The Moscow legacy of Alexei Shchusev – Moskovskaya Pravda

The Tretyakov Gallery opened a magnificent exhibition dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the birth of the outstanding architect Alexei Viktorovich Shchusev (1873-1949 – “ALEKSEY SHCHUSEV. Architect, artist, director.”

The great architect was not only the creator of large architectural structures in Moscow, but also, which is especially important for the Tretyakov Gallery, a brilliant draftsman whose architectural working sketches and sketches are of the highest quality and have independent artistic value. According to his teacher I. E. Repin, Shchusev was one of the best draftsmen of the era.

The exposition opens a kind of “exhibition marathon” dedicated to the anniversary date. And this project is an attempt to look at the figure of an outstanding architect from a new perspective: the central theme of the exhibition was the Museum, the creation of which was the goal and meaning that determined the course of Shchusev’s thoughts throughout his life. The exhibition was made possible thanks to the large acquisitions of Shchusev’s drawings in recent years. Specialists the galleries selected for their own funds about 200 graphic sheets, relating mainly to the construction of the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent, which at one time was a branch of the restoration workshops of the Tretyakov Gallery, and the Kazan Station, in the building of which the architect planned to organize a museum dedicated to the construction of this building.

Alexey Shchusev was deeply involved in museum design, was the ideologist and author of the concept. He was the director, and then the chief architect of the Tretyakov Gallery (1926-1929), and the first hall of the exhibition is dedicated to this period of his work, where his significant contribution to its development is shown firsthand. The materials presented at the exhibition make it possible to assess the scale of the plans of the “Architector” Shchusev, the degree of his involvement in the life of the museum, the quality and courage of the expositions carried out under his leadership, the accuracy of his urban planning foresight. On the basis of documents from Shchusev’s personal file and design drawings from the Manuscripts Department, an unusual set of materials was formed related to Shchusev’s activities as director and architect of the Tretyakov Gallery. Sketches, drawings and other working materials for the most significant creations of Shchusev in the field of temple and civil architecture in Moscow – the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent and the Kazan Station – more than 130 works of graphics and 150 photographs are presented. In addition, the works of A. Benois, E. Lansere, M. Dobuzhinsky, B. Kustodiev, Z. Serebryakova, P. Kuznetsov, who created them for the future museum at the Kazansky railway station. The dream of the master, unfortunately, did not come true. But the handsome station has become a wonderful building, famous throughout the world, an outstanding work of art by Alexei Shchusev, donated to Moscow.

Irina Shvedova.

Photo of the author.