series “Youth of Peter” was shown on television. In the halls of the museum, the exhibits suddenly began to be perceived as living witnesses. With some trepidation we now examined Peter’s old camisoles, and everyone put their palms on the cast iron casting of the Tsar’s palm print. And Sasha and I tried it on. I still remember her spread pink fingers lying on her black paws... I remembered this now when I watched her latest composition “Sirius”. At the same time, she painted several portraits of Peter the Great, and next to her, herself, his bride. This is how she usually showed her love...”

Alexandra Putrya passed away on January 24, 1989. She was buried in the sari in which she met her last, 1989, New Year, with a small portrait of Mithun Chakraborty wrapped in cellophane - her lifetime talisman. On the eve of her departure, Sasha asked her dad to put his hand on white sheet, then circled. Then she put her hand on top and circled it. The drawing was found completed after Sasha left. Near the big Moon on the right there is a star - this is Sirius, to which Sashenka wanted to fly.

Last composition. "Sirius".

Evgeniy Putrya said: “When she left, many of those who, having looked at her drawings and compositions, asked the same question: “Which artist did she like best?” Who was she trying to imitate? We somehow didn’t notice her imitating anyone. We should not forget that she is still a child, and the ways of expressing her feelings towards the world around her did not yet require imitation. And among the numerous books on fine arts that were in our home library, she most often chose “Durer’s Drawings”, “Durer and His Age”. These books are very richly illustrated, and she looked at them for a long time, resting after drawing. She liked Hans Holbein, but she was especially struck by Albrecht Altdorfer! She looked at his “battle of Alexander the Great with Darius” with a magnifying glass in her hands, captivated by the unusual sky and epic clouds above the crowds of horsemen. And yet Durer was her favorite artist. What she saw in him remained her secret. She liked the works of Vasnetsov, Bilibin, Narbut. I loved looking at the book of bookplates. And, of course, I often looked through my library, children’s books, many and tastefully illustrated.

Sashenka didn’t like to draw. I drew everything from my head, from memory. If he likes someone he sees on the street or in a movie, he’ll sit down and draw it. She has collected a whole series of portraits of her “mother’s students” (her wife teaches at a music school). She also painted relatives, dressing them in fabulous clothes, ennobling and rejuvenating them. I drew my favorite little animals: mice, dogs, cats, and also fish and birds, decorating them with wonderful ornaments, inventing unprecedented clothes so that they, the little animals, fish and birds, would be pleased.

Sashenka made several tiny books (4 by 2.5 centimeters in format), in which she “settled” dozens of unusual bugs that carry unusual names: Tsymzibutsya, Korobulka, Funya, Kovbasyuk...

She also made two books of poetry, artistically designing them with drawings and ornaments according to all the rules of the publishing house: Sasha Putrya. Poems. Publishing house – “Dom dear”. Chief Editor- “Funtik.” Main artist- “Little accountant.” The poet is “Poop in the Cannon” (a nickname given to her as a joke by her sister when Sasha’s hair fell out from taking medication and new fluff began to grow; Sasha clearly liked the nickname). And the dedication: “In memory and laughter to dear sister Lerochka and her friends and roommates from Sasha.” These poems are funny, just like Sasha herself:

My dear Lera! –
Find me a millionaire
But if he was young,
And, like dad, with a beard.
So that he has a yacht,
And there’s a mine in the villa,
Where is my bearded husband?
Digging for gold with a shovel.
And tell me that I
I'll grow up, loving him,
And we'll get married in the spring,
Only you be friends with me!

There are dozens of poems left, written on pieces of paper, they are scattered in notebooks, among books and toys. Sasha read them to her friends and laughed merrily with them, adding more and more details...

On January 22, while already in the hospital, she drew her last job- “Self-portrait.” Children from her and neighboring wards surrounded the bedside table behind which she was drawing, and vying with each other to order pictures. Sashenka smiled happily and said: “I’ll draw, I’ll draw!” I’ll draw for everyone!”

And on the night of January 24, she left. Her last words were: “Dad?.. Forgive me... For everything...”

Sashenka lived for 11 years, 1 month and 21 days.

Hallowed be your name, daughter!”

The last self-portrait.

