On December 2, 1977, Alexandra Putria was born in Poltava - one of the most unusual artists in the history of fine arts. Sasha's mother, Victoria Leonidovna, was a choirmaster and taught at music school. And the father, Evgeny Vasilyevich, - professional artist. The girl sat in his workshop for days on end and, of course, could not help but become interested in the "craft". Also, reproductions best artists the girl could look at the world literally from the cradle - instead of wallpaper, one of the walls of the living room was pasted over with them. Sasha lived on Earth for only 11 years, but during this time she managed to create 2279 works: 46 albums with drawings, a great many handicrafts and even technical drawings, which, in her opinion, were supposed to help adults reach the Moon and make the asphalt pavement without cracks . Drawing for Sashenka was as natural as sleep and food, it often replaced her friends and children's games. “I was literally stunned by one of Sashenka’s very first works, which, unfortunately, has not been preserved,” Evgeny Vasilyevich recalls. “Somehow we read the memoirs of Pushkin’s friends from the Lyceum and found out that they called him Cricket among themselves. Sashenka laughed, and in fifteen minutes she drew a poet in the guise of a cricket. I was shocked. Such a resemblance! This is not taught in any institute." 
Already at the age of three, Sasha confidently held a pencil and a brush in her hands. She drew without ceasing and often fell asleep, all stained with paints. Her father turned a small bedroom into an art workshop and tried to teach the girl in an academic program, but ran into a delicate rebuff. As an artist, Sasha formed herself on her own, guided by her own impressions and imagination. 
..Alas, real talent comes at an unbearable price. At the age of five, the girl was given terrible diagnosis: leukemia. After a two-month course of intensive therapy, her parents went with her to the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. “Perhaps somewhere in heaven our prayers were heard, and our daughters were granted another six years of life. According to experts, it is almost impossible to live with leukemia for so long,” says the father. Trying to ignore the pain, Sasha began to devote much more time to her favorite pastime. At this time, funny animals and fairy tale characters came images from Hindu philosophy, as well as amazing self-portraits - either in the form of the many-armed god Shiva, or even in the form of an adult Indian woman, whose eyes reflected deep sadness for our Earth. 
Whenever she went to the hospital, the girl took books and everything necessary for drawing with her. The parents had special way communication: if the mother showed the father, who came to the hospital, new drawings, then everything was going well. If there were no drawings, this meant that the disease was piling up with new force. Sasha fought for her life for six years, after which she asked her parents to let her go. Shortly before she left, she asked her father to take a hand in white sheet and circled her. Then she put her hand on top and did the same with her. The finished drawing was found after January 24, 1989, when the girl died. It depicted the star Sirius, which Sashenka dreamed of flying to. 
Since 1989, more than a hundred personal exhibitions Sasha Putri in many countries of the world, several films were made about the girl documentaries and written documentary. On the wall of the kindergarten where she was brought up, a memorial plaque was installed and a museum was opened. In Poltava there is a Children's art Gallery named after Sasha, in which, under the auspices of the Fund for the Protection and Support of Talented Children, international competitions children's drawing. 
January 22, 1989, already in the hospital, she drew her latest work- "Self-portrait". Children from her and neighboring chambers surrounded the bedside table, behind which she drew, and vied with each other to order pictures. Sasha smiled and said: "I'll draw, I'll draw! I'll draw for everyone!" And on the night of January 24, she died. 
In addition to drawings, of which more than two thousand have accumulated over six years of "work", the girl created Greeting Cards, architectural and animalistic works, and for some of them she composed poetry. Sasha left behind a lot of coinage, pictures burned on wood, and works made of plasticine. She even made technical drawings that were supposed to help adults get the moon and make asphalt pavement without cracks. Art historians are sure that if fate had allowed Alexandra Putri's talent to reveal itself to the end, her name would be today on a par with the names of Yablonskaya and Aivazovsky. Exhibitions of the artist's works are now held all over the world: in Germany, India, Austria - from 1989 to 2005, 112 exhibitions of Alexandra took place in 10 countries. Her work was also appreciated in the spiritual sphere. 
Once, when the girl and dad were walking and stopped near the ruins of the Pushkarevskaya church, Sasha suggested that dad save the church by writing to "the most important boss." In response to a letter in Kyiv, they said that money for restoration would be allocated from the budget. In 1998, the church appreciated this deed, posthumously awarding the artist with the gold medal of Christ the Savior, and in 2000 - the Order of St. Nicholas the Pleasant "For increasing goodness on earth." “My daughter very often comes to me in my dreams. Always cheerful, cheerful, already matured. When she gets bored, she comes. And she always assures that she is fine THERE, asks not to worry about her. ", - says Evgeny Vasilyevich, confident that their connection has not been interrupted to this day. 
Mixed repost from different sites.
January 4th, 2014
December 2, 1977 in Poltava was born Alexandra Putria- one of the most unusual artists in the history of fine 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 many crafts and even technical drawings, which, in her opinion, were supposed to help adults reach the moon and make the asphalt pavement without cracks. Drawing for Sashenka was as natural as sleep and food, it often replaced her friends and children's games.
