The
controversy that raged on and on was over the issue that many of the works
to be displayed are still subject to legal claims by families who believe
that these priceless works of art were stolen from their forebears by
Lenin after the revolution.
"Dryad"
Pablo Picasso 1908
State Hermitage Museum,
St. Petersburg
The
disputed works include pieces by Matisse, Van Gogh and Picasso. The
Russian authorities threatened to cancel the show, fearing that these
claims might prevent the works’ return to Russia.
And
the go ahead was only obtained on January 9th when the British Government
amended the law by offering a ‘letter of comfort’ as reassurance to
the Russians that everything on loan would be safely returned.
Finally
the show which has received so much publicity (not all of it favourable),
opened at The Royal Academy in January and will run until the 18th of
April 2008.
Drawn
from Russia’s principal collections of the State Pushkin and State
Tretyakov Museums in Moscow and The State Hermitage and the Russian Museum
of St Petersburg, it augured well for the viewer, since many of these
paintings are being shown for the first time ever in the United
Kingdom.
And
one was not disappointed as it deftly explores the links between French
and Russian art from 1870 -1925, a period that witnessed profound social
and political upheavals and was notable for the fascinating exchange
that existed between the French and Russians artists of the time.
It
turns out to be a veritable feast of beauty and superb execution that
greets the eye as one spans the main directions of modern art from Realism
and Impressionism to Abstraction, displaying some of the greatest works by
Cezanne, Renoir, Van Gogh, Gauguin and Matisse alongside those of Chagall
Kandinsky, and Malevitch.
"Her
Name Is Vairaumati"
Gauguin 1892
State Pushkin Museum, Moscow
"Portrait
of Dr. Felix Rey"
Vincent van Gogh 1889
State Pushkin Museum, Moscow
What
is of particular note in this exhibition is that while Russian artists
were undeniably influenced by their French counterparts in Paris at this
time, this was mainly achieved through the insights and daring of two
famous art collectors Shchukin and Morosov.
They
scoured Paris for paintings by the impressionists and post impressionists,
with Shchukin becoming Matisse’s greatest patron and commissioning the
Dance II, easily the most spectacular painting in the exhibition.
"Leo
Tolstoy Barefoot "
Ilya Repin 1901
State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg
However,
once influenced Russian artists now experienced a wave of unprecedented
creativity and vitality and the last section of this exhibition shows
how they became the leaders of the avant-garde.
Their
flowering is demonstrated in the many works on display which include
Kandinsky, Chagall, and Malevich, and a remarkable group of women
artists including Olga Resanova, Popova and Alexander Exter.
"Portrait
of Sergei Diaghilev
with his Nanny"
Lacon Bakst 1906
State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg
Leon
Bakst in his portrait of Sergei Diaghilev with His Nanny, pays homage to
the this famous theatrical impresario, best known as the founder of the
Ballets Russes, but who was at the forefront of the world of Art movement,
playing a vital role not only in ballet and opera, but in presenting
modern French art in Russia and taking Russian art to the West. I found
this painting compelling in every aspect.
"The
Black Square"
Kazmir Malevich 1923
State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg
Malevich’s
celebrated Black Square of 1915 creates its own unique impact as one gazes
in frank disbelief at this stark, blank canvas which has been revered for
decades and which undoubtedly has an effect if one looks at it long
enough.
Critics
believe that it represents the artist’s quest for pure painting and
invest it with a special Russian spiritual dimension.
This
is undeniably a blockbuster exhibition and should not be missed.
Special
thanks to the Royal Academy in London
©
Astrid Michelow 2008
