7 October 2015
First 20th Century Russian Art Exhibition in the Middle East
Art Russe Fund, a partner of the Russian Chess Federation, opened exposition on October 6.
The exhibition was launched yesterday with a private view at the Emirates Palace. His Excellency Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al-Nahayan, Minister of Culture, Youth and Community Development has cut the ribbon, launching the exhibition in the presence of Alexander Efimov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the United Arab Emirates, and members of other diplomatic missions. Among the guests of honour were also FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and renowned architect Jean Nouvel, the designer of the Louvre Abu Dhabi. Over 300 guests have gathered to see the show.
This unique exhibition is being held under the Patronage of His Excellency Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al-Nahayan, Minister of Culture, Youth and Community Development and will be open until 10 December 2015. It will include over 120 works, created in different genres and reflecting several distinctive styles of Russian art that have developed over the past century.
Rena Lavery, Director of Art Russe, said: “By hosting the exhibitions like that, we want to make the great Russian art more accessible and familiar to the multicultural audience of this leading country in the region”. She noted that the interest in Russian art is growing. “We can judge that by the audience of our exhibitions around the world. Our goal is to further popularise Russia’s artistic culture and increase the number of its connoisseurs by organising and supporting the exhibitions, publishing books, and building museum collections abroad.”
Many artworks presented in Abu-Dhabi became iconic for Russians, but until recently were not displayed outside of Russia. In particular, the audience will see the legendary sculptures by Evgeni Vuchetich and Vera Mukhina, the celebrated paintings such as Fedor Reshetnikov’s “Low Marks Again”, “Chess Problem”, and Nicholas Roerich’s “And We Do Not Fear”. On display are the works by artists that represent the best of Russia’s art school, such as Alexander Gerasimov, Alexei Gritsai, Nickolai Andronov, Semeon Chuykov, Nickolai Baskakov, Arkady Plastov, Tahir Salahov, Vladimir Stozharov, the Tkachev brothers, and many others.
The exhibition is organised by Art Russe, which aims to popularise Russian art and bring it back to the global cultural context. Art Russe previously participated in the organisation of and provided support to exhibitions of the Russian-American artist Nicolai Feshin in Frye Art Museum in Seattle and the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow; an exhibition of Mikhail Nesterov in the Tretyakov Gallery (timed to the 150th anniversary of the artist); a major international retrospective of works of the outstanding Soviet artist of the sixties Victor Popkov in Moscow, Venice, and London.
To commemorate the first exhibition of XXth century Russian Art in the United Arab Emirates, Art Russe has produced a bespoke stamp sheet. The sheet is independently produced and published by London-based Unicorn Press Ltd. The customised stamp sheet is an individual landscape sheet of paintings from Art Russe’s exhibition in Abu Dhabi: Art Russe Collection of 20th Century Russian and Soviet Art: War and Peace, alongside 20 First Class UK stamps. The paintings include some of the most recognised images of the XXth century Russian art. The total limited issue will consist of 300 individually numbered sheets.
About Art Russe
Art Russe Fund, a partner of the Russian Chess Federation (RCF), implements educational projects to support and promote Russian art of the twentieth century. Cooperation between Art Russe and RCF aims to develop programs to facilitate creation of new mechanisms to popularize the game of chess and unite cultural and intellectual aspects of the life of society. Art Russe was established in 2012 with the aim to help global audiences to better understand Soviet and Russian art and its contribution to world culture. The fund specializes in collecting 1917-1991 Russian social realism art and implementing educational projects to support and promote Russian art internationally. The fund aims to increase popularity of the genre through exhibitions, lending artworks to museums and galleries across the world, and publication of books and catalogs dedicated to the most significant artists and their work.
