"Alexander Altman. Romance of the suburbs. Russian landscape of the Paris School"

The Alexander Solzhenitsyn Museum of Russian Abroad in collaboration with the Vellum Gallery, with the support of the Russian State Library of Arts and the Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkin House) of the Russian Academy of Sciences, presents from March 3 to April 30, 2022 the exhibition “Alexander Altman. Suburban romance. Russian Landscape of the School of Paris. The exhibition is dedicated to the work of the original Russian artist, a bright successor to the traditions of impressionism, who lived almost his entire life in France - Alexander Altman.

The exposition includes 30 works painted by the artist of the "Russian Diaspora", a prominent representative of the "Paris School" in the 1910s-1930s. Works by Alexander Altman from the collection of Lyubov Agafonova (Vellum Gallery) and other private collections are exhibited for the first time.

The exhibition is designed to show what exactly for Altman, as well as for other artists who developed the traditions of impressionism, was the plein air, which they worshiped, and the work in the open air became a method of conveying the subtle states of the surrounding world, admiring the changeable weather depending on the time of year. On the canvases presented by the master are landscapes of all seasons. First of all, the suburbs of Paris, the places where French plein airism was born, full of harmony, poetic lightness. In them, a crystal winter morning or the sparkling heat of a July afternoon near the walls of the medieval town hall of a small town Altman conveys with his palette, confirming the words of the French writer and Renaissance philosopher Montaigne: “If you lived a year and saw the change of times - winter, spring, summer, autumn, then you’ve seen everything!"

The style of his painting was formed under the influence of impressionism, as one of the main artistic movements at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries. Calling Altman a typical French artist, he is just as rightly referred to as the “Russian Impressionists”.

The curator of the exhibition, the founder of the Vellum Gallery, Lyubov Agafonova: “Alexander Altman can be considered a full-fledged creator of the Russian Silver Age, regarded as an artist of the same symbolist tradition. He is close to Russian Art Nouveau, the Blue Rose circle, a participant in the salons of Vladimir Izdebsky, where Altman’s works were exhibited along with the works of Leon Bakst, Natalia Goncharova and Fyodor Gausha. Our exhibition is a return to the general public of the artist, whose work is so loved by collectors today.”

The artistic range of Altman’s works will be supplemented by a collection of original postcards from the turn of the 19th-20th centuries. from the collection of the Russian State Library of Arts, with images of picturesque places in France, so beloved by the Impressionists. The exhibition will also feature unique photographs of the artist himself from the collections of the Pushkin House Literary Museum. A catalog will be published for the exhibition.

Opening hours of the Museum of Russian Diaspora: Tue, Wed, Fri, Sun. : 11.00 – 19.00; Th., Sat. : 11.00 - 21.00, Mon - day off. Sanitary hours: 16:00 - 17:00. The visit is only possible with a QR code.