The real recognition of Sasha's talent came after her death. On the day of the funeral, the walls of the room in which stood a small coffin, upholstered in blue cloth (another in funeral home it wasn’t), the relatives hung it with Sasha’s drawings. For many it was a discovery, a shock. Almost immediately after the funeral, the parents were offered to open Sasha’s personal exhibition in Poltavsky art museum. Articles about her appeared in local and national newspapers and magazines. Soon, thanks to Vitaly Kotsyuk, a member of the editorial board of the magazine "Ukraine", Sasha Putri's works were exhibited in State Museum literature of the Ukrainian SSR.

David Guramishvili.

“I have repeatedly had to observe the reaction of visitors to exhibitions,” said Evgeniy Vasilyevich. - In 1993, we were invited to participate in the exhibition “ Young geniuses Russia" in Donetsk. The participants' works were placed in eight rooms, and we were given the ninth, at the very end. Visitors ran through all eight halls, and the last one was jam-packed. Because in the children's works presented there was a sense of coaching, adjustment to standards. And Sasha was free from all this.”

Constellation Aquarius.

After some time, Sasha’s work went to Novosibirsk. The exhibition organizers decided to combine her paintings and those of Nadya Rusheva. The father noted with pleasure that his daughter’s works were in no way inferior to Nadya’s works. But if you need to be prepared to perceive Rusheva’s work, then the work of Sasha Putri is understandable to everyone, even the smallest.

Alpha dog.

Sasha Putrya left behind 2280 drawings and compositions. In addition, she made many portraits and cartoons in notebooks, book graphics, Greeting Cards, architectural, animalistic works. He wrote beautiful poems for some of them. Sasha left behind a lot of embossings, wood-burned paintings, and plasticine works. She even made technical drawings, which, according to her plan, were supposed to help adults... reach the Moon and make asphalt roads without cracks.

The Virgin Mary.

In 1994, director Nelya Danilenko shot the “Documentary film “Sasha”.

In 2004, the documentary film “Sasha Putrya” was shot by director N. Burnos.

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Text prepared by Andrey Goncharov

Used materials:

On December 2, 1977, Alexandra Putrya was born in Poltava - one of the most unusual artists throughout history visual arts. Sasha lived on Earth for only 11 years, but during this time she managed to create 2279 works: 46 albums with drawings, a great variety of crafts and even technical drawings, which, in her opinion, should have helped adults reach the Moon and make asphalt roads without cracks . For Sashenka, drawing was as natural as sleeping and eating; it often replaced her with friends and children’s games.

Already at the age of three, Sasha confidently held a pencil and brush in her hands. She painted without ceasing, and often fell asleep, all stained with paints. Her father turned a small bedroom into an art studio and tried to teach the girl an academic program, but encountered gentle rebuff. As an artist, Sasha developed independently, guided by her own impressions and imagination.

When the girl was five years old, she was given a terrible diagnosis - leukemia. Trying to ignore the pain, Sasha began to devote much more time to her favorite activity. At this time, funny animals and fairy tale characters came images from Hindu philosophy, as well as striking self-portraits - either in the form of the many-armed god Shiva, or even in the image of an adult Indian woman, whose eyes reflected deep sadness for our Earth.

Sasha fought for life for six years, after which she asked her parents to let her go. Shortly before she left, she asked dad to put his hand on the white sheet and circled it. Then she put her hand on top and did the same with it. The completed drawing was found after January 24, 1989, when the girl died. It depicted the star Sirius, to which Sashenka dreamed of flying.

Since 1989, more than a hundred personal exhibitions of Sasha Putri have taken place in many countries around the world, several documentaries have been made about the girl and a documentary story has been written. A memorial plaque was installed on the wall of the kindergarten where she was raised and a museum was opened. There is a children's room in Poltava art Gallery named after Sasha, in which, under the auspices of the Foundation for the Protection and Support of Talented Children, international competitions children's drawing.

Alexandra (Sasha) Evgenievna Putrya(December 2, 1977, Poltava, Ukrainian SSR, USSR - January 24, 1989, Poltava) - young artist. During her short life she created 2279 works - 46 albums with drawings, cartoons and poems, embossing, embroidery, plasticine crafts, Stuffed Toys, products made from beads and multi-colored stones, wood burning. She made technical drawings that, in her opinion, were supposed to help adults reach the Moon and make asphalt roads without cracks.

