Magda Nachman in Germany
After their successful crossing of the Soviet border in the fall of 1922, the Acharyas settled in Berlin.1 In the early 1920s, the Charlottenburg and Tiergarten districts of Berlin were flooded with Russians who had fled the Bolshevik Revolution, followed by those fleeing the Red Terror and the Civil War. Charlottenburg even acquired the telling epithet "Charlottengrad." This is how the composer Nicholas Nabokov (the writer Vladimir Nabokov's first cousin), who arrived in Berlin in the spring of 1921, writes about émigré life at that time:
They lived in cheap boarding houses, pensions, hotels, furnished rooms, and flats, or, in some rare cases, sumptuous villas in the Tiergarten and Grunewald. But the Russian refugees were by no means a humble, frightened lot that fretted and trembled in a hostile environment. They seemed to have taken over Berlin and transformed it into a Russian camp … The center of Western Berlin, from the Wittenberg Platz past the Gedächtnis Kirche and down the Kurfürstendamm, seemed to have surrendered to the Russian takeover.2
Russian newspapers, Russian publishing houses, Russian theaters and art galleries, Russian restaurants and stores, were proliferating and competing for business. As Vladimir Nabokov writes in his novel Glory:
But perhaps the most unexpected thing about this new, much expanded, postwar Berlin … was the free-mannered, loud-voiced Russia that chattered everywhere, in the trams, in the shops, on street corners, on the balconies of apartment houses.3
At the time of the Acharyas' arrival, Russian émigrés constituted about twenty percent of the city's two million residents. Berlin was attractive for its relative proximity to Russia, low cost of living, and the relative ease with which a German entry visa and residency permit could be obtained. And Acharya had resided earlier in Berlin, where he had been financially supported by the German government as a member of the Hindu–German conspiracy during World War I, and he had connections to other Indian exiles there.
Magda began sketching immediately on their arrival in Berlin. Acharya wrote about this in his first letter from Germany to his friend and colleague Igor Reisner.4 She was quite active during this period, drawing animals in the Berlin Zoo, illustrating books, and painting portraits and still lifes. Most of her work of this period has disappeared.
Acharya was monitored by the British intelligence service, since he was considered a dangerous Indian nationalist involved in subversive activities. Intelligence documents paint the couple's precarious existence. Acharya could not find remunerative work. Moreover, his health began to fail, mostly because of years of neglect and hunger. Magda was a working painter ("his wife made a little money by painting"),5 supporting both herself and her husband by her art. As noted in the British intelligence reports, "his wife is a non-political entirely concerned with art."6
Art did not bring much money, and the hardships experienced by Magda in Russia continued. Nevertheless, she persevered with her artistic endeavors.
There was an endless stream of important painters of the Russian avant-garde arriving in Berlin, including such temporary visitors as Kazimir Malevich, El Lissitzky, and Alexander Rodchenko, who returned eventually to the Soviet Union, and émigrés such as Ivan Puni (Pougny), Xenia Boguslavskaya, Naum Gabo, Antoine Pevsner, and many other Russian artists, including a number who had connections with and were ideologically closer to the World of Art Association. To make it among this boisterous crowd—at the mercy of impoverished, defeated Germany, itself in need of resources for reconstruction and war reparations—was not easy.
Nevertheless, Magda had a successful solo exhibition. It was mounted in 1928 in Galerie J. Casper. A positive review, which appeared in the prominent Berlin Russian language newspaper Rul′ on November 1, 1928, was written by none other than Vladimir Nabokov:
A person who has a feeling for colors is fortunate in a fortunate world, in which a pouring rain is not a harbinger of a runny nose but a wonderful iridescence on the asphalt, and in which an enticing speck of light burns on the most insignificant object of everyday life. Mrs. Nachman-Acharya possesses such a feeling, and she knows how to use it to the full. I especially liked two still lifes: a bottle made of transparent glass, all pierced by light, and a bunch of blue grapes coated with a precious glaze. Superb also are some portraits—a woman in a black kerchief against the background of a northern landscape; a smoky-green pudgy-faced Buddha; a thin Indian in profile. A very pleasant show, which demonstrates once more the high standing of Russian art.7
Unfortunately, not a single picture mentioned by Nabokov or any from the gallery's catalogue has surfaced.
Magda participated in a group show in the gallery Amsler & Ruthardt organized by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Osteuropakunde (German Society for the Study of Eastern Europe), an association established in Germany in 1913. A brief favorable review appeared in the May 10, 1929, issue of Rul′, in which the anonymous reviewer praised Magda: "Some pastels by Mrs. Nachman are pleasing (particularly her 'Courtyard')." But pictures from this exhibition have vanished as well.
