Nadezhda Sergeevna Khaustova-Izmalko, a member of the Union of Artists of Russia, was born on September 30, 1989 in one of the most beautiful places in the North Caucasus, the village of Kamennomostsky in the Adygea Autonomous Region of the Krasnodar Territory, now the Republic of Adygea.

She studied fine arts at the Children’s Art School, then at the Institute of Arts of the Adygea State University of the city of Maikop.

At the university, her mentor was Elena Viktorovna Abakumova, an Honored Artist of the Republic of Adygea. The young artist’s career began with teaching fine arts at a secondary school and then at an art school in the city of Maikop.

Working at the National Museum of the Republic of Adygea, and then at the North Caucasus branch of the State Museum of Oriental Art, she got acquainted with masters of various types of art and their work.

In 2021, she joined the Union of Artists of Russia and moved to Krasnodar, where she joined the antique business as art director of Trading Dutch House LLC.

Today, along with creative and antique activities, he teaches painting to children and adults, most often at the PRO Iskusstvo art school, created with the participation of Honored Artist of Russia Sergey Dmitrievich Vorzhev. Visiting the best museums in Russia, France, Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Georgia, the United Arab Emirates and other countries allowed the artist to perceive the art of great masters of the present and the past, and traveling to the most beautiful places of the Caucasus, Karelia, the Golden Ring of Russia – to soak up nature, architectural and other sights included in her paintings.

Nadezhda belongs to the generation of contemporary artists from the South of Russia who came to art in the 2010s. Her points of support are the classical traditions of Russian and Soviet painting of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, as well as her love for her native land. She defined her aesthetic credo as comprehending and communicating the beauty of our world to art lovers. Her still lifes, landscapes, portraits, genre compositions, as a rule, are dedicated to native places, close and familiar people.

In her early works, the artist depicted flowers and native nature with pleasure and great desire, and also created sublime and romantic images of her contemporaries, carriers of the multinational culture of the peoples of the North Caucasus – mostly girls.

Her modern portraits are filled with social meaning, such as portraits of the President of Russia V.V.Putin, the heads of the regions of the Krasnodar Territory V.I.Kondratiev and the Republic of Adygea M.K.Kumpilov, entrepreneurs S.N.Galitsky and A.M.Kolesnikov, heads of organizations – Chairman of the KKO VTOO «SHR» A.N.Burtasenkov and the General Director of LLC «Uspensky Agro-Industrial Union» by A.G.Maltsev, People’s Artist of Russia V.S.Savelyeva, fashion designer Honored Worker of Culture of the Republic of Adygea Y.M.Stash, journalist Irina Bors, Hero of the Soviet Union G.P.Khaustov and others.

The contemplative principle is present in the artist’s self-portraits, through which she examines her psychology, character, and facial features, for example, in the painting «SANTALA Flowers.» The genre works reflect ethnographic subjects that she is familiar with, representing rural life, such as «Harvesting», «Old Pears», «Alarmed». The still lifes are mainly devoted to flowers, elements of everyday life and interior, the most significant of which are: «Inspiration», «Still Life with a cat», «Kuban still life», «Visiting grandma».

But the main love of the artist is landscape (sketch and landscape painting). She paints the foothills, the sea, mountain rivers, lakes, clearings and meadows of the Caucasus, for example, «The Gorge of the Belaya River», «Window to the world», «The Road to Khadjoh», «The Game of Heaven», «Roots», «Root», «Reflection». Urban motifs are represented in her following paintings: «F.A.Kovalenko Museum», «House on the Backwater», «Stan Restaurant», «Sunny Day», «Elephant Square». A special place is occupied by the following paintings from this series, namely: «The City and the government», «After the concert».

Some of the artist’s works are more contemplative, decorative, others are genre and thematic (outdoor recreation, scenes in the countryside, city, pets and birds, harvesting, and others), and others are social. In all her works, the artist experiments with composition and color, forming her own unique style. As a rule, these are realistic works in which the influence of impressionism is felt.

Nadezhda Sergeevna lives and works in Krasnodar, but her main workshop is located in her parents’ house in the village of Kamennomostsky. Khadjoh (the historical name of this village) is for her a place of strength, inspiration and creative freedom, where she goes to the open air almost every week in any weather. Following the classical tradition, the artist begins her work on location, and then finishes it in the studio. Kamennomostsky village is like Abramtsevo for Polenov, Arles for Van Gogh for Nadezhda.

Unfortunately, recently «wild» tourists have been destroying this truly sacred place. So N.S.Khaustova’s work is not only an aesthetic and cultural phenomenon, but also a way to preserve the memory of the beauty of the wonderful places of her small homeland, as well as a means to draw people’s attention to the problems and the future of their native land. Realizing her mission, the artist tries to truthfully, but naturally, in her own way, depict the surrounding natural world, to capture the landscape, flora and fauna, and reservoirs as they are today. She addresses her paintings to all people who are not indifferent to culture, including future generations.

Nadezhda works hard and productively. She has participated and is taking part in various international, regional and other exhibitions in Krasnodar, Rostov-on-Don, Maykop, Moscow (participant of the exhibition of Kuban artists in the Federation Council), which have been awarded various awards. Three of her solo exhibitions have been held in art galleries in Krasnodar. In November 2024, her next exhibition was held at the SANTAL Art Gallery (headed by N.A.Strizhova), where more than fifty works were presented under the motto «Peace to our home.»

The artist’s paintings are present in museums and private collections in Russia and abroad.

Information about N.S.Khaustova’s works and exhibition activities is available on numerous Internet sites, in print and on television.

Art critic, member of AIS Tatiana Sokolinskaya