In the New Tretyakov Gallery opened an exhibition of Yuri Cooper “Sfumato”

Its first visitors were Nikita Mikhalkov, Vladimir Medinsky, Metropolitan Tikhon (Shevkunov), Lolita, Zurab Tsereteli

The Tretyakov Gallery on Krymsky Val opened an exhibition of Yuri Cooper “Sfumato”, previously presented in Florence in 2020. On it you can see about a hundred works by the artist of different years, but mostly they were made in recent years. The first visitors to the exhibition were Nikita and Tatyana Mikhalkov, Vladimir Medinsky, Metropolitan Tikhon (Shevkunov), Boris Lyubimov, Lolita, Zurab Tsereteli.

“Sfumato” in Italian means “soft”, “vague”, and in this case – also the effect of softening the outlines of objects to recreate the light and air environment. The exhibition presents paintings, drawings, theatrical sketches, theatrical models, video installations. Among them are models for Mussorgsky’s opera “Boris Godunov” staged by Alexander Sokurov at the Bolshoi Theatre, the “Brushes” series, ceramic bowls, works made on wood, plywood, and canvas. Presented is the folio “Swan Lake” of the rare book publishing house of 2014, which is decorated with lithographs by Cooper, his author’s coloring, facsimile of Tchaikovsky’s handwritten score. Irises and herbs became the leitmotif of the exhibition, and therefore Lolita, who visited the exhibition, presented the master with a bouquet of irises.

Tatyana Mikhalkova arrived in advance and was waiting for the opening of the exhibition together with Boris Lyubimov, the rector of the Higher Theater School. Shchepkin and the father of the Minister of Culture Olga Lyubimova. Nikita Mikhalkov appeared after official speeches were made, Yuri Kuper and Zurab Tsereteli spoke. They are connected with Yuri Leonidovich by close cooperation at the Academy of Cinematographic and Theater Arts, established by Mikhalkov. The artist gives master classes there, and will soon present the renovated interiors of the building, which until recently housed the Film Actor Theater. Among the first visitors to the exhibition was the film director Alexander Orlov, the same age as Cooper, who made the films A Hero of Our Time, The Secret of Edwin Drood, and The Woman Who Sings. When the guests began to disperse, Metropolitan Tikhon (Shevkunov) arrived, communicating mainly with Nikita Mikhalkov. And more than an hour after the official ceremony, Vladimir Medinsky arrived.