In Berlin, Magda was introduced to the Nabokovs by a mutual friend, Anna Feigin, a pianist, graduate of the St. Petersburg Conservatory, and a cousin of Vladimir's wife, Véra. According to Nabokov's first biographer, Andrew Field, Magda was a friend of the family. "The Nabokovs described her to me," he writes, "as a tremendously sensitive person."8 In 1933, Magda painted pastel portraits of Vladimir, Véra, and Vladimir's mother, Elena Ivanovna. Magda's is one of only two known portraits of Vladimir from his Berlin years.9 This is how Andrew Field describes it:
The picture has two striking characteristics. Nabokov, not only because his hair is slicked back and very close to his head, somehow appears wet in the picture, as though he has just emerged from the water. This is a matter of style, of course, and in the other Indian pictures [by Nachman] which I have seen one sees this same air or posture of being a little out of place and very conscious of oneself in many of her subjects. It is a style that suits Nabokov's personality quite well. The other characteristic emanates from the subject: Nabokov looks at us in the picture not only as a man who knows precisely who he is and what he can do, but also what he has done. He is still a young man, but he has a different assurance about him. The snapshots of this period, mostly with tilted shoulders and patient smile, do not capture this aspect of his personality nearly as well as Magda Nachman-Achariya's study.10
The sitter indeed seems to possess a certain self-assurance. The subjects of many later portraits by Magda from India look squarely at the viewer. However, here, as in the portrait of Tsvetaeva, Nabokov seems to be looking elsewhere, With a slight smile on his lips, he seems rather to be gazing inside himself and into the future.
Magda Nachman. Portrait of Vladimir Nabokov, 1933 (Copyright 1971 by Vera Nabokova, rights granted by the Wylie Agency LLC.).
The fate of the Nabokov family portraits was the same as that of many works by Magda: they disappeared. The Nabokovs had taken them from Berlin to Paris when they moved there in 1937, but on leaving for the United States in 1940, they left a trunk with their papers and pictures behind with their friend Ilya Fondaminsky. When Fondaminsky was taken by the Gestapo in 1941, the trunk with its contents went missing.
Years later, the Nabokovs tried to recover Magda's works through advertisements in the Parisian Russian-language newspaper Russkaya mysl′ (Russian Thought): the following appeared on January 29, 1971:
I collect works by Magda Nachman-Acharya (pastel, oil, pencil). In your offer include a description and a photograph, if possible. Reply to the office of Russkaya Mysl′.
On September 16, 1976, yet another announcement appeared:
VLADIMIR VLADIMIROVICH NABOKOV is seeking three portraits—of himself, his wife, and his mother—by the artist Magda NACHMAN-ACHARYA. All three portraits are done in pastel, the approximate size is 50 by 60 cm. The portraits were stored in the basement of I. M. Fondaminsky's apartment and disappeared during the occupation of 1940 and 1942. Reply to Russkaya mysl′.
Fortunately, a photograph of Nabokov's portrait survived (Field's description of the portrait quoted above was based on that photograph). In a letter of May 11, 1971, to an editor at McGraw-Hill, Véra Nabokov wrote:
Enclosed please find a glossy print of a portrait (pastel) of my husband by Magda Nachman-Acharya. It was made in 1933, in Berlin. He thinks it would be nice to use it on the jacket of Glory, which was written a couple of years earlier. It is an excellent likeness, and has never been published before. This is what VN asks me to tell you, but he also wants me to add that the ear is too large. The portrait was lost during the German occupation of Paris, and our efforts to retrieve it have been fruitless so far.11
By placing a portrait of himself by Magda on the dust jacket of his novel and placing Magda's name inside the cover, Nabokov was in part paying tribute to Magda as a courageous artist, who, like the author and his novel's protagonist, allowed herself to be driven by fate only so far.
Although Magda's mother was a Baltic German, and all the children of the family were baptized and raised in the Lutheran faith, her father was a Jew who did not convert to Christianity. In Russia, Magda was little affected by her father's religious affiliation. In Berlin, however, the situation was different. During her years in Berlin, Magda became acquainted with many more Jews than she had known in Russia. In 1923, Jews constituted about one-fourth of the approximately 360 thousand Russian émigrés in Germany, most of them in Berlin, and many of them occupied prominent positions in various aspects of Berlin émigré life. Among them were doctors, bankers, jurists, scholars, publishers, writers, poets, and artists, many of whom also had contact with German Jews.