Already at the age of three, Sasha confidently held a pencil and a brush in her hands. She drew without ceasing, and often fell asleep all stained with paints. Her father turned a small bedroom into an art workshop and tried to teach the girl in an academic program, but ran into a delicate rebuff. As an artist, Sasha formed herself on her own, 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 pastime. At this time, funny animals and fairy-tale characters were replaced by images from Hindu philosophy, as well as self-portraits that stagger the imagination - either in the form of the many-armed god Shiva, or even in the form of an adult Indian woman, whose eyes reflected deep sadness for our Earth.
Sasha fought for her life for six years, after which asked her parents to let her go...
Shortly before her departure, she asked her father to put his hand on a white sheet and circled her. Then she put her hand on top and did the same with her. Finished drawing was found after January 24, 1989, when the girl died. It depicted the star Sirius, which Sashenka dreamed of flying to.
Since 1989, more than a hundred personal exhibitions of Sasha Putri have taken place in many countries of the world, several documentaries have been shot about the girl and a documentary story has been written. On the wall of the kindergarten where she was brought up, a memorial plaque was installed and a museum was opened. The Sasha Children's Art Gallery operates in Poltava, which hosts international children's drawing competitions under the auspices of the Fund for the Protection and Support of Talented Children.
Sasha Putria is known all over the world as a talented artist. Sasha Putrya left behind 2280 drawings and compositions. From 1989 to 2005 she had 112 solo exhibitions in 10 countries. In Austria, with Sasha's drawing, a postal envelope and a stamp were issued, a series of her drawings was published, the proceeds from the sale of which were transferred to the purchase of disposable syringes for patients in the USSR.
A word about my daughter. Evgeny Putrya
- Sashenka, what will you be when you grow up?
- I don't know... I like everything. Maybe a trainer to perform with dogs. No, I'll probably be an artist.
Sashenka began to draw with three years. Her hands and face were always smeared with felt-tip pens or watercolor paints. Our entire apartment, bathroom, kitchen, toilet, cabinet doors are painted to the height where she reached with her hand. She generously gave her drawings to friends and relatives - on holidays and birthdays she congratulated her with postcards that she drew herself, she also wrote texts, often in verse.
Drawing for Sashenka was so natural - like sleep, like food, often replaced her friends, children's games, especially when the illness worsened. She suddenly fell ill, 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 then five years old. And the fact that she lived another six is a miracle. And at the heart of this miracle is an incredible, fantastic craving for drawing.
She could sit behind felt-tip pens and paints for eight to ten hours a day. When her health worsened, and my mother went to the hospital with her, I used to come and ask:
- How is Sashenka? Draws?
- Yes. Look how much you got!
This meant that health was improving. And if the wife silently shrugged, the state was disappointing.
Everyone in the hospital knew and loved Sashenka: from the nanny to the head physician. They loved for the patience with which they endured painful procedures, for kindness, for a cheerful, cheerful disposition. In the ward where she was lying, children always gathered, laughter and fun were heard. The doctors, thanks to them, did not forbid such communication, and the hospital was not something terrible for the girl, although, of course, she did not feel much joy when she got here again.
But most of all she loved the house, although she complained: "Oh, this fourth floor! .. Who invented it?"
Sitting warm with us autumn evenings on the balcony, she anxiously peered at the blazing sunset clouds, which gradually merged with dark sky, and sparks of stars flashed overhead, and the sky bloomed with a silvery flicker of constellations and galaxies ... We talked with her about the planets, about "flying saucers", about God, about people ... She was fond of horoscopes, astrology and was especially interested in reports about UFOs. She firmly believed that our ancestors were flying in, and the day would come when she would meet them.
At school, Sashenka studied easily and naturally, immediately became the favorite of the class and teachers. When they praised her (“you are our professor”), she modestly departed, and at home she told us how uncomfortable it was for her. At the end of the first class, she was awarded " Commendation". Then the disease began to worsen, and she was forced to leave school. She studied at home or went with her mother to the teacher. School program did not suit her. She started her own library, which numbered about a thousand books, and re-read everything. Among her favorite authors are Cooper, Mine Reed, Stevenson, Mark Twain, Dumas, Hugo, Pushkin, Gogol ... every evening, after the "Time" program, they went to bed with their mother and read to "moths" in their eyes.
It was easy and pleasant to communicate with her. For all my short life she never hurt anyone. She was kind to everyone. We still feel her childlike hugs, the pleasant touch of warm cheeks, the weary little body on her shoulder...
Sashenka loved to draw to the music. There are about a hundred records in her music library: recordings of children's fairy tales, musicals, dramatizations, songs. She knew almost everything by heart. She 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 "...
Doctors advised her to avoid the 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 the outskirts of the city, parks or went to museums. Most of all she liked the Poltava local history. Even though I've been here many times, it's always been like a holiday. She liked little animals - hamsters and weasels. She only regretted that they were not alive and tried everything:
Did they die themselves or were they killed?
- Themselves, themselves, from old age.
- How from old age? Are they that tiny?
And they don't grow anymore.
“Then what kind of children were they?”
- But such, - showed her half a little finger.
- Oh, little ones! Oh my good ones!
