"Two Fates" - illustrations by Mikhail Shemyakin to the songs of Vladimir Vysotsky in the Kaluga Museum

KALUGA. The City Museum of Fine Arts gave the inhabitants of Kaluga an acquaintance with the work of Mikhail Shemyakin, a famous artist gifted with numerous talents. The museum presents the exhibition “Two Fates” to fans of the works of Mikhail Shemyakin and his friend, poet Vladimir Vysotsky.

Her exposition consists of illustrations created by Mikhail Shemyakin for poems and songs, authored by Vladimir Vysotsky. With the help of this exhibition, the artist acquaints all museum visitors with the result of the work to which he devoted many years of life. The artist himself calls his work an artistic and graphic monument dedicated not only to Vysotsky, but also to his work.

The series of illustrations consists of forty-two sheets. Their number is not random - it corresponds to the number of years allotted to the poet on his earthly life. Shemyakin distributed illustrations on topics relevant to the themes of Vysotsky’s songs. These mini-cycles were named “The Great Patriotic War”, “Fate”, “Hunting for Wolves”, “Alcohol”, “Psychiatric Hospital”, “Evil Flowers”, “Russia” and “Civil War”.

The artist supplemented the illustrations with his comments, allowing visitors to the exhibition to immerse themselves in the content of long conversations between Shemyakin and Vysotsky during the poet’s visits to Paris. Vysotsky did not often succeed in being in Paris, and communication with the "French demons", who circled his friends in the French capital, also took a lot of time. However, the impressions of communicating with a friend left a noticeable mark in the creative heritage of the poet.

The exhibition is complemented by photographs of 1976, made by French photographer Patrick Bernard at Shemyakin in the studio. All materials of the exhibition, open until the end of February, belong to the Mikhail Shemyakin Foundation.

Ludmila Trautmane © Gallerix.ru