Pasternak’s illustrations to “Resurrection”
During the last twenty years Tolstoy has written the following books:—“My Confession,” “A Criticism of Dogmatic Theology,” which has never been translated, “The Four Gospels, Harmonized and Translated,” “What I Believe,” “The Gospel in Brief,” “What to Do,” “On Life” (also called “Life”), “The Kreutzer Sonata,” “The Kingdom of God is Within You,” “The Christian Teaching,” “What is Art?” which in Tolstoy’s own opinion is the best constructed of his books, “Resurrection,” his last novel, begun about 1894, and then laid aside in favour of what seemed more important work to be completely rewritten and published in 1899 for the benefit of the Doukhabors, and latterly “What is Religion and what is Its Essence,” published in February 1902. The illustrations reproduced from “Resurrection” on pages 19, 29, and 34 are from the remarkable drawings by Pasternak. Concerning these pictures there is an interesting note in the preface of the French edition of the novel from which it may be gathered that the drawings tallied very closely with Tolstoy’s own conception of the appearance of his characters. It was the artist’s usual custom to submit each design on its completion to the eminent novelist for his opinion. Invariably Tolstoy showed his approval of the clever realisation of his ideas. But when it came to the sketch of Prince Nekhludov, Tolstoy went so far as to enquire of M. Pasternak whether he was acquainted with the person who had served him as a model. At this the artist showed extreme surprise—he had not even been aware that the character was copied from an original.