250th ANNIVERSARY OF THE ACADEMY OF ARTS ~ AT THE STATE RUSSIAN MUSEUM

Tuesday, 22 May 2007 22:39

St. Petersburg, Russia - The State Russian Museum opened the “Academy of Arts. 1757-2007. 250th Foundation Anniversary” exhibition in the Mikhailovsky Palace. The exhibition comprises more than 100 works of painting, sculpture, graphic art from the collection of the State Russian Museum. It will be on display till September. “The Academy of Arts. 1757-2007. 250th Foundation Anniversary” exhibition is dedicated to the jubilee of the Imperial Academy of Arts founded in St Petersburg under the Senate decree of November 6, 1757.

Count Ivan Shuvalov, famous patron of art and collector, initiated the foundation of the Academy of Arts; his portrait by A. Losenko is included in the exhibition. It was I. Shuvalov, who donated his wonderful art collection to the Academy in 1758, thus founding the future Academy Museum. On the 4th of November 1764 Empress Catherine II signed the Decree of foundation of the «Imperial Academy of three most prominent arts - painting, sculpture and architecture and the Academy school» in St Petersburg as well as new Academy Regulations.

Russian masters gradually replaced foreign professors, engaged by I. Shuvalov. For example, A. Losenko, G. Kozlov, P. Sokolov, G. Ugryumov, A. Ivanov, A. Yegorov, V. Shebuyev, K. Brullov, F. Bruni, and A. Markov would head the class of historic painting. No less famous painters headed the portrait class - K. Golovachevsky, D. Levitsky, S. Schukin, and A. Varnek.

The exhibition widely presents Russian historic painting of the 18th - first half of the 19th centuries, including “Cain” - the fundamental work by A. Losenko, founder of the Russian academic art school, “Testing the Strength of Jan Usmar” by G. Ugryumov, “Combat of Prince Mstislav Vladimirovich the Varmint with Rededya, Prince of the Kasogis, in 1022” by A. Ivanov, “Torture of the Saviour” by A. Yegorov, “The Last Day of Pompeii” by K. Brullov and “Narcissus”, his earlier work, “The Death of Camellia, Sister of Horace” and “The Brazen Serpent” by F. Bruni. The majority of these works are included in the permanent exposition of the Museum.

The exhibition presents portraits of the best artists and teachers of the so-called «Hall of Council» of the St Petersburg Imperial Academy of Arts. Among them there are portraits of A. Kokorinov, builder of the Academy, rector of architecture, by D. Levitsky, of historic painters G. Kozlov and V. Shebuyev by L. Miropolsky and F. Slavyansky, animal painter G. Grot and portrait painter D. Levitsky by Y. Kamezhenkov and I. Yakovlev, sculptors I. Martos and F. Tolstoy by D. Antonelli. Almost all works were received by the Russian Museum from the Academy of Arts in 1923.

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.

Visit The State Russian Museum at : http://www.rusmuseum.ru/eng/museum/