She treated everything small and living with some kind of - not at all childish, rather maternal - tenderness, as if she felt his insecurity. At home, at her request, we got a dog, then we took a kitten to her company. Neighbors, knowing her love for animals, donated an aquarium with fish. We bought newts and turtles there, and Sasha could look at the underwater kingdom for hours. Then, one autumn, a barely alive albino parrot huddled on our balcony, and, of course, stayed with us ...
Usually in the morning, after breakfast, Sashenka would come up and say: "I want to draw. Give me some paper, please." She sat down at her separate table and calmed down, sometimes humming some melody under her breath. And after a while you look - he gets up, approaches from the side, hugs and quietly says: "Are you very busy? Look, please, what did I get?" And it was always a surprise. It is clear that there were works that were more successful and not quite, she herself saw this 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 precise, proportionately correct. And how did it happen? He draws, draws, then he makes a mistake somewhere and, crying, starts all over again, it happened three or four times. We have saved up to five hundred of her unfinished drawings: sometimes only eyes, sometimes a face, sometimes half a figure ...
Already now, when she left, many of those who looked at her drawings and compositions ask the same question: "Which of the artists did she like best? Who did she try to imitate?" We somehow did not notice that she imitated someone. It should not be forgotten that she is still a child, and the ways of expressing her feelings for the world around her did not need to be imitated yet.
And among the numerous books on fine arts, which were in our home library, she most often chose "Dürer's Drawings", "Dürer and His Epoch". These books are very richly illustrated, and she looked at them for a long time, resting after drawing. She liked Hans Holbein, but Albrecht Altdorfer especially struck her! She examined his "battle of Alexander the Great with Darius" with a magnifying glass in her hands, carried away by the unusual sky and epic clouds above the crowds of riders. And yet Dürer was her favorite artist. What she found in him remained her secret.
Sashenka did not like to draw. I drew everything from my head, from memory. Like someone seen on the street or in the cinema - sit down and draw. She has collected a whole series of portraits of "my mother's students" (my wife teaches at a music school). She also painted relatives, dressing them up in fabulous clothes, ennobling and rejuvenating. I drew my favorite animals: mice, dogs, cats, and also fish and birds, decorating them with wonderful ornaments, inventing unprecedented clothes, so that they, 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 are worn unusual names: Tsymzibutsya, Korobulka, Funya, Kovbasyuk ...
And she also made two books of poems, artistically decorating them with drawings and ornaments in accordance with all the rules of publishing houses: Sasha Putrya. Poems. Publishing house - "House native". Chief Editor- "Funtik". Lead Artist- "Little Accountant". The poet - "Turd in the cannon" (a nickname given to her as a joke by her sister, when Sasha's hair fell out from taking medication and a new fluff began to grow; Sasha obviously liked the nickname). and roommates from Sasha. "These verses are funny, like Sasha herself:
My dear Lera! -
Find me a millionaire
But to be young
And, like dad, with a beard.
To have a yacht
And in the villa there is such a mine,
Where would my bearded husband
Digging for gold with a shovel.
Also, say that I
Grow up loving him
And get married in the spring
Only you be friends with me!
Dozens of poems remained, 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, being already in the hospital, she painted her last work - "Self-Portrait". Children from her and neighboring chambers surrounded the bedside table, behind which she drew, and vied 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, 1989, she departed. Her last words were: Dad?.. Forgive me... For everything..."
Sashenka lived 11 years, 1 month and 21 days...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~
(c) Thanks for the collected material and the tip
The star girl Sasha Putrya (1977-1989) was born at a time when the Earth was not yet ready to take the child of Light into a tender embrace as an affectionate mother, but showed only the harsh grip of a harsh stepmother. But there must be first...
She was born in an intelligent family, her father is an artist, her mother is a musician. Growing up on fertile creative soil, the girl developed amazingly quickly, surprising both her parents and her artist friends. From the age of three, she already held a pencil and a brush well in her hands and drew without ceasing, often falling asleep, all stained with paints. “When I grow up big,” she said even then, “I will certainly become an artist and I will draw from morning to evening. Even at night".
“Somehow I ask:“ Dotsya, why are you drawing on the bottom of the chair? Is the paper out?
“Oh, how did you see! .. You know, you have to run to another room for paper, but I have no time!”
From a small bedroom two-room apartment father made an art workshop in which he set up two tables - for himself and Sashenka. Father and daughter worked each at their own table, never looking over each other's shoulders. In those cases when Sasha wanted to show her father finished work or she needed help, she quietly placed a note on his table: “Daddy, come!” Convinced that his daughter is a diamond that needs to be cut, the father made an attempt to teach her according to the academic program: sketches, still lifes, techniques, etc. - and ran into a delicate but firm rebuff. No more tests like this. “Do not interfere, do not harm” - this is the wise argument that the child brought. As an artist, Sasha was formed independently, guided by her own inclinations, the imagination of the inner, multifaceted and unique world.
“Daddy, have you ever had to draw when you don’t feel like it?
- Wow! How many more! And what?
- Why did you draw?
- Because it is necessary. Deadlines and all that... What's the matter?
- Wait, wait, so you forced yourself?
- It turns out, forced.
- Did it work out well?
- It depends. What are you leaning towards anyway?
“And when I don’t feel like it, I don’t draw ...”
