- I always dreamed of moving to the very center, -says Nikas. - First he lived in Malaya Gruzinskaya, then moved to Pushkin Square, later rented an apartment on Tverskaya Street, in the house where the bookshop "Moscow" is located. And now I settled here, a few minutes walk from Red Square ... When I first saw the panorama of the Kremlin from the roof of this house, I realized that I want to live only in it.
The stained-glass window dividing the fireplace room and the winter garden is made in a French factory, which is already 500 years old. Photo: Arsen Memetov- The house was built by the famous architect Shchusev in 1928year, this was the first cooperative for the actors of the Moscow Art Theater. Many famous and even great people lived in these walls: Stanislavsky, Nemirovich-Danchenko, Kachalov, Leonidov, ballet dancers Ekaterina Geltzer and Maris Liepa. So the atmosphere in the house is very special ... In the 90s, despite the fact that it is an architectural monument, the house was wanted to be demolished as an emergency, but the residents of the district managed to defend it and get a major overhaul and reconstruction. It was then built three floors and installed an elevator. Then I was often reproached with the fact that it was I who built these floors. In fact, I just bought from the contractor area after the restoration of the building and did it in stages. In total, together with the repairs to settle here, it took about 12 years. Now I have three floors - about 1000 square meters. On the bottom I live, my office is near, my house is turned into a Gothic palace above, and the last one is a sample of high-tech style, there is a lot of glass and light, an excellent view of Moscow from an open terrace. I have probably 17 full rooms, but if you take into account toilets, bathrooms and small kitchens, you will get 45 rooms.
A photo: Arsen Memetov In the house of Safronov slept Nikolay Drozdov, Sophia Loren, Nastasya Kinski. Children come to Nikas, usually on his birthday. Son Lundin lives in Australia, Stefan in London, Dima in Vilnius, Luke in Moscow. In the house of the father each of them has his own room. The name of the artist is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the owner of the world's most expensive finger. The fact is that Nikas seriously injured his finger, opening a tin can with sprats. The tendon and pouch of the phalanx were injured, and I even had to do the operation. For this trauma on the German insurance Nikas has received 9 million rubles.“I’m not particularly proud of this record,”Nikas admits. - It would be a different matter if I were listed as the author of the largest number of works stored in more than 100 museums around the world, including the Tretyakov Gallery and the Hermitage… I love to work and do it with pleasure. I am preparing exhibitions in Kazan, Baku, Paris, Venice. I am looking forward to the soon opening of my museums in Ulyanovsk and Vladimir.
A photo: Arsen MemetovOn the top floor there is a terrace with a wonderful view of the Kremlin. The owner of the house likes to watch the sunsets. The open terrace Safronov glazed, having received permission from neighbors, and turned into a winter garden. Here the temperature is constantly maintained at about 22 degrees. In addition to numerous plants - a fountain, medieval sculptures, benches ... The walls are painted by the artist personally.- I did not choose the Gothic style for the whole flooraccidentally, - the artist shares. - We did not hurry to open the family history for us, the children, for the children. Mom from Lithuania was exiled together with relatives to Siberia, and on the paternal line in the family of 12 generations of priests. Jules Verne never left France, but he successfully traveled in his fantasies and wrote beautifully about it. I decided to go further: let in the center of Moscow there be my Gothic castle, and I, too, will not have to go anywhere. I made this house for myself, to have fun, to invite friends, to give them comfort and comfort.
Photo: Arsen Memetov- This is the fireplace of the nephew of King Francis - the 16th century. It was he who bought the painting, which became known as the "La Gioconda", and invited Leonardo da Vinci to France. Perhaps Leonardo warmed himself by the very fireplace. And I bought it at auction, barely drove it, because it is heavy, made of whole marble, then restored to remove the flaws that have accumulated over a long time. And this bearish skin was given to me on the birthday of Aman Tuleyev (governor of the Kemerovo region .-- An Antenna note).
1/6Photo:Arsen MemetovA 500-million-year-old shellPhoto: Arsen MemetovPhoto: Arsen Memetov– Figures that I sculpted myself. A difficult job for me. And the originals are kept in the Hermitage. This is a man with a horse's head…Photo: Arsen Memetov…and this is a woman with a cat's head.Photo: Arsen MemetovA collection of walking sticks for every taste. There is one that transforms into a sword, and even with a cap that turns into a cup.Photo: Arsen MemetovThe library is one of the largest rooms. It contains antiques and antiquities. On the chest of drawers lies a fossilized shell, it is about 500 million years old.- There is a French table, behind which, judgingon the documents attached to it, Napoleon himself worked, - explains Nikas. - Willy Tokarev gave me chess, they are also unique, because there are no others like them - they were made prisoners in prison.
Photo: Arsen Memetov"This is an angel of the arts." I bought it in Ecuador. I wanted to give Victor Merezhko a friend for his birthday, but he did not like the statuette. I took it myself, sat down after the party behind the wheel and escaped in a terrible accident. Maybe this angel saved me.
A photo: Arsen Memetov Once in the kitchen, you do not immediately understand where the stove, where the oven, refrigerator and other equipment: all this is skillfully built into medieval furniture. Here Dutch chairs of the beginning of the XVII century, the table of the end of the XVI. On the floor the tile is also the XIV century, before it was in an Italian castle. There is an old sharpener, on which the owner himself sharpens knives.
1/2Photo: Arsen MemetovPhoto: Arsen Memetov– I remember from early childhood that in our attican old portrait had been gathering dust for a long time. When I asked my father who was depicted in it, he answered briefly: "One of our distant ancestors." At the time, I did not attach any significance to it... Later, having learned the history of the family, I remembered the painting - our family heirloom. I found this portrait and restored it. The monk depicted in it looks like my older brother Sasha, who, unfortunately, has already passed away…
A photo: Arsen Memetov In this bedroom the entire suite is from the room of the French Queen Marie Antoinette, the wife of King Louis XVI, executed in the late 18th century. The bed is covered with a coverlet, on top of which lie wolfskins.“The queen slept on this bed in her youth,” the artist explains. “I personally have never rested here; I dare not disturb the spirit of a royal person.”
