The exhibition continues the cycle of exhibitions of Russian art started in 2012. Each exposition 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. 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.
The visual material consists of works of painting, graphic art and sculpture, complemented by objects of decorative art – wares of porcelain, lacquered glass and silver. Altogether the exhibition shows 150 works of art. 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 viewers will have the opportunity to get to know previously unseen examples of graphic art, sculpture and painting.
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, Karl Bryullov, Sylvester Shchedrin, Aleksander Orlovsky, Ivan Aivazovsky.
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, Vladimir Makovsky, Vasily Surikov.
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 Christ and the Sinful Woman (1879), Georg Urlaub’s Raising of Jairus’ Daughter (1871).
The national landscape is represented by views of nature by Alexei Savrasov, Ilya Ostroukhov, Isaac Levitan and Ivan Shishkin and other masters.
The portrait gallery shows portraits by Vasily Perov, Ilya Repin, Konstantin Makovsky , Henryk Siemiradzki and other authors.
Beside paintings, the exhibition includes etchings, lithographs and drawings by masters of graphic art Wilhelm Georg Timm, Nikolai Utkin, Pyotr Sokolov, as well as sculptures by Pyotr Klodt, Mark Antokolsky, Fyodor Tolstoy.
The exhibition will be complemented by wares of famous Russian porcelain, glass and lacquer factories from the collection of the LNMA.
CURATOR OF THE EXHIBITION:
Ksenija Rudzīte
WORKING GROUP:
Baiba Uburģe, Valentīna Opolā, Alma Ziemele, Kristīne Milere, Laura Okdaldere, Vita Birzaka
CONSERVATORS:
Nataļja Kurganova, Una Kastanovska, Dita Murziņa, Inta Tiltiņa, Anita Skadmane, Guna Kreislere, Kaspars Burvis, Liene Visendorfa
EXHIBITION DESIGN: Anatolijs Šandurovs