Exhibition of one painting "Vereya. Street"

On the occasion of the 130th anniversary of the birth of Alexander Osmerkin (1892 - 1953), the Kaluga Museum of Fine Arts (Lenin St., 104, main exposition) opened an exhibition of one painting “Vereya. The outside".

The name of the author of this work is not widely known, although he actually left noticeable traces in the history of Russian art, mainly of the Soviet period.

Alexander Alexandrovich Osmerkin was born in 1892 in the city of Elisavetgrad, Kherson province (now Kirovograd, Ukraine) into a family of peasant land surveyors. He was already attracted to art during his studies at the Elisavetgrad Real School in 1902-1910: he drew, was fond of theater, and participated in amateur performances. He tried to get his primary art education in St. Petersburg. In the autumn of 1913, he arrived in Moscow, where he visited the painting and drawing studio of I. I. Mashkov and even participated in the Jack of Diamonds exhibition. Then he met G. B. Yakulov and “met with Burliuk, Tatlin, Grishchenko, Larionov. Goncharova, but he remained faithful to the "Bubnovalets", as he later recalled.

Political changes in the country predetermined the further fate of the artist. In the winter of 1917, he took part in the Moscow exhibition of the World of Art, which he considered a major victory and recognition from the most demanding artists. In October-November 1918, he supervised the design of the propaganda train, and on the first anniversary of the revolution, he completed a panel on the building of the former Opera House of S.I. Zimin. Participated in various exhibitions.

During this period, the mature style of the artist is taking shape, in which elements of cubism are combined with a pronounced Cezanne palette. Museums acquire his works. In the autumn of 1918, he began teaching: at the invitation of P. P. Konchalovsky, he took the position of an assistant in the workshop of A. A. Morgunov, and in the summer of 1919 he became a professor. In Pyatigorsk he designs performances.

The creative activity of A. A. Osmerkin is also manifested in the fact that he, together with Foregger and V. V. Kamensky, organized the Moscow Booth Theater. Together with other members of the society, he became a member of the renewed "World of Art", participated in two of its exhibitions and, in his words, "was cured of the disease of leftism." From the late 1920s, he began to paint realistic landscapes, portraits and still lifes, as well as commissioned paintings on revolutionary themes, participated in numerous exhibitions, and continued teaching. He died in 1953 in the village of Pleskovo, Moscow Region.

The canvas of the artist “Vereya. Street" in the collection of the Kaluga Museum of Fine Arts is a remarkable work in terms of reflecting the creative position of the author, who subtly perceives the poetic corners of the Moscow region. At the same time, this is a documentation of a Russian provincial town, its appearance in the pre-war period.

The exhibition will run until 29 April.