St. Petersburg, Russia - The State Russian Museum opened the Drawing and Watercolors in Russia. Second half of the 19th century” exhibition in St. Michael’s (Engineers’) Castle. It is the third exhibition from the “Three Centuries of Russian Drawing” project of the State Russian Museum. The exposition comprises more than 130 works of art by 65 masters. It will be on display till May, 22.  Graphic art of the 2nd half of the 19th century carries us away into the atmosphere of the epoch of great upheavals, such as the defeat in the Crimean War, emancipation of serfs, the narodnik movement, peasantry riots, participation in the Balkan War, and the assassination of Alexander II.

It is no wonder, that social problems dominated both in art and everyday life. Art exhibitions became important events and were widely covered in press. While in the 1850-60s they were rare (annual – in the Academy of Arts, occasional – in the Society for the Encouragement of Artists), from 1871 there appear exhibitions of a new art union - Society of Travelling Art Exhibitions. The oeuvre of Ivan Kramskoi took on special significance in that time. His graphic portraits were created in monochrome media (sauce), appearance of which is connected with two characteristic tendencies: democratization of art and rivalry with photography. “Men of the sixties” of the 19th century look at us from these portraits.

As Nikolai Shelgunov wrote: “After Sevastopol everyone woke up, started thinking and was seized by critical mood”. This spirit is reproduced in the image of I. Zolotarev created by Vasily Pukirev and in the portrait of N. Shustov created by Alexander Morozov. Watercolours by Vasily Timm, publisher of the Russian Artistic Bulletin, directly reflect the events of the Crimean War. The majority of them are made on papier-pellé – a kind of French paper with colored roll from dark to light, which came into use in the 1850s.

The peculiarity of graphic art of the 2nd half of the 19th century is that all celebrated painters, be it landscapist Ivan Shishkin, portraitist Ivan Kramskoi or genre artist Vladimir Makovsky, were equally skillful in drawing.

As it is well known, Fyodor Vasilyev, Alexei Savrasov, Ivan Shishkin and Isaac Levitan made a major step in the sphere of landscape painting. Early death cut off Vasilyev’s course of life on the edge of his creative ascent. From the huge graphic heritage of the artist stored in the Russian Museum the exhibition presents several works, which enclose anxious worship of nature and the most delicate melodiousness of its perception. Due to Ivan Shishkin’s graphic mastery the landscape drawing acquires high status that does not yield to the painting in its esthetic significance. Experience of the man’s unity with nature, characteristic of romantic disposition, in the environment of a new plenair method changed for the landscape of moods, which was brightly represented in the watercolors by Isaac Levitan.

Genre works both in graphic art and painting reflected life in all kinds. The themes were of broadband: from Vasily Perov’s subjects full of compassion to Vladimir Makovsky’s amusing life scenes, which prepossess by their fine observation and psychological accuracy.

Portrait genre owes its development mainly to Ilya Repin, a tireless and brilliant draughtsman, who managed to fill his works with keen psychologism. His works are notable for their highest artistic level. Ivan Kramskoi’s graphic portraits are genuine masterpieces. After creation of his wife’s portrait the artist extracted amazing effects from the limited, inert media of sorts.

Graphic art of that period is typologically manifold. Sketches for paintings, decorations for temples and illustrations supplement easel works. Magazine drawing, including the satirical one, becomes widespread (especially in the 1860s). Iskra and Gudok were the most poignant among periodicals.

The Russian Museum possesses caricatures for these magazines, which the censorship banned. Somebody carefully stuck them into an album and thus saved them. A separate room at the exhibition is assigned to the training drawing. Despite certain conservatism of academic requirements, it remained the basis for high professionalism. Many artists of the second half of the 19th century, working at monumental church decorations, created elaborate watercolor sketches – this genre is also presented at the exhibition. The Society of Russian Aquarellists founded in 1880 is an important characteristic feature of that period. A lot of its members were faithful to the salon style, popular in the 1880s-90s.

In the late 19th century graphic masterpieces by Ilya Repin, Isaac Levitan, Nikolai Ge and Vasily Surikov bring closely to a new stage in the evolution of drawing. Students of P. Chistyakov, a famous academic professor, such as Mikhail Vrubel and Valentin Serov, start the search for a new plastic language. The young generation of artists – A. Ryabushkin, A. Arkhipov, S.  Korovin - try to reproduce not the external likeness of reality, but the internal essence of the image. Even the white space of a sheet “is charged” by energy of the artist’s creative will and serves as a means of expressiveness. Drawing acquires its own specific character and unprecedented independence.

The State Russian Museum today is a unique depository of artistic treasures, a leading restoration center, an authoritative institute of academic research, a major educational center and the nucleus of a network of national museums of art.

The Russian Museum collection contains circa 400.000 exhibits.  The main complex of museum buildings - the Mikhailovsky Palace and Benois Wing - houses the permanent exhibition of the Russian Museum, tracing the entire history of Russian art from the tenth to the twentieth centuries.  The museum collection embraces all forms, genres, schools and movements of art.