"Exhibition of one painting". Watercolor work of Sergei Alexandrovich Vasilchikov "Overseas guests at customs"

Since March 10, within the framework of the project "Exhibition of one painting" in the Kaluga Museum of Fine Arts (Lenin st., 104, main exposition), a watercolor work by Sergei Alexandrovich Vasilchikov "Overseas guests at customs" has been presented. The exhibition is timed to coincide with the significant date of the 1600th anniversary of the founding of the city of Venice.

Sergey Alexandrovich Vasilchikov (1926-2016) - Russian writer and artist. Was born in Tomsk. Graduated from the philological faculty of the Kuibyshev Pedagogical Institute. He worked in Kaluga and the Kaluga region as a teacher, journalist. He was engaged in painting, mainly in watercolor technique. His works were shown at a number of exhibitions in Moscow (Central House of Artists named after A. A. Fadeev), Bryansk, Kaluga.

More than fifty works were donated to the Kaluga Museum of Fine Arts personally by the author. These are mainly seaside landscapes, corners of old Europe, as well as the coast of Crimea and central Russia. The works were performed mainly in the technique of pastels and watercolors.

An old Venetian legend says that the moment of birth of the "Pearl of the Adriatic" is March 25, 421, Friday noon. She connects the appearance of the city with the visit of three consuls from Padua, who founded a trading post on the Rialto Islands.

For more than one and a half thousand years of its existence, Venice played an important role as a maritime, political and commercial center, in modern times it was used as an asset in the political bargaining of European powers, and today as a tourist "Mecca". In the IV century, Venice was a group of islands that were inhabited by the first settlers, in the IX century she was already Serenissima (Most Serene) - "Queen of the Adriatic", controlling trade between East and West. By the 13th century, Venice did not rule over Byzantium for long. In 1508, the kings of France, Spain and the Holy Roman Empire were forced to unite to defeat Venice. It was only in 1797 that Napoleon completed the 1376-year continuous history of Venetian independence. Today Venice is an open-air museum and a major cultural center.

Venice is one of the most famous cities in Italy and the center of the Veneto region of the same name, located in the northeastern part of the country on the shores of the Adriatic Sea. It is included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, being one of the most unique and romantic places on the planet. Venice is a stunning and fabulous city, the historical center of which is built on 118 islands of the Venetian lagoon and is an incredible combination of a maze of canal streets and hundreds of bridges with the graceful architecture of luxurious palaces and grandiose churches.

The painting by I. Vasilchikov "Overseas Guests at Customs" depicts early morning. The artist masterfully conveys the atmosphere of a large commercial city that has not yet woken up. The greenish haze of the predawn twilight contrasts well with the pinkish tint of the sails of the ships that gathered in front of the port at the customs at this early hour. The harmoniously selected colors undoubtedly enhance the atmosphere of serenity and tranquility.

The exhibition will run until April 7.