She outlines her favorites, as if caressing them with a brush: funny chickens, kittens, puppies. The beautiful creations, born of the magical imagination of Sasha the artist, remained a quivering revelation of pure childlike trust and tenderness for “our little brothers”. The harmony of relations between people and nature is Sasha's commandment. “Puppy Bimochka”, “Cat-fisherman”, “Dog Nika and kitten Tishka in his castle”, “Animal Festival”. If people have holidays, then animals should have them too! Sasha thought. Princes, kings, knights, valiant and just, fill her albums, and in this community she, Sasha, is a princess in a crown, beautiful and kind. In the image of the sleeping princess, the features of Sashenka are easily guessed. “I’m still small, then it was a starry and dark night without a moon, and that’s why I have such big eyes,” said Sashenka. But it is not difficult for us to catch in these huge eyes, like on an icon, deep compassion and sadness for our Earth.
“In Kharkov, when my wife and I were still students and lived in an apartment, in 1963 our first child was born, a boy, they named him Yurochka. And a month later he died. Every year we go there from Poltava, take care of the grave, commemorate. Sashenka often asked about him, and we lovingly, remembering, described him, a swarthy, strong little man, calm and smiling. “Are there any photographs of him?” “No, daughter.”
In 1983, on his twentieth birthday, which we gathered to celebrate in the family circle, Sashenka, embarrassed, brought and showed us his portrait drawn with colored felt-tip pens: a baby with big blue-blue tearful eyes, and the inscription: “Yurochka, my dead brother” . We touched her and hugged her: “Thank you... Thank you, daughter... But why is he crying, little one?”
“So he’s in a foreign city. He's all alone there. He misses us..."
Suddenly, a serious illness burst into a happy, calm, measured life. Leukemia inexorably piled on, gradually taking away the girl's strength. But Sasha does not give up. Only now her consciousness has gone beyond the boundaries of earthly existence. God, galaxies, planets and constellations, aliens, UFOs - that's where the disturbed soul reached for salvation. These are the compositions of another Sasha, the one who wins the right to life day after day. The whole family, united by a common misfortune, courageously guarded every breath of the child.
Rumors are spreading about unusual drawings, and soon, one after another, two of her solo exhibitions took place, the first and last lifetime ones. Unexpectedly for everyone, India appeared in her drawings. Dozens of portraits of the actor from indian movie"Disco dancer", handsome Mithun Chakraborty, dancing God Shiva, Indira Gandhi, Indian boys and girls in love. Indian movie star Rekha, self-portrait in the form of a six-armed goddess... Father says that Sashenka liked to repeat: "Well, where did my four arms go?" Was she joking or serious? An interesting accident - on the second of December, on the day when Sasha Putria was born in Poltava, Orthodox Church the day of remembrance of St. Josaph, prince of India, is also celebrated.
At first, the parents did not give special significance daughter's passion for India, although they supported him. Together with her older sister and girlfriends, they kept her company on trips to Indian films. Seeing "Disco Dancer" with Mithun Chakraborty for the first time in leading role, Sasha fell madly in love with him and his homeland. She has watched this film more than ten times. Not only magazines devoted to India and records with songs from Indian films appeared in the house, but also serious literature about ancient art this country, its culture. The girl comprehended all this with enthusiasm.
The father recalls that nine-year-old Sasha somehow stunned them with the question: “Where did our elephant go?” Parents did not understand: “What are you, daughter, what kind of elephant? Where?" “Well, how do you not remember our elephant? - got excited girl. - I also rode it in such a beautiful basket. I was then small, and the elephant is big, real, and I was even a little scared that I was sitting so high. By the tone and persistence with which the daughter found out where they used to live, Evgeny Vasilyevich and Viktoria Leonidovna realized that this was not a cinematic fantasy. What then? What memory was included in the consciousness of the girl? From past life? The memory of the eternal soul?
“When our artists were working on a new exposition of the Museum of the History of the Battle of Poltava, the series “Youth of Peter” was shown on television. The young actor in the role of the king aroused universal admiration for his outward resemblance to the young Peter, the way everyone wanted to see him. An atmosphere of general elation reigned in the halls of the museum, the exhibits suddenly began to be perceived as living witnesses. With some kind of trepidation, we now examined Peter's old jackets, his turning tools, and the snuffbox he had carved with his own hands, and the plaster mask removed from his face during his lifetime. Everyone put their hands on the iron casting of the impression of the king's palm. And Sashenka and I tried it on. I still remember her splayed pink fingers lying on a black paw ... “Well, great-a-an!” I remember it now when I watched it last track"Sirius". Then she painted several portraits of Peter the Great, and next to her - herself, his bride. This is how she usually showed her love ... "
Mithun Chakraborty became Sasha's biggest love, she was preparing to marry him. She learned to wear a sari, comprehended complex art Indian make-up, sang Indian songs from records without mistakes, dedicated dozens of drawings and poems to her favorite actor. Being already seriously ill, with the help of her father, she composed a letter to the India magazine, which was ordered home at the request of her daughter. The letter in which she asked for the address of the idol remained unfinished ... Later last will daughters will be performed by their parents, and the editors of the magazine will allocate a color tab for the publication of the girl's drawings. By the way, on last portrait Sasha portrayed herself as an Indian.
