«RUSSIA!» Exhibition

Supporting a large-scale art exhibition RUSSIA! opened in the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (New York, USA) on 16 September, 2005 became an integral part of humanitarian programs that the Vladimir Potanin Charity Fund and Interros company have been developing for years.

The exhibition opened in conjunction with the start of the 60th session of the United Nations’ General Assembly and was realized under the patronage of Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation.

The art show presented a comprehensive retrospective of Russian art ever sent abroad: from twelfth century icons to contemporary creative objects. Over

250 objects were selected for the exhibition. One of the main goals of the show was to demonstrate Russia’s contribution to the global art culture, outline the identity of spiritual and aesthetical pursuit in course of Russian art development.

Visitors were able to see most valuable icons, best samples of painting and sculpture from the 18th till the first half of the 19th century, best realistic paintings of the second half of the 19th century, masterpieces of late 19th – early 20th centuries, large-scale creations of socialistic realism, works of renowned masters of avant-garde, formulae of official and nonconformist art of 1960s-1990s, as well as contemporary installations.

Many of the artworks traveled abroad for the first time, including the revered The Savior Emmanuel icon (mid. XII c.), monumental icons from the Deesis Tier of the Kirillo-Belozersk Monastery (1497), masterworks by Andrey Rublev and Dionisii, as well as the only lifetime portrait of the famous Russian writer Fedor Dostoevsky, by Vasily Perov (1872).

Special attention at the exhibition was paid to a selection of works from renowned Western European art collections, which influenced Russian art. Those were ancient masters’ paintings acquired by Peter the Great, Catherine the Great and Nicolas I, as well as masterpieces from collections of Russian merchants Sergei Shchukin and Ivan Morozov.

The works were mostly on loan from Russia’ greatest museums – the State Hermitage Museum, the State Russian Museum, the State Tretyakov Gallery, the State Museum of History and the Kremlin Museum – as well as regional museums of Ivanovo, Saratov, Serpukhov, Krasnodar, Kostroma, Ryazan, Killillo-Belozersk Museum of History, Architecture and Art. Some works were on loan from the major museums of the USA.

The RUSSIA! exhibition was made possible by the close teamwork of Russian and American curators.

The show opening saw the publication of a specialized catalogue containing articles by James Billington, Valerie Hillings, Dmitry Sarabianov, Boris Groys, Mikhail Shwydkoi and other Russian and American scholars. The catalogue has become one of the most detailed and comprehensive publications on Russian art history ever published in English.

The Center for Education and Art at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum also developed special programs and workshops for students and tutors, presented while RUSSIA! was on view.

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