On 7 April, Tartu Art Museum will open the exhibition From Aivazovsky to Kabakov. Eastern Neighbours in the Collections of Tartmus in its project room. All the exhibited artists have worked for a significant time in the territory of Russia. This project accompanies the exhibition Inconvenient Questions. Contemporary Art from Russia that is currently open in the ground floor galleries.
Among the well-known artists represented in the Tartmus’ collection are authors who worked actively in the Russian Empire, who saw the revolutionary changes in the beginning of the 20th century, as well as those who were part of building the Soviet art world and those who are international stars of conceptual art.
The exhibition includes works by the following artists: Ivan Aivazovsky, Aleksandr Deineka, Natalia Goncharova, Mikhail Larionov, Elizaveta Kruglikova, Ilya Kabakov, Kukryniksy, Vladimir Makovsky, Vera Mukhina, Dmitri Prigov, Valentin Serov, Ivan Shishkin, Vasily Tropinin etc.
Although Tartu Art Museum has never had a pre-defined plan or a goal to create a comprehensive collection of Russian art, a number of works from our Eastern neighbours arrived into the collection in various ways. First pieces of Russian art, including graphic prints and watercolours by Mikhail Larionov and Natalia Goncharova, were given as gifts to the young museum by the friends of Pallas art school. In the beginning of the 1940s, some of the works were brought after being rescued from abandoned apartments or from the basements of burned down buildings. Later Russian art was distributed by the Soviet Union Purchasing Committee. Works by the masters of contemporary art like Ilya Kabakov and Dmitri Prigov arrived to the museum through purchases from the legendary Tartu art collector Matti Milius.
The exhibition is open until May 21.
Curator: Julia Polujanenkova
Exhibition team: Nele Ambos, Rael Artel, Karl Feigenbaum, Joanna Hoffmann, Mare Joonsalu, Margus Joonsalu, Hanna-Liis Kont, Heiti Kulmar, Kristjan Nagla, Kadri Mägi, Kristel Sibul, Peeter Talvistu, Piia Õunpuu.
We thank Tiiu Talvistu and Polven Foods OÜ
More information:
Julia Polujanenkova
Keeper of the contemporary art collection
588 17807
julia@tartmus.ee
