RIGA.- The exhibition Golden Classics of Russian Art. 19th Century from the collections of the
Latvian National Museum of Art is on view at the Art Museum Riga Bourse in Riga (Doma laukums 6) from 4 August to 29 October 2017.
The exhibition continues the cycle of exhibitions of Russian art started in 2012. Each exhibition is dedicated to a particular period with the aim of comprehensively presenting the sizeable collection of Russian art of the Latvian National Museum of Art (LNMA). This time the focus is on the 19th century.
The concept is based on the wish to introduce the viewers to the best works of the masters of the time, the development of artistic movements and thematic variety over the course of a century. Altogether the exhibition shows 285 works of art – paintings, graphics and sculptures, complemented by objects of decorative art – wares of porcelain, lacquered glass and silver. At the centre of the exposition are paintings, which for decades were part of the permanent display of the LNMA. In addition to familiar works of art, the visitors of the Art Museum RIGA BOURSE will have the opportunity to get to know previously unseen examples of graphic art, sculpture and painting of the 19th century.
Taking into consideration the contents of the museum’s collection, the main stylistic accents are on the romanticist currents of the first half of the century and the manifestations of Realism in the second half of the century. Therefore, the concept is based on the chronological principle and divided in two parts – Under the Sign of Romanticism and The Era of Realism. The heyday of Romanticism in Russia is related to the names of Orest Kiprensky (Орест Кипренский), Karl Bryullov (Карл Брюллов), Sylvester Shchedrin (Сильвестр Щедрин), Aleksander Orlovsky (Александр Орловский), Ivan Aivazovsky (Иван Айвазовский).
Realist currents are best expressed in the section dedicated to genre painting of the late 19th century. At its centre are the works of members of the Association of Travelling Art Exhibits – Ivan Kramskoi (Иван Крамской), Vladimir Makovsky (Владимир Маковский), Vasily Surikov (Василий Суриков).
Meanwhile the ideological opponent of realist ideas – Academicism – is represented by large-format paintings, diploma works of graduates of St. Petersburg Academy of Art – Alexander Popov’s (Александр Попов) Christ and the Sinful Woman (1879), Georg Urlaub’s (Георг Урлауб, Johann-Georg-Christian Urlaub) Raising of Jairus’ Daughter (1871).
The national landscape is represented by views of nature by Alexei Savrasov (Алексей Саврасов), Ilya Ostroukhov (Илья Остроухов), Isaac Levitan (Исаак Левитан), Ivan Shishkin (Иван Шишкин), and other masters. The portrait gallery shows canvases by Vasily Perov (Василий Перов), Ilya Repin (Илья Репин), Pavel Svedomsky (Павел Сведомский), Henryk Siemiradzki (Генрих Семирадский), among others.
Beside paintings, the exhibition includes etchings, lithographs and drawings by masters of graphic art Georg Wilhelm Timm (Василий Фёдорович / Георг Вильгельм Тимм), Nikolai Utkin (Николай Уткин), Pyotr Sokolov (Пётр Соколов), as well as sculptures and bas-reliefs by Pyotr Klodt (Пётр Клодт), Mark Antokolsky (Марк Антокольский), Fyodor Tolstoy (Фёдор Толстой). The exhibition is complemented by wares of famous Russian porcelain, glass and lacquer factories from the collection of the Latvian National Museum of Art.