The girl fought for her life for six years. Then she asked her parents to let her go: “I'm tired. Don't worry about me. Dying is not scary." On the eve of her departure, says Yevgeny Vasilyevich, Sasha asked her dad to put his hand on a white sheet, then circled it. Then she put her hand on top, circled her too. The finished drawing was found after Sasha's departure. Near the big Moon on the right is a star - this is Sirius, to which Sashenka wanted to fly ...
Yevgeny Vasilyevich showed us two photographs: one - 11-year-old Sashenka, taken shortly before her departure, and the second, taken from her by a photojournalist from the newspaper for a posthumous article. The second clearly showed the rays of light emanating from the photo
Works of eleven-year-old Sasha:
"Sirius" is Sasha's last composition.
Last self-portrait:
Works of ten-year-old Sasha:
Indira Gandhi:
Thomas Andres:
Works by nine-year-old Sasha:
Young Indians:
Proud Duchess:
Drawings of eight-year-old Sasha:
Breakfast in the family of the dog Ryzhka:
Scheherazade:
Works by seven-year-old Sasha:
Capricorn:
Pisces Brides:
dad and mom (cartoon)
Siren bird:
Works of six-year-old Sasha:
Cat in a turban:
Parrot:
Greek God of War:
Queen Cleopatra:
The work of five-year-old Sasha:
Curriculum vitae
Sasha Putrya lived on Earth for 11 years.
In 1983, she became ill with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
She left behind 2280 drawings and compositions.
Sasha Putria is known all over the world as a talented artist. From 1989 to 2005 she had 112 solo exhibitions in 10 countries. In Austria, with Sasha's drawing, a postal envelope and a stamp were issued, a series of her drawings was published, the proceeds from the sale of which were transferred to the purchase of disposable syringes for patients in the USSR.
Five documentaries were shot about Sasha, a documentary story "Sasha Putrya" was released. A memorial plaque was installed on the wall of the kindergarten where she was brought up, and the museum of Sasha Putri was opened. In Poltava, the Children's Art Gallery named after Sasha Putry has been opened; under the auspices of the Fund for the Protection and Support of Talented Children, children's drawing competitions are held in it; since 2005 these competitions have become international.
Awarded (posthumously):
Gold medal of Christ the Savior "For life, worthy of a man", 1998
Order of St. Nicholas the Pleasant "For the increase of goodness on earth", 2000
Antique icon in a silver setting "Christ the Almighty", 2001
All India National Prize children's association Nehru Bal Samiti - Kalasari Avard, 2001
Material taken from here.
Artist
Awarded the gold medal of Christ the Savior "For a life worthy of man" (1998, posthumously)
Awarded the Order of St. Nicholas the Pleasant "For the increase of goodness on earth" (2000, posthumously)
Awarded the national prize of the All India Children's Association Nehru Bal Samiti - Kalasari Avard (2001, posthumously)
"The dizziness of the talent of this amazingly talented girl is incommensurable with the sad fact of her death," - from the book of reviews of visitors to exhibitions of Sasha Putri's works.
Her father Evgeny Vasilievich 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. From the age of three, she held a pencil and a brush well in her hands. She painted without ceasing, often falling asleep, all stained with paints. “When I grow up big,” she said, “I will certainly become an artist and I will draw from morning to evening. Even at night".
Evgeny Vasilievich, in order not to send his daughter to kindergarten, took work home. From a small bedroom of a two-room apartment, he made an art workshop in which he set up two tables - for himself and his daughter. In it, father and daughter worked each at their own table, never looking over each other's shoulders. In those cases when Sasha wanted to show her father the finished work or she needed help, she quietly put a note on his table: “Daddy, come!”.
Mom and dad are hamsters.
“I see what needs to be done, but I can’t do it,” my daughter sometimes said to Evgeny Vasilyevich. He helped by advising how to complete the painting. “No, not that,” Sasha usually answered. And after a while, she found a solution herself. “I was literally stunned by one of Sasha's very first works, which, unfortunately, has not been preserved,” Evgeny Vasilyevich recalled. - Somehow we read the memoirs of Pushkin's friends at the Lyceum and found out that they called him Cricket among themselves. This made Sashenka laugh, and fifteen minutes later she drew the poet in the guise of a cricket. I was shocked. Such a resemblance! This is not taught in any institute.”
Yegeny Putrya also said: “Usually in the morning, after breakfast, Sashenka would come up and say: “I want to draw. Give me some paper, please." She sat down at her separate table and calmed down, sometimes humming some melody under her breath. And after a while you look - he gets up, approaches from the side, hugs and quietly says: “Are you very busy? Look, please, what did I get? And it was always a surprise. It is clear that there were works that were more successful and not quite, she herself saw this and suffered if she could not achieve the one perfection known to her. Sasha did not use an eraser for a long time, but when she got used to it, her drawings became more accurate, proportionately correct. And how did it happen? He draws, draws, then he makes a mistake somewhere and, crying, starts all over again, it happened three or four times. We have saved up to five hundred of her unfinished drawings: either only eyes, then a face, then 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 ran into a delicate but firm rebuff. As an artist, Sasha was formed independently, guided by her own inclinations, the imagination of the inner, multifaceted and unique world.
Good Snake Queen.
