Ars Sacra nova. From myth to symbol. Russian history and evangelical motifs in the works of modern artists of Russia and Russian abroad, 1900-1940s

House of Russian Abroad named after. A. Solzhenitsyn presents from April 25 to September 15, 2024 the exhibition project “Ars Sacra nova. From myth to symbol. Russian history and evangelical motifs in the works of modern artists in Russia and the Russian diaspora, 1900-1940s.”

The exhibition is part of a multi-part series within the framework of the project “Changing the World. The influence of Russian cultural figures at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries. on the world artistic process." Works created in the first half of the twentieth century in Russia and emigration will be presented.

Exhibition artists: Lev Bakst, Ivan Bilibin, Leonid Brailovsky, Apollinary and Victor Vasnetsov, Alexandra Konovalova, Pavel Korin, Claudius Lebedev, Mikhail Nesterov, Nikolai Roerich, Boris Smirnov-Rusetsky, Andrey Ryabushkin, Dmitry Stelletsky, Vasily Chekrygin, Alexey Shchusev and others.

The turn of the 19th and 20th centuries - a time of change and impending disasters - was the most fruitful in artistic culture. New associations - arguing and competing with each other - from symbolism to Suprematism - took turns taking the leading role.

As art critic Lyubov Agafonova writes: “The intense philosophical and moral quest of these years was reflected in art. The search for the supermundane, that heavenly, which a person cannot influence, but always expects help from there, the idealization of historical figures of the past, the search for an ideal existence that does not exist in everyday life - all this is reflected in art, in the work of artists. The answer to the spiritual quest was seen, among other things, in a return to the original folk, religious and moral origins.”

The concept of the project tightly connects literature, painting, history and geography of Russia. Historical figures and saints, real historical events or those that have become myths, inspired artists. Outstanding cultural and artistic figures devoted their creative quests to these events. Today’s viewer can observe the interpretation of glorious history through the prism of the perception of painters, graphic artists and sculptors representing the cultural heritage of Russian history and culture.

Despite the rather strict canonicity of a number of subjects, artists always managed to find their own style in the compositions of their works.

The exhibition will feature rare works by Viktor Vasnetsov, the founder of the “neo-Russian style”, transformed from the historical genre and romantic tendencies associated with folklore and symbolism, which became the main conductor from the era of the Wanderers to the Art Nouveau style; his younger brother Apollinary Vasnetsov; a rare original sketch for the great painting by Pavel Korin “Alexander Nevsky”; historical works by the master of “poeticized realism” Mikhail Nesterov (as he himself called his style); Ivan Bilibin’s first experiments in the field of monumental temple painting; works by Claudius Lebedev, a recognized master of the historical genre, who repeatedly addresses the theme of the Time of Troubles.

The multi-genre exhibition, relevant for lovers of Russian history and culture, and for the entire Russian society, will include exhibits and archival documents from the collections of the House of Russian Abroad, the Russian National Museum of Music, the Vellum Gallery, as well as a number of large private collections.

The exhibition is part of the parallel program of the concert research project “Musica Sacra Nova” of the Moscow State Academic Philharmonic and the Nikolai Karetnikov Foundation. The theme of this season: “From modernity to the first avant-garde.” The focus is on the period in the history of Russian art, where for the first time the emergence of a “new sacredness” is traced. The project studies the work of several generations of Russian composers, artists and writers of the 20th century, from the perspective of new religious art. The final concert of the cycle this season will take place on June 27 at the Concert Hall. P.I. Tchaikovsky. Over the three years of cooperation, within the framework of which Lyubov Agafonova makes exhibitions together with concerts of the Karetnikov Foundation, these events have become an important event in the cultural life of Moscow.

The project was prepared with the support of the Heritage Foundation of Russian Abroad, the Russian National Museum of Music, the Vellum Gallery, the Nikolai Karetnikov Foundation, the Museum of Priest Pavel Florensky and information support from the Orpheus radio station.

Museum opening hours:

Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday: 11:00–19:00; Thursday, Saturday: 11:00–21:00. Monday is a day off. Tickets can be purchased at the box office or on the museum website https://www.domrz.ru/