When the girl was 5 years old, she was diagnosed with leukemia. It was from this that Sasha died at the age of 11.

Awards (posthumously)

• Gold Medal of Christ the Savior (1998)
• Order of St. Nicholas the Pleasant “For increasing goodness on earth” (2000)
• Ancient icon in a silver frame “Christ Pantocrator” (2001)
• National Prize of the All-India Children's Association "Nehru Bal Samiti" - "Kalasari Award" (2001)

Memory of Sasha Putra

• From 1989 to 2005, Sasha Putri held 112 personal exhibitions in 10 countries.
• In Austria, a postal envelope and a stamp were issued with Sasha’s drawing, and a series of her drawings was published.
• Five [ ] documentaries, the documentary story “Sasha Putrya” was published
• In the kindergarten where she was raised, the Sasha Putri Museum is open, and a memorial plaque is installed on the wall.
• There is a Children's Art Gallery named after Sasha Putri in Poltava; under the auspices of the Foundation for the Protection and Support of Talented Children, children's drawing competitions are held in this gallery; Since 2005, these competitions have become international.

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Links

• Evgeniy Putrya.
• O. D. Piskareva, V. U. Kelekhsaev.
• at the N. Roerich Center-Museum (12/27/2007)
• Online Charitable Foundation named after E. I. Roerich (section “Children of the New Epoch”)

Excerpt characterizing Putrya, Sasha

Having traveled around the entire line of troops from the right to the left flank, Prince Andrei climbed to the battery from which, according to the headquarters officer, the entire field was visible. Here he dismounted from his horse and stopped at the outermost of the four cannons that had been removed from the limbers. In front of the guns walked the sentry artilleryman, who was stretched out in front of the officer, but at a sign made to him, he resumed his uniform, boring walk. Behind the guns there were limbers, and further back there was a hitching post and artillery fires. To the left, not far from the outermost gun, there was a new wicker hut, from which animated officer voices could be heard.
Indeed, from the battery there was a view of almost the entire location of the Russian troops and most of the enemy. Directly opposite the battery, on the horizon of the opposite hillock, the village of Shengraben was visible; to the left and to the right could be discerned in three places, among the smoke of their fires, masses of French troops, which, obviously, most of was in the village itself and behind the mountain. To the left of the village, in the smoke, it seemed like something like a battery, but with the naked eye it was impossible to get a good look. Our right flank was located on a rather steep hill, which dominated the French position. Our infantry was positioned along it, and the dragoons were visible at the very edge. In the center, where the Tushin battery was located, from which Prince Andrei viewed the position, there was the most gentle and straight descent and ascent to the stream that separated us from Shengraben. To the left, our troops adjoined the forest, where the fires of our infantry, chopping wood, were smoking. The French line was wider than ours, and it was clear that the French could easily get around us on both sides. Behind our position there was a steep and deep ravine, along which it was difficult for artillery and cavalry to retreat. Prince Andrei, leaning on the cannon and taking out his wallet, drew for himself a plan for the disposition of the troops. He wrote notes in pencil in two places, intending to communicate them to Bagration. He intended, firstly, to concentrate all the artillery in the center and, secondly, to transfer the cavalry back to the other side of the ravine. Prince Andrei, constantly being with the commander-in-chief, monitoring the movements of the masses and general orders and constantly studying historical descriptions battles, and in this upcoming matter involuntarily thought about the future course of military operations only in general outline. He imagined only the following kind of major accidents: “If the enemy launches an attack on the right flank,” he said to himself, “the Kiev Grenadier and Podolsk Jaeger will have to hold their position until the reserves of the center approach them. In this case, the dragoons can hit the flank and overthrow them. In the event of an attack on the center, we place a central battery on this hill and, under its cover, pull together the left flank and retreat to the ravine in echelons,” he reasoned with himself...

The fates of children whose abilities were many times greater than those of their peers were, as a rule, not easy: only a few could become successful in adult life, and many of them died prematurely.

Young artist-prodigy Sasha Putrya and her work *Virgin Mary*, 1988

One of these prodigies was the Poltava artist Sasha Putrya, who managed to create more than 2,000 works in just 11 years of her life. The girl amazed those around her not only with her artistic talent, but also an unusual perception of reality.

