"Freedom" in the word: Eric Bulatov's iconic works shown in Moscow

An exhibition of Eric Bulatov, one of the key artists of the second half of the 20th century and one of the founders of social art, has opened in Moscow. The exhibition at ROSIZO is dedicated to the memory of the master, who passed away at the end of 2025. It shows the different stages of his creative path and reveals the artistic method — from working with color and space to the interaction of words and images. For more information, see the Izvestia article.

Fifty masterpieces

For several decades, Eric Bulatov was considered one of the most expensive contemporary artists in Russia. For example, his work "Glory of the CPSU", where the screaming red letters cover the serene cloudy sky, was sold in 2008 for $ 2.1 million.

Today, the master's legacy is preserved in museums and private collections around the world. A significant part of it is located in France, where the artist lived in recent years and where he died at the age of 92.

The creators of the exhibition "Eric Bulatov. Selected pages" in "ROSIZO" focused on those of his works that are in Russia. In total, the exhibition contained about fifty works. They were collected thanks to the combined efforts of state institutions, cooperation with foundations and collectors.

— There are not many paintings by Bulatov in Russian museum collections, despite his great heritage. The Tretyakov Gallery, the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts and the ROSIZO Museum provided works for the exhibition," says curator Alina Koren.

Erik Bulatov's wife Natalia Godzina also helped with the organization. She went all the way with the curators: from the idea and concept to the selection of works and their placement in the gallery. Among them are "Russian XX century", "This and that", "Earth and sky", "View of Moscow from Madrid", "Autumn. Sevastopol Boulevard", "Wanderer", "American dream".

Special attention is paid to two canvases that occupy central positions at the exhibition. This is the Louvre. La Gioconda", where Mona Lisa's smile can be seen behind the crowd of tourists in front of Leonardo's masterpiece, and "Painting and the Audience", the plot of which already refers to the Tretyakov Gallery — it shows gallery visitors in front of Alexander Ivanov's painting "The Appearance of Christ to the People".

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I've lived and seen

The exhibition is based on artistic principles that were formulated by Eric Bulatov himself in articles, books, and interviews. His works occupied ten halls. Each has its own theme, and visitors are literally invited to explore the pages of his work.: at the entrance, they give out materials with quotes from the artist, which creates a complete impression.

The verbal and visual elements in Eric Bulatov's works are connected with the work of the poet and his like-minded colleague Vsevolod Nekrasov. Therefore, a poetic installation was installed in one of the halls. Poems are displayed on the screen, next door is the result of the artist's work with the word.

For example, the landmark work by Eric Bulatov "I live and I see" (a white inscription on a blue sky), which is also presented at the exhibition, has a gloomy color in Nekrasov: "I already feel fat. I don't want to, though, and I'm not looking for it. I live and see." But for the artist, the text is not a literal narrative, but rather an image.

— Eric Bulatov was inspired by his friend's poems, — explains Alina Koren. — He took words and phrases from Vsevolod Nekrasov's poetry, reinterpreted them and used them in paintings and graphic works.

This is also a clear example of Bulatov's understanding of color. White is a source of light, energy, and life. Blue is the space, freedom that the artist aspired to. Red is aggression. Black is the depth.

Eric Bulatov's work was closely connected not only with the word, but also with literature. The exposition also tells about this. In this area, his path crossed with the artist, another of his friends Oleg Vasiliev. They became friends at the Surikov Institute, and later they worked together at the Detgiz publishing house, where they designed dozens of books.

A separate thematic block of the exhibition is dedicated to children's books. They are all recognizable. There are also "Fairy Tales" by Charles Perrault, which presented the image of Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Puss in Boots. And also — "Three Little Pigs", "Little Red Riding Hood", "Wild Swans".

The exhibition opens to the general public on April 1 and will run until June 14.