The Academy of Arts showed rarities from the collections of famous Russians

Realism rhymes with the avant-garde

For the sake of this project, the President of the Russian Academy of Arts, Zurab Tsereteli, cleared several halls of his works in the Art Gallery named after him at the Academy of Arts on Prechistenka. The exposition of the exhibition “From Realism to the Avant-Garde” included more than 170 rarities from the collections of famous doctors Mark Kurtser, David Ioseliani and Mikhail Alshibay, as well as the rector of VGIK Vladimir Malyshev. On the walls there are works of famous and little-known artists side by side, forming unexpected rhymes between works that are completely abstract and completely realistic.

Four collections occupied three halls. Very different in style and genre, things hang on the walls in dense rows. At first glance, it seems that there are incompatible things mixed in here. There is realism, impressionism, expressionism, futurism, cubism, abstract art, and conceptualism. But if you look closely, unexpected and interesting rhymes are formed.

An abstraction with the inscription “Tine swerve” (“Deviation of a tooth”) by contemporary artist Dmitry Gutov is adjacent to the subject painting “Scene with a Mask” by Soviet painter Zurab Nizharadze. Conceptual work and expressive painting are related by the emphasis on orange. But here is a playful work by another contemporary artist Boris Matrosov – with multi-colored trees, more like conventional signs, near a gray strip of highway – next to the canvas of the classic Valery Yurlov, who recently celebrated his 90th anniversary with a retrospective at the Tretyakov Gallery. Yurlov’s painting “Spain” depicts rectangles and lines, between which there is an oval with red circles, vaguely reminiscent of a clock. Authors from different generations balance on the brink of figurative and abstract, connecting the viewer’s subconscious to the search for associations and emotions in the geometry of images. Both artists focus on yellow. And here is a series of comparisons in dark green shades: next to it is a clear still life by Igor Obrosov, an abstraction by Igor Vulokh, a painting by Vladimir Nemukhin, where columns grow out of a gloomy swamp, and a landscape by Robert Falk. By the way, Falk is from the collection of cardiac surgeon Mikhail Alshibay, who told MK that he bought it from the daughter of Yuri Freidin, friend and executor of Nadezhda Mandelstam. The poet’s widow received the drawing from the author, who, after returning from Europe to the USSR, worked as a table worker for many years. Each work here has its own incredible story.

— We first wanted to divide the works into genres – portraits in one room, landscapes in another. Then they thought of dividing the collections among the four owners. But in the end they decided to follow the path of unexpected comparisons and parallels. Surprisingly, realism and abstraction coexist perfectly in the exhibition, forming thin threads between each other,” one of the curators of the exhibition, Alexandra Tratsevskaya-Smyk, who was responsible for the exhibition on the part of collectors, explained to MK.

The second curator (from the academy), Elena Tsereteli, recalled that the exhibition, although it was done quickly, did not arise spontaneously. 13 years ago, within the walls of the Academy of Arts, physician-collectors Mark Kurtser, David Ioseliani and Mikhail Alshibaya showed their collections at the exhibition “The Art of Healing and Collecting Art.” Now another enthusiastic collector has joined them – Vladimir Malyshev.

“My passion for art began when I married an artist,” says David Ioseliani. – Here, willy-nilly, you will begin to delve into it. Later we separated, but the passion for art remained. I have been collecting my collection since the early 1970s, for more than half a century. Each artist has gone through his own huge search path. Each work here is a revelation, each one is dear to me. But I believe that collectors should definitely show their collections, because it makes people kinder. Instead of killing each other or writing complaints, it is better to go to exhibitions, trying to comprehend the diversity of the world through creative search.

By the way, at the exhibition you can find a portrait of young David Ioseliani, painted by USSR State Prize laureate Viktor Goryaev in 1973. This is one of the first portraits – then the cardiologist had already begun to enter art and get acquainted with artists. Next to this portrait is the work of Nikas Safronov (he was present at the opening). The works are adjacent to a female image painted by the legendary artist Lev Bakst in 1893.

Published in the newspaper “Moskovsky Komsomolets” No. 29128 dated October 4, 2023

Newspaper headline:
Realism rhymes with the avant-garde