Beginning in 1928, Magda produced illustrations for several issues of the Jüdischer Jugendkalender (Jewish Calendar for Young People), which included poems, plays, and short stories as well as a Jewish calendar illustrated by Jewish painters. It was published by the Berlin publishing house Jüdischer Verlag, among whose founders were Martin Buber and Chaim Weizmann. In the issues for 1928/1929 and 1930/1931 there are four stories illustrated by Magda.
Years later, the Nabokovs tried to recover Magda's works through advertisements in the Parisian Russian-language newspaper Russkaya mysl′ (Russian Thought): the following appeared on January 29, 1971:
I collect works by Magda Nachman-Acharya (pastel, oil, pencil). In your offer include a description and a photograph, if possible. Reply to the office of Russkaya Mysl′.
On September 16, 1976, yet another announcement appeared:
VLADIMIR VLADIMIROVICH NABOKOV is seeking three portraits—of himself, his wife, and his mother—by the artist Magda NACHMAN-ACHARYA. All three portraits are done in pastel, the approximate size is 50 by 60 cm. The portraits were stored in the basement of I. M. Fondaminsky's apartment and disappeared during the occupation of 1940 and 1942. Reply to Russkaya mysl′.
Fortunately, a photograph of Nabokov's portrait survived (Field's description of the portrait quoted above was based on that photograph). In a letter of May 11, 1971, to an editor at McGraw-Hill, Véra Nabokov wrote:
Enclosed please find a glossy print of a portrait (pastel) of my husband by Magda Nachman-Acharya. It was made in 1933, in Berlin. He thinks it would be nice to use it on the jacket of Glory, which was written a couple of years earlier. It is an excellent likeness, and has never been published before. This is what VN asks me to tell you, but he also wants me to add that the ear is too large. The portrait was lost during the German occupation of Paris, and our efforts to retrieve it have been fruitless so far.11
By placing a portrait of himself by Magda on the dust jacket of his novel and placing Magda's name inside the cover, Nabokov was in part paying tribute to Magda as a courageous artist, who, like the author and his novel's protagonist, allowed herself to be driven by fate only so far.
Although Magda's mother was a Baltic German, and all the children of the family were baptized and raised in the Lutheran faith, her father was a Jew who did not convert to Christianity. In Russia, Magda was little affected by her father's religious affiliation. In Berlin, however, the situation was different. During her years in Berlin, Magda became acquainted with many more Jews than she had known in Russia. In 1923, Jews constituted about one-fourth of the approximately 360 thousand Russian émigrés in Germany, most of them in Berlin, and many of them occupied prominent positions in various aspects of Berlin émigré life. Among them were doctors, bankers, jurists, scholars, publishers, writers, poets, and artists, many of whom also had contact with German Jews.
Beginning in 1928, Magda produced illustrations for several issues of the Jüdischer Jugendkalender (Jewish Calendar for Young People), which included poems, plays, and short stories as well as a Jewish calendar illustrated by Jewish painters. It was published by the Berlin publishing house Jüdischer Verlag, among whose founders were Martin Buber and Chaim Weizmann. In the issues for 1928/1929 and 1930/1931 there are four stories illustrated by Magda.
Magda Nachman. Illustrations for the story "Schirmchen."
Magda Nachman. Illustrations for the story "Schirmchen."
Magda Nachman. Illustrations for the story "Jomi mid dim Sack."
.
.
Magda Nachman. Illustrations for the story "Es sieht aus wie Recht, ist aber keins."
Magda Nachman. Illustrations for the story "Aus den Tagen des Schinderhannes."
In 1933, following Hitler's accession to power, it became unsafe for both Magda and the dark-skinned Tamil Acharya to remain in Germany. As far back as 1926, Acharya, a stateless and undocumented refugee, had petitioned the British authorities for a British passport to legalize himself and have the right to work in Europe. Back then, he did not think of returning to India. Now the situation had
changed. Fleeing from Germany had become urgent. Although he had long since given up subversive activities, in India he was still considered a dangerous nationalist and was subject to arrest for his revolutionary past. Acharya's struggle for the right to become a free citizen of India continued until mid-1934. In January of that year, Acharya and Magda received British passports, which allowed them to leave Berlin for Switzerland, where Magda's older sister Adele lived with her family. After some time, Acharya was allowed to settle in India, subject to his renunciation of subversive activities. In 1935, he sailed from Genoa to Madras. Magda remained in Switzerland for another year. Several photographs sent by Acharya to Switzerland have survived:
changed. Fleeing from Germany had become urgent. Although he had long since given up subversive activities, in India he was still considered a dangerous nationalist and was subject to arrest for his revolutionary past. Acharya's struggle for the right to become a free citizen of India continued until mid-1934. In January of that year, Acharya and Magda received British passports, which allowed them to leave Berlin for Switzerland, where Magda's older sister Adele lived with her family. After some time, Acharya was allowed to settle in India, subject to his renunciation of subversive activities. In 1935, he sailed from Genoa to Madras. Magda remained in Switzerland for another year. Several photographs sent by Acharya to Switzerland have survived:
M.P.T. Acharya in Bombay (1935), SS.
