About the exhibition "Under the Sign of Expressionism. The Choice of Gerwarth Walden"

Kristina Krasnyanskaya: “The exhibition“ The Choice of Gerwarth Walden ”will present the works of world famous artists - Wassily Kandinsky, Vladimir Yavlensky, Franz Marc, Georges Braque, Oskar Kokoschka and others. Gerwarth Walden is a curator, gallery owner and collector, one of the main popularizers of the latest artistic trends of the early twentieth century. The look and example of Gerwarth Walden has not lost its relevance to this day. "

The chief curator of the Jewish Museum Danila Bulatov said that Gerwarth Walden can rightfully be considered the father of modernism: find individual items from his collection, settled in different collections throughout Europe, to reconstruct the world to which Walden was dedicated. "

In addition, Danila Bulatov emphasized that the exhibition “Under the Sign of Expressionism. The choice of Gerwarth Walden ”will open this name not only to the Russian public, but also to the international audience: foreign experts are involved in the work on the project, and its very context will allow the Jewish Museum to declare itself abroad as an authoritative research institution.

The organizer of international exhibitions, co-curator of the project Zinaida Bonami also spoke about Walden’s ability to subtly capture the signals of the future, thanks to which he was able to act as a curator of new art: “Walden chose wide exhibition activities as his main strategy, which was an innovation for that time. He preferred the so-called group exhibitions, skillfully combining in one space the works of masters belonging to different artistic groups and trends. Thus, the identity of Expressionism - as an international movement - was formed by him from a combination of various "isms": Cubism, Futurism, Symbolism, Fauvism and others. "

Zinaida Bonami also noted that Gerwarth Walden’s connection with Russia will be a separate important topic of the project. He had a genuine interest in Russian culture and Russian artists, whom he attributed to the founders of modernism. The last years of his life he was destined to live in the USSR, where he died tragically in October 1941 after his arrest. However, even before emigration, he opened for the Western public the work of Wassily Kandinsky, Marc Chagall, Mikhail Larionov, Alexander Archipenko, Natalia Goncharova, Marianna Verevkina, Alexandra Exter and other masters from Russia.

Natalya Poppel, Advisor to the CEO for Sustainable Development at Severstal, emphasized the ongoing revision of values and its impact on society in a pandemic: “People need to have access to culture - this is an important part of the demand for improving the quality of life, the achievement of which is actively supported” Severstal ”. The exhibition in the Jewish Museum will allow combining a large number of meanings: preservation of cultural heritage, appeal to the memory of prominent people, the importance of curatorial work and exhibition activities. The global focus of the exhibition about Herwart Walden will support the reputation of Russia and once again draw the attention of the world community to the huge role of the Russian avant-garde in the history of world art. Severstal works with partners from 70 countries of the world, participates in the international agenda,contributing to the building of business and cultural international relations. We are confident that the project of the Jewish Museum will become a serious event in the cultural life both in Russia and in the international format. "

Kristina Krasnyanskaya, in turn, emphasized the important role of business in organizing exhibitions: today, not a single large-scale international exhibition museum project involving the bringing of art objects from the collections of foreign museums can be carried out without sponsorship and partner support. Separately, Kristina Krasnyanskaya noted the contribution of Severstal to extensive scientific and creative research within the framework of the upcoming exhibition.