Sasha Putrya

She would have turned 41 this year. Sasha Putrya was born in 1977 in Poltava in the family of an artist and a music school teacher. The love for painting was passed on to her from her father - the girl did not go to kindergarten, drawing all day long with her father. She never studied at art school, and began drawing at the age of three, dreaming of becoming an artist and doing what she loved “from morning to evening and even at night.”

Sasha Putrya. Left - *Dear Lerusinka*, 1988. Right - *David Guramishvili*, 1988

Sasha’s father Evgeniy said: “Her hands and face were always smeared with felt-tip pens or watercolors. Our entire apartment, bathroom, kitchen, toilet, closet doors are painted to the height she could reach with her hand. She generously gave her drawings to friends and relatives - on holidays and birthdays she congratulated her with cards that she drew herself, and she also wrote texts, often in poetry.”

Sasha Putrya. *Mom and Dad in the form of hamsters*, 1986

One of her first works was a portrait of Pushkin in the image of Cricket - one day she learned that the poet was called that at the Lyceum, and in just 15 minutes she made a sketch that amazed her father. "I was shocked. Such a resemblance! No institute will teach you this,”- he said. This was not the girl’s only talent - she not only painted, but also embroidered, wrote poetry, made postcards, sewed soft toys, practiced wood burning, and read a lot.

Sasha Putrya. *East and Rus'*

At the age of 5, the girl became seriously ill. Doctors could not determine the cause for a long time high temperature and severe pain, until they made a terrible diagnosis: leukemia. Since then, Sasha Putrya spent months in the hospital, where she continued to paint for 8-10 hours a day. Another passion of hers recent years became Indian culture- one day she saw an Indian film, and from then on she began to be interested in everything that was connected with this country.

Drawings by Sasha Putri

She often portrayed herself as an adult Indian woman, and puzzled her loved ones with her memories of events that did not actually happen. So, she asked her mother if she remembered how they rode an elephant, which she never did before. real life didn't happen. At the same time, the girl described such details and details that her relatives doubted that she could see it in the movies. She celebrated her last birthday and New Year in a sari, in the image of an Indian woman.

Sasha Putrya. Left - *Sadness*, right - *Tsar*

Doctors gave her only two months, but she lived another 6 years. Shortly before her death, she amazed her loved ones with these words: “If I have an exacerbation again, there is no need to treat me. Just don’t be offended or cry - I’m already tired. I know that death is not scary...” On one of their latest drawings The 11-year-old artist depicted her hand on top of her father's hand, pointing to the star Sirius - this is where Sasha dreamed of going after life on Earth.

Sasha Putrya. Left - *Sirius*, 1989. Right - *Last self-portrait*, 1989

The mother of the child prodigy Victoria said: “Art gave Sasha 6 years of life. She was distracted from her problems, from her pain, and immersed herself in creativity. I even knew that if Sasha draws, then everything is fine. But if he neglects what he loves and doesn’t touch his brushes and pencils, then trouble is coming, an aggravation is approaching. Even by the colors of the paints she could determine her condition. If everything was fine, Sashenka used fresh colors in her drawings - green, blue, light green... When she painted in red, brown, I understood that I had to urgently run to the hospital and get tested.”

Sasha Putrya. *Ryzhka the dog's apartment*, 1986

Sasha Putrya. Left - *Evgeniy and Victoria*, 1987. Right - *Gypsy Zemfira*, 1985

The child prodigy artist was given only 11 years of life, during which she managed to create more than 2,000 works - 46 albums with drawings, cartoons and poems. After her death, Sasha’s drawings were seen by the whole world: from 1989 to 2005. 112 of her personal exhibitions were held in 10 countries. About this to an unusual girl 5 documentaries were shot, and in Poltava the Children's Art Gallery, which hosts international children's drawing competitions, bears her name. She was posthumously awarded the Gold Medal of Christ the Savior “For a life worthy of man”, the Order of St. Nicholas the Pleasant “For the increase of good on earth” and the National Prize of the All-India Children's Association “Nehru Bal Samiti - Kalasari”.

Young artist Sasha Putrya and her work *Indian*, 1988