Plein—air session: Tsereteli's unfinished project exhibition opened in Moscow

The Russian Academy of Arts presented an exhibition in memory of Zurab Tsereteli. The idea of the project belongs to the sculptor himself. The curators had been collecting the exhibition for three years all over the country, but after Tsereteli's death they reformatted the idea. The Russian Ark mobile exhibition project includes more than a hundred paintings, graphics, sculptures, and decorative art by three dozen authors of different generations and Tsereteli himself. After the RAX, the exhibition can go to Donetsk. Izvestia attended the opening.

What is the Russian Ark exhibition?

The Russian Academy of Arts and the Regional Branch of the Russian Academy of Arts in the Yaroslavl region presented the mobile exhibition project "Russian Ark" to the audience. It is dedicated to the memory of the President of the Republic of Armenia Zurab Tsereteli, who died this year on April 22.

The vernissage brought together the authors of the works and art fans. There are more than a hundred paintings made in various techniques and genres, from famous and novice authors. Plein—air painting is a classic of fine art, the foundation of the Russian art school.

For three years, the organizers and curators gathered artists from different cities for open-air performances in "places of power." They went to the Pskov Caves Monastery with the blessing of Metropolitan Tikhon (Shevkunov), then the governor of the monastery. The painters carried out their work in Rostov under the guidance of Archimandrite Sylvester (Lukashenko), the confessor of the Saviour-Yakovlevsky Dimitriev Monastery.

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The curators of the Russian Ark project say that they have focused on the spiritual and historical outposts of Russia, as they consider the maintenance of traditional values to be their main task. It was necessary to look for interesting works in the countryside, full of light. The kind where artists see the beauty of nature and people in the mundane.

Even in the crooked village huts from Andrei Zakharov's painting "The Pomor village of Sum Posad" there is something warm and familiar. As in the image of the horse in the painting "Frosty Sun" by the same author. And how beautiful are the cows driven to drink by a shepherd boy in Yvette Lokhmatova's painting "Summer", New Jerusalem in October in a painting by Vasily Khudyakov, "The Gate" in a thicket of yellowed trees by Valery Teplov, in the original ancient warriors by Dasha Namdakov. Or here is the "New Year's Carousel" against the background of St. Basil's Cathedral by Irina Mitrikova. These are not attempts to copy or reproduce nature, but the desire to create your own image, to write a poem in colors.

Besides paintings, sculptures are also on display. Among them are busts of Russian patriarchs and saints, made by the People's Artist of Russia, Academician Salavat Shcherbakov.

Before the opening day at the Academy of Arts in Moscow, the exhibition had already been appreciated in Rostov Veliky, Cheboksary, Pskov, Yaroslavl. But it was greatly expanded to the Moscow version, and many new paintings were added.

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For the first time, about a hundred works by Malevich's colleague were presented to the public.

"It is planned to move it to new Russian territories, negotiations are underway with the blessing of Metropolitan Vladimir of Donetsk and Mariupol, with the participation of our colleagues in the region," Tatyana Kochemasova, Zurab Tsereteli's widow and an academician of the Russian Academy of Arts, told Izvestia. — The exhibition is dedicated to Zurab Konstantinovich. He was a man who inspired and supported the idea of plein-airs in the famous spiritual monasteries of Russia. The gene of Russian art is laid here — the focus of spiritual power and natural beauty.

Kochemasova noted that the exhibition is held free of charge. According to Andrei Zakharov, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the exhibition may move to Donetsk in the fall. Metropolitan Vladimir will provide a hall for her organization, located in the basement of the Transfiguration Cathedral. In the old days, they wanted to set up a registry office there, Zakharov noted.

Archimandrite Sylvester was among the guests of the exhibition. He recently published a new collection of poetry, Truth and Love. The book's cover features the work of Zurab Tsereteli. It is an honor for a poet, says Father Sylvester.

"This is a diptych, on the cover is an image of the Virgin Mary from a sculptural triptych by Zurab Tsereteli," the Archimandrite told Izvestia. — I wrote a poem for almost every plein-air painting. Look at the paintings, what light there is, what love for the Motherland! Russia does not end there. These places from the canvases are not corrupted by civilization, and most importantly— by lies. It distorts a person's soul, once it starts. This exhibition is definitely worth visiting to see our true values — truth, conscience and love.

The curators note that the presence of the works of Zurab Tsereteli himself in the exhibition halls is especially valuable and important for them.

— Since Zurab Konstantinovich had been ill lately, he could not take part in the plein air, but he warmly supported the artists, — said Tatiana Kochemasova. — He is definitely with us now. His images on biblical themes are on display. In one of the halls you can see the sketches for the enamels of their series "Biblical stories".

The exhibition is open from July 16 to August 31 at the Museum and Exhibition Complex of the Russian Academy of Arts at the Zurab Tsereteli Gallery of Art on Prechistenka.