A unique exhibition of the State Russian Museum has opened at the ZILART Museum

On September 4, the unique exhibition "The Russian Museum in ZILART, Masterpieces of art of the second half of the twentieth century. A gift from Peter and Irene Ludwig." Alexey Fursin, Minister of the Moscow Government and Head of the Moscow Department of Culture, took part in the opening of the exhibition.

"The opening of the exhibition of masterpieces of Russian art of the second half of the twentieth century is part of Moscow's large—scale work to develop inter-museum cooperation with leading exhibition halls and foundations in Russia and the world. Last year, for the first time in its history, the Russian Museum brought more than 100 masterpieces from its collection to our city, and this year we also plan to open several major, including international projects dedicated to unique works of art and rare exhibits from Russian and foreign collections. The exhibition that opened today is just a vivid example of such a project and a wonderful gift for Muscovites on City Day," commented Alexey Fursin.

The exhibition features more than 100 works of art from the collection of the State Russian Museum. They cover many artistic trends: American pop art and hyperrealism, German neo-expressionism and GDR painting, Cuban and Latin American schools, Moscow conceptualism and figurativism. Among the authors whose works the audience will see at the exhibition are Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Anselm Kiefer, Marcus Lupertz, Werner Tubke, Ilya Kabakov, Eric Bulatov and many others.

The exhibition is curated by Alexander Borovsky, Head of the Department of the Latest Trends at the State Russian Museum and Art consultant at the ZILART Museum. The architect of the exhibition is Eric Belousov.

The exposition is not based on chronology or national schools. The audience is invited to see the art of the second half of the twentieth century. as a space of constant dialogue, where different artistic trends do not exist in isolation, but overlap with each other. This is how collectors and patrons Peter and Irene Ludwig perceived modern art when they assembled their collection: they were not interested in individual styles, but in the overall picture of the artistic process.

The exhibition route is divided into several thematic blocks. Each of them is dedicated to one of the key artistic strategies of the second half of the twentieth century, but together they form a single narrative about how the language of art, ideas about the artist and ways of talking about the modern world have changed. Among them are:

Pop art artists of this trend turned to images of mass culture, advertising and everyday objects, combining the mass and elite and turning familiar things into material for a conversation about art itself and consumer society.;

• Hyperrealism – explores the possibilities of the image, bringing pictorial accuracy to photographic authenticity, the central place here is occupied by the works of Ralph Goings "Unadilla's Diner" and Robert Bechtle "Date Palms";

• Neo–Expressionism - refers to free and spontaneous painting, sharp color contrasts and expressive deformation of form;

• Abstraction – instead of depicting the visible world, artists work with color, line, spot, plane, and volume.

The exhibition will introduce the audience to the phenomenon of collecting, which has gone beyond private collecting and has become an important part of cultural preservation. Direct, live contact with the works selected by experienced collectors promises a special emotional response. This is a rare opportunity to see art in its true diversity and feel the special connection between the epochs and the destinies of people.