Michail Nesterov wrote in 1940 in the preface to the memoirs: "I avoided to represent strong passions, preferring them our silent landscape, the person, leading an internal life. And in portraits my, written last years, those people which way was reflexion of thoughts, feelings, their acts" attracted me to themselves.
Throughout the life Nesterov was familiar and is close with many visible creators of Russian culture - writers, actors, scientists and artists. With the big excitement as if anew worrying left, he writes in the book "Old days" about the meetings and conversations with L.Tolstoy, M.Gorkiy, V.Surikov, I.Kramskoy, I.Levitan, P.Tretyakov. In small short stories fluently, sharply also it is convex, with skill of the observer and the psychologist many characters are planned by it: general spoilt child Kostja Korovin, inspired actress Strepetova, "jealous" V.Vereshchagin to the glory, "the marvellous old man" I.Pavlov...
Many of with whom Nesterov was close, became models for its portraits.
Absolutely another "the ingenious old man" I.Pavlov - the physiologist, the academician, the thinker. Prompt, temperamental, it infected all with the energy, an internal pressure. Young enthusiasm, a whirlwind of words and gestures - such Nesterov has seen it for the first time and has managed to show its per capita youth, life boiling in it, passion of the experimenter, scientific, the fighter.
Process of comprehension of model was very active. It was not simple supervision, it was important to it to find lines of the internal affinity with it, to establish any psychological and rhythmic resonance. And, probably, just because it was the inspired artist, it managed to transfer so convincingly creative burning of the heroes. He was able to estimate energy and working capacity of Pavlov, itself standing idle behind an easel for 8 hours.