Yevgeny Putrya spoke about his daughter's childhood: “At school, Sashenka studied easily and naturally, immediately became the favorite of the class and teachers. When she was praised (“you are our professor”), she modestly walked away, and at home she told us how uncomfortable it was for her. At the end of the first class, she was awarded the “Commendation Diploma”. Then the disease began to worsen, and she was forced to leave school. She studied at home or went with her mother to the teacher. The school program did not suit her. She started her own library, which numbered about a thousand books, and re-read everything. Among her favorite authors are Cooper, Mine Reid, Stevenson, Mark Twain, Dumas, Hugo, Pushkin, Gogol ... every evening, after the Vremya program, they went to bed with their mother and read to the “moths” in their eyes. It was easy and pleasant to communicate with her. She has never offended anyone in her short life. She was kind to everyone. We still feel her childlike hugs, the pleasant touch of warm cheeks, the tired little body on her shoulder... Sashenka loved to draw to the music. There are about a hundred records in her music library: recordings of children's fairy tales, musicals, dramatizations, songs. She knew almost everything by heart. She 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 the Captain Vrungel".
Denis Davydov - hussar.
She often painted her pets - chickens, kittens and puppies. The drawings "Puppy Bimochka", "Cat-fisherman", "Dog Nika and kitten Tishka in his castle", "Animal Festival" became a quivering revelation of pure children's trust and tenderness.
Bimka with a rattle.
Artist kitty.
“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 herself represented herself in this company as a beautiful and kind princess. “I’m still small, 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 eyes, like on an icon, the audience caught deep compassion and sadness.
Indian.
One after the other, two of her solo exhibitions took place. Unexpectedly for everyone, Indian themes appeared in her drawings.
Portrait of Indira Gandhi.
Sasha painted dozens of portraits of Mithun Chakraborty - 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. Yevgeny Putrya said that Sasha liked to repeat: “Well, where did my four hands go”?
Indian youth with a jug.
At first, the parents did not attach much importance to their daughter's passion for India, although they supported him. Together with her older sister and girlfriends, 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 strongest love. She wore his portrait, set in a frame, on her chest, near her heart ... We cherished her love and quietly rejoiced in her happiness. So they buried her with a portrait of Mithun. In 1986, Sashenka watched the Indian film Disco Dancer. The picture produced such strong impression that all future life passed under the sign of interest in India, its culture, in particular to artists. She did not miss a single Indian film that was shown on the screens of the city, and she watched some that she especially liked several times. Naturally, the theme of her drawings also changed - portraits of actors appeared Indian cinema, dancers, princes, god Shiva, etc. We did not attach importance to such a change, if you like it, let him draw. But once Sasha said:
Mom, do you remember we had an elephant? Such a big one!
Elephant? We have? No, my daughter, I don't remember.
Well, how about it, mommy! Was! I remember well: I was still sitting on his back, in such a beautiful basket. Well, remember!
No, my daughter, it wasn't like that. You must have seen this in the movies.
Not in the cinema! I remember well! I was then small. 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 live elephant: there was no elephant at 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. “Sashuna could not be diagnosed for a long time,” Evgeny Vasilyevich recalled. - It used to be that she complained of weakness: either her arm would ache, or she could not stand on her legs. But after my daughter had a fever for four days and was screaming in pain in the hospital, and the doctors did not know what to do with her, in desperation I wrote a letter to the USSR Ministry of Health. Literally a day later, professor-hematologist Svetlana Kireeva flew to Poltava. And she pronounced a sentence on us: “The girl will live for a month or two. She has leukemia, 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 had become so weak. And before sending her home, I put her in a baby carriage and took her to the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. Before the relics of each saint, we were baptized, asking them for healing. Perhaps somewhere in heaven our prayers were heard, and our daughters were granted another six years of life. According to experts, it is almost impossible to live with leukemia for so long.” At that time, Sasha was only five years old.
Leukemia inexorably piled on, gradually taking away the girl's strength. Yevgeny Putrya said: “Doctors advised her to avoid the 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 the outskirts of the city, parks or went to museums. Most of all she liked the Poltava local history. Even though I've been here many times, it's always been like a holiday. She liked small animals - hamsters and weasels. She only regretted that they were not alive and tried everything:
Did they die or were they killed?
Themselves, themselves, from old age.
How about old age? Are they that tiny?
And they don't grow anymore.
Then what kind of children were they?
But such, - showed her half a little finger.
Oh, little ones! Oh my good ones!
She treated everything small and living with some absolutely not childish, rather maternal tenderness, as if she felt his insecurity. At home, at her request, we got a dog, then we took a kitten to her company. Neighbors, knowing her love for animals, donated an aquarium with fish. We bought newts and turtles there, and Sasha could look at the underwater kingdom for hours. Then, one autumn, a barely alive albino parrot huddled on our balcony, and, of course, stayed with us ... At the age of six, Sashenka “fell in love” with her cousin Vitya Brazhansky, a blond-haired blue-eyed boy. Since then, a whole series of “Vitenek” has appeared: either he is a hussar, or he is a groom, or they have a wedding with Sasha ... Soon, after the film about three musketeers, her favorite was D'Artagnan - Mikhail Boyarsky. And again - a whole series of drawings with an expensive artist. She even wrote him a letter, but for some reason she never sent it.”