Leaving for India in 1936, Magda left several paintings with her sister for sale. One of them has survived.
Magda Nachman. Portrait of an unknown lady (April 1936), SS.
Adele sent money from the sale of Magda's works to support her sister in India and wrote letters to her. Several of them have survived. They are pervaded by a sense of doom and despair. She lamented in particular the fate of Finland, which was then under attack by the Soviet Union:
The fate of Finland also upsets me. We spent so many happy summer months there. You could say that our entire childhood passed there. No one comes to their aid, and alone, they will lose the war. I have a feeling that the whole world is about to disintegrate. What will remain? Bye for now, little sister, I hope to sell a picture or two (February 20, 1940).
In the same letter, Adele congratulates Magda on the award presented to her by the Bombay Art Society for the painting "Red Shawl." And on July 22, 1941: "Magda, Magda, write what's going on with you. What is happening in Russia? In what times we have landed!"12
The fate of Finland also upsets me. We spent so many happy summer months there. You could say that our entire childhood passed there. No one comes to their aid, and alone, they will lose the war. I have a feeling that the whole world is about to disintegrate. What will remain? Bye for now, little sister, I hope to sell a picture or two (February 20, 1940).
In the same letter, Adele congratulates Magda on the award presented to her by the Bombay Art Society for the painting "Red Shawl." And on July 22, 1941: "Magda, Magda, write what's going on with you. What is happening in Russia? In what times we have landed!"12
1 From this time on, Magda often signed her works Magda Nachman-Acharya. Some letters written to her by friends in Germany are addressed to Magda Acharya. The name in German would sometimes be spelled Atscharja, Atschariya, or Atscharia. Nachman sometimes acquired an additional Germanizing "n" at the end: Nachmann.
2 Nicholas Nabokov, Bagázh: Memoirs of a Russian Cosmopolitan, New York: Atheneum, 1975, 119.
3 Vladimir Nabokov, Glory, McGraw-Hill International, Inc., 1971, 135.
4 RGASPI: f. 495, op. 68, no. 64.
5 IOR: L/P&G/12/174/0013.
6 IOR: L/P&G/12/174/0058.
7 "Exhibition of M. Nachman-Acharya. Gallery Casper," Rul′ (The Rudder), November 1, 1928, 4.
8 Andrew Field, Nabokov: His Life in Part, London: Hamish Hamilton, 1977, 187.
9 The other is a portrait by M. Dobuzhinsky (1937), Magda's teacher.
10 Andrew Field, Nabokov, 187–188.
11 Véra Nabokov, letter to Anne Dyer Murphy, editor of the Trade Books Division of McGraw-Hill Book Company, Berg Collection, New York Public Library.
12 Sophie Seifalian Family archive.
2 Nicholas Nabokov, Bagázh: Memoirs of a Russian Cosmopolitan, New York: Atheneum, 1975, 119.
3 Vladimir Nabokov, Glory, McGraw-Hill International, Inc., 1971, 135.
4 RGASPI: f. 495, op. 68, no. 64.
5 IOR: L/P&G/12/174/0013.
6 IOR: L/P&G/12/174/0058.
7 "Exhibition of M. Nachman-Acharya. Gallery Casper," Rul′ (The Rudder), November 1, 1928, 4.
8 Andrew Field, Nabokov: His Life in Part, London: Hamish Hamilton, 1977, 187.
9 The other is a portrait by M. Dobuzhinsky (1937), Magda's teacher.
10 Andrew Field, Nabokov, 187–188.
11 Véra Nabokov, letter to Anne Dyer Murphy, editor of the Trade Books Division of McGraw-Hill Book Company, Berg Collection, New York Public Library.
12 Sophie Seifalian Family archive.
