1 2 3 4
"Kalmakov-Amphitrite.jpg" ... "Kalmakov-Leda_and_the_Swan-1917.jpg"

But the story continues. When the young man removed his clothes and dived into the pool, the lovestruck naiad seized him and clutched him to her in a loving embrace. The youth tried to escape, but the more he struggled against her, the more she clung to him. In fear of losing him forever, the naiad called aloud 'May the Gods so ordain that we never be separated in future time, neither you from me nor me from you.' And, as Ovid tells, "the Gods accepted her prayer. For their two bodies were joined together as they entwined, and in appearance they were made one." Henceforth, he was called Hermaphroditus, for he bore the features both man and woman. (Ovid, Metamorphoses, Bk IV, trans. by Mary M. Innes, Penguin 1955, p 102 - 104.) This painting symbolizes Kalmakoff's final attempt to render an image of himself as masculine and feminine - desiring for them both to be one and united within his own person. Was this utter madness on his part? Pride, vanity, narcisism? The labyrinth takes another strange turn.
В первые годы эмиграции, а Н.К. Калмаков был все-таки сыном царского генерала, кипучая деятельность художника не прерывалась. Он устраивал свои персональные выставки во многих странах Европы. Особого энтузиазма у любителей они не вызывали, постепенно угасал интерес и к вновь создаваемым работам художника. К концу жизни Н.К. Калмаков переживал далеко не лучшие времена. Скромный крест возвышается над холмиком земли недалеко от Парижа. Здесь лежит русский художник Николай Константинович Калмаков, умерший, забытый всеми, в доме для престарелых в возрасте 82 лет. Его могила чудом сохранилась.