The facade of the neighboring house No. 7 stands out from the general street development. It was built in 1913–1914 in the Art Nouveau style according to Kirikov’s attribution or in neoclassical style according to other architectural historians, by civil engineer Vladimir Nikolaevich Smirnov for the merchant Mikhailov. The building’s monumental appearance is given by rusticated walls, granite portals, and large pilaster orders. The facade is clad with natural stone (red gneiss granite and gray granite). At the height of the second to fourth floors, the facade is decorated with seven pilasters. At the top, the pilasters end with belt half-sculptures of atlantes. The entrances are decorated with blocks of red granite, above which are bas-reliefs on antique themes. At the very top of the entrance roofs sit owls or eagle-owls. The sculptural decoration was done by Rachin.

Smirnov, a graduate of the Institute of Civil Engineers in 1908, lived in this same house. Until 1917, there was a fashionable store called “Modern.”

From April 1915 to 1927, artist and academician of painting Kustodiev lived in apartment 50 on the fourth floor of the house.

He was one of the few Russian artists who painted a commissioned self-portrait for the Uffizi Museum (Florence). Kustodiev was at the origins of Soviet children’s books and book graphics. He was one of the first masters of the Soviet poster. The artist gained fame very early thanks to his participation in creating the painting “Meeting of the State Council” and the portrait of Bilibin.

The artist’s studio, with two large windows facing the street opposite the square of the Vvedenskaya Church, was where he created works such as “Beauty,” “Stenka Razin,” “Merchant’s Wife at Tea,” and cycles like “Maslenitsa,” “Merchant’s Wives,” and “Russian Types” (23 watercolors are kept in the Brodsky apartment-museum).

The painting “February 27, 1917,” located in the Tretyakov Gallery, was painted under the impression of a scene he saw from the studio window. On that day, the people disarmed machine guns and pulled the city policeman off the church... During the 12 years he lived in this house, the artist completed about 250 paintings and graphic works, and about 150 works related to book graphics. He also created a large number of sketches for theatrical productions.

He was seriously ill for the last eighteen years of his life. In 1916, he lost the ability to move independently. But confined to a chair, he still went out into the city by car provided by the city authorities. He had his own car, which was assembled from separate parts by the artist’s brother, engineer-technologist M.M. Kustodiev (who lived in this same house from 1922).

Many famous artists visited Kustodiev’s apartment, such as Vereysky, Dobuzhinsky, Bilibin, Yaremich, and Somov. It was Somov and Kustodiev who recognized the talent of the young Dmitry Shostakovich. Kustodiev made a well-known pencil portrait of the musician.

Shishkov and Alexei Tolstoy, who read excerpts from “Peter the First,” also visited Kustodiev. Maximilian Voloshin read his poem about the protodeacon Avvakum. The great art lover academician Pavlov also visited Kustodiev’s apartment.

Young physicist scientists Pyotr Kapitsa and Nikolai Semenov visited Kustodiev. A striking double portrait of the scientists, conveying their characters, serves as a reminder of this. Kustodiev had a strong friendship with Shalyapin, who posed for the artist. Shalyapin’s daughters also posed for Kustodiev.

Kustodiev’s apartment was an artistic center where artists’ meetings were held, the best works of exhibition participants were selected for display abroad. Gorky, architect and sculptor Zolotarevsky (his portrait is in the Russian Museum), A.N. Benois, Ostroumova-Lebedeva, Brodsky, and Vereysky attended these meetings. Kustodiev died on May 26, 1927, from pneumonia. In 1959, a memorial plaque was installed on the building’s facade in memory of Kustodiev.

Above Kustodiev, on the fifth floor, lived the family doctor, honored scientist, Professor Bublichenko, an obstetrician-gynecologist who made a significant contribution to the organization of maternity care in our country. Kustodiev painted the professor with his son, mining engineer Nikolai.

On the sixth floor lived actress Galina Aderaks, who served as the model for Kustodiev’s painting “Merchant’s Wife at Tea,” kept in the Russian Museum.

Sources:

https://www.citywalls.ru/house1138.html