The whole family, united by a common misfortune, courageously protected every breath of the child. Sasha didn't give up. Her consciousness of the artist went beyond the boundaries of earthly existence. Drawings appeared that depicted God, galaxies, planets and constellations, aliens and UFOs. Eugene Putria said: “She was fond of horoscopes, astrology and was especially interested in reports about UFOs. She firmly believed that our ancestors were flying in, and the day would come when she would meet them.”
Night eye.
In the drawings, Sasha fought for her right to life. Yevgeny Putrya said: “Sashenka began to draw from the age of three. Her hands and face were always smeared with felt-tip pens or watercolors. Our entire apartment, bathroom, kitchen, toilet, cabinet doors are painted to the height that she could reach with her hand. She generously gave her drawings to friends and relatives - on holidays and birthdays she congratulated her with postcards that she drew herself, she also wrote texts, often in verse. Drawing for Sasha was so natural - like sleep, like food, often replaced her friends, children's games, especially when the disease 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 then five years old. And the fact that she lived another six is a miracle. And at the heart of this miracle is an incredible, fantastic craving for drawing. She could sit behind felt-tip pens and paints for eight to ten hours a day. When her health worsened, and my mother went to the hospital with her, I used to come and ask:
How is Sasha? Draws?
Yes. Look how much you got!
This meant that health was improving. And if the wife silently shrugged, the state was disappointing. Everyone in the hospital knew and loved Sashenka: from the nanny to the head physician. They loved for the patience with which they endured painful procedures, for kindness, for a cheerful, cheerful disposition. In the ward where she was lying, children always gathered, laughter and fun were heard. The doctors, thanks to them, did not forbid such communication, and the hospital was not something terrible for the girl, although, of course, she did not experience 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 on warm autumn evenings on the balcony, she anxiously gazed at the flaming sunset clouds, which gradually merged with the dark sky, and sparks of stars flashed overhead, and the sky bloomed with a silvery flicker of constellations and galaxies ... We talked with her about the planets, about “flying saucers”, about God, about people ...”.
Sasha Putria fought for her life for six years. Whenever she went to the hospital, the girl took books and everything necessary for drawing with her. But every time it got harder and harder to get out. Shortly before her death, Sasha asked: “If I have an exacerbation again, I don’t need to be treated. Just do not be offended and do not cry - I'm already tired. I know that death is not terrible ... ".
Parents, as best they could, supported their daughter's interest in the world around them. In the intervals between procedures, the father put Sasha on a bicycle, and they rode stealthily to one corner of the historical Poltava, then to another. Later, seeing the positive results of such walks, doctors "legalized" them. Once, when they stopped near the ruins of the Pushkarevskaya Church, Sasha suggested to her father: "Let's save her." "But what can we do, daughter?" sighed the father. “And you write to the most important boss and ask him to help us.” Evgeny Vasilyevich did just that. I sketched with a felt-tip pen what was left of the church, wrote 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 it was already reported 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, Yevhen Putrya said: “When our artists were working on a new exposition of the Museum of the History of the Battle of Poltava, the series “Peter's Youth” was shown on television. In the halls of the museum, the exhibits suddenly began to be perceived as living witnesses. With some kind of trepidation, we were now examining Peter's old camisoles, and everyone put their hands on the iron casting of the imprint of the king's palm. And Sashenka and I tried it on. I still remember her splayed pink fingers lying on a black paw ... I remembered this now when I watched her last composition “Sirius”. Then she painted several portraits of Peter the Great, and next to her - herself, his bride. This is how she usually showed her love…”.
Alexandra Putrea 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 a white sheet, then circled it. Then she put her hand on top and circled it. The finished drawing was found after Sasha's departure. Near the big Moon on the right is a star - this is Sirius, to which Sashenka wanted to fly.
Last composition. "Sirius".
Eugene Putria said: “When she left, many of those who, after looking at her drawings and compositions, ask the same question: “Which of the artists did she like best? Who was she trying to imitate? We somehow did not notice that she imitated someone. It should not be forgotten that she is still a child, and the ways of expressing her feelings for the world around her did not need to be imitated yet. And among the numerous books on fine art that were in our home library, she most often chose "Dürer's Drawings", "Dürer and His Era". These books are very richly illustrated, and she looked at them for a long time, resting after drawing. She liked Hans Holbein, but Albrecht Altdorfer especially struck her! She examined his “battle of Alexander the Great with Darius” with a magnifying glass in her hands, carried away by the unusual sky and epic clouds above the crowds of riders. And yet Dürer was her favorite artist. What she found in him remained her secret. She liked the work of Vasnetsov, Bilibin, Narbut. I liked to look at the book ex-libris. And, of course, I often reviewed my library, children's books, many and tastefully illustrated.
Sashenka did not like to draw. I painted everything “from my head”, from memory. Like someone seen on the street or in the cinema - sit down and draw. She has collected a whole series of portraits of "my mother's students" (my wife teaches at a music school). She also painted relatives, dressing them up in fabulous clothes, ennobling and rejuvenating. I drew my favorite animals: mice, dogs, cats, and also fish and birds, decorating them with wonderful ornaments, inventing unprecedented clothes, so that they, 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 have unusual names: Tsymzibutsya, Korobulka, Funya, Kovbasyuk ...
