Graphic portraits from the collection of the Ostankino estate museum in Ryazan

KNITTING. Until April 12, the city art museum will host an exhibition of graphic portraits made by artists in the first half of the 19th century. Exhibition exhibits arrived in Ryazan from the capital’s Ostankino estate museum.

The exposition of the exhibition is not too large - it consists of 48 works, but so many works make it possible for art connoisseurs to get an idea of an era when the popularity of graphic portraits was extremely high.

At the opening of the exhibition, the representative of the Ostankino museum, Varvara Rakina, said that the fashion for graphic portraits arose in connection with their availability. Their cost was much less than bulky portraits painted in oil, and they took up little space, easily fitting into any interior.

The emerging demand for graphic portraits served the emergence of a huge number of masters whose specialty was watercolor painting, painted on various occasions. In many families, children’s portraits were ordered annually, and the receipt of awards was necessarily accompanied by the order of an elegant portrait.

The exhibition includes works by recognized Russian artists familiar to connoisseurs of the chamber portrait genre, including Vladimir Gau and Mikhail Terebenev, Alexey Strelkovsky and Nikolai Podpolnikov. Among the exhibits there are paintings by foreign artists whose works were commissioned by dignitaries. The exhibition is supplemented with household items from the museum collection

Watercolors of the last century are rare guests in the exhibition halls. They require too careful handling. Therefore, the opportunity to see the original graphic works of the 19th century in the Ryazan Museum is a rare success for the residents of the city.

Ludmila Trautmane © Gallerix.ru