Exhibition "A Priceless Gift. Classics and Contemporaries of the Irkutsk School of Painting and Graphics"

April 5 at 16.00 in the Gallery of Siberian Art (st. Karl Marx, 23) will open the exhibition "Priceless Gift. Classics and contemporaries of the Irkutsk school of painting and graphics. ” The exposition is part of the long-term project “Owner’s collections in the museum’s collection” and is dedicated to two anniversaries: the 170th anniversary of Vladimir Sukachev and the 125th anniversary of Baikal State University. The BSU collection from the collection of the Irkutsk Art Museum will be shown for the first time to Irkutsk citizens and guests of the city.

Irkutsk has long been famous for its traditions of philanthropy and charity. The richest collection of Vladimir Sukachev in the early twentieth century served as the basis for the creation of the Irkutsk Art Museum. During this time, the museum collection has repeatedly grown due to the gifts of renowned collectors. Among the most famous of them can be noted Valerian Velichko, Felix Vishnevsky and others. The museum keeps a memory of these wonderful people and for several years intends to show their heritage in the framework of the new project “Owner’s collections in the museum’s collection”. This project will be opened by the exhibition “Priceless Gift. Classics and Contemporaries of the Irkutsk School of Painting and Graphics ”- 70 works donated to the museum by the Baikal State University.

The exhibition presents works by prominent Irkutsk artists of the 2nd half of the 20th - beginning of the 21st, whose names are familiar to almost every lover and connoisseur of fine art. Realistic landscapes of Vladimir Tetenkin, Vladimir Lapin, Victor Mironenko, Pavel Avenarius, chamber portraits of Pyotr Turchaninov, allegories-symbols of Boris Desyatkin, Valery Moshkin, Igor Shirshkov, Lyudmila Statnykh and Gennady Kuzmin constitute a picturesque block of the exposition. The graphics are represented by a series of watercolor sheets by Alexander Sheltunov, etchings and drawings by Alexander Shipitsin dedicated to Irkutsk. Special attention deserves a series of paintings and graphic works by Vitaly Smagin, devoted to the philosophical understanding of the history and culture of the indigenous peoples of the Baikal region.

The exhibition will open on April 5 at 16.00 in the Gallery of Siberian Art (K. Marx St., 23) and will run until April 26. Entrance to the opening is free.