And she also made two books of poems, artistically decorating them with drawings and ornaments in accordance with all the rules of publishing houses: Sasha Putrya. Poems. Publishing house - "House native". Editor-in-Chief - Funtik. The main artist is "Little Accountant". The poet is “Turd in the cannon” (a nickname given to her as a joke by her sister, when Sasha’s hair fell out from taking medication and a new fluff began to grow; Sasha obviously liked the nickname). And a dedication: "For memory and laughter to dear sister Lerochka and her friends and roommates from Sasha." These poems are funny, like Sasha herself:
My dear Lera! -
Find me a millionaire
But to be young
And, like dad, with a beard.
To have a yacht
And in the villa there is such a mine,
Where would my bearded husband
Digging for gold with a shovel.
Also, say that I
Grow up loving him
And get married in the spring
Only you be friends with me!
Dozens of poems remained, 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 painted her last work, Self-Portrait. Children from her and neighboring chambers surrounded the bedside table, behind which she drew, and vied 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 departed. Her last words were: "Dad?.. Forgive me... For everything..."
Sashenka lived 11 years, 1 month and 21 days.
May your name be blessed, my daughter!"
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 (the other in funeral home was not), relatives hung Sasha's drawings. For many, this was a revelation, a shock. Almost immediately after the funeral, parents were offered to open a personal exhibition of Sasha in Poltava art museum. Articles appeared about her in local and republican newspapers and magazines. Soon, thanks to Vitaliy 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 exhibition visitors,” said Evgeny Vasilyevich. - In 1993, we were invited to participate in the exhibition " Young geniuses Russia" in Donetsk. The works of the participants were placed in eight halls, and we were given the ninth, at the very end. Visitors ran through all eight halls, and in the last they were jam-packed. Because in the presented children's works one could feel coaching, fitting to the standards. And Sasha was free from all this.
Constellation Aquarius.
After some time, Sasha's works went to Novosibirsk. The organizers of the exhibition decided to combine her paintings and those of Nadya Rusheva. The father noted with pleasure that the work of his daughter was in no way inferior to the works of Nadia. But if for the perception of Rusheva's creativity it is necessary to be prepared, then Sasha Putri's creativity is understandable to everyone, even the smallest ones.
Doggy Alpha.
Sasha Putrya left behind 2280 drawings and compositions. In addition, she was made many portraits and caricatures in notebooks, book graphics, greeting cards, architectural, animalistic works. To some of them he composed beautiful poems. Sasha left behind a lot of coinage, pictures burned on wood, and works made of plasticine. She even made technical drawings, which, according to her plan, were supposed to help adults ... get the Moon and make asphalt pavement without cracks.
The Virgin Mary.
In 1994, director Nelya Danilenko filmed the "Documentary film" Sashenka ".
In 2004, director N. Burnos made a documentary film "Sasha Putria".
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Text prepared by Andrey Goncharov
Used materials:
Sasha (Alexandra Evgenievna) Putrya, a talented girl-artist from Poltava, was born on December 2, 1977. She began to draw very early - at the age of three she already held a pencil and a brush well in her hands. The whole apartment, bathroom, kitchen, cabinet doors were painted to the height where her hand reached. Bimochka the puppy, the fisherman cat, Nika the dog and many funny chickens, kittens and puppies looked from the walls with huge "living" eyes. Princes, kings, knights, valiant and just, filled her albums. “When I grow up big,” she said, “I will become an artist and I will draw from morning to evening. Even at night". And at the age of five, Sashenka suddenly fell ill. A terrible, serious illness took away all the strength. But the courageous girl did not give up. Day after day, she continued to draw, without ceasing to create her masterpieces, only now they were already different compositions ... In her short life, Sasha did as much as not every adult artist could do. Her " creative legacy"includes 2279 works - 46 albums with drawings, cartoons and poems, embossing, embroidery, plasticine crafts, Stuffed Toys, products made of beads and multi-colored pebbles, pictures burned on wood, and even technical drawings, which, in her opinion, were supposed to help people reach the moon and make asphalt pavement without cracks. For the restored Pushkarevskaya Church, she painted a small icon Mother of God. From 1989 to 2005 she had 112 solo exhibitions in 10 countries. In Austria, with Sasha's drawing, a postal envelope and a stamp were issued, a series of her drawings was published, the proceeds from the sale of which were transferred to the purchase of disposable syringes for patients in the USSR. Five documentaries were shot about Sasha, a documentary story was published. A memorial plaque was installed on the wall of the kindergarten where she was brought up, a museum dedicated to her memory was created. The Children's Art Gallery named after her was opened in Poltava. Here, under the auspices of the Fund for the Protection and Support of Talented Children, children's drawing competitions are held; since 2005 these competitions have become international.
Sasha Putria died on January 24, 1989 from leukemia. Everyone loved her and kindergarten both at school and in the hospital. Loved for kindness, sociability, for a cheerful, cheerful character. My last picture, "Self-portrait", Sashenka painted on January 22, two days before her death. The guys from the neighboring wards surrounded the bedside table where she worked, and vying with each other ordered drawings for themselves. "I'll draw, I'll draw! I'll draw everyone! the little artist smiled happily at them. She was eleven years old.
