MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd August, 2019) Now that Moscow's Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts has received an almost record-breaking number of visitors at its exhibition of European Modernist art pieces that belonged to Russia's Shchukin family of prominent merchants, Sputnik has inquired into the reasons behind the collection's popularity.
The exhibition, titled "Shchukin. Biography of a Collection," opened in June and since then has proven to be immensely popular. Lines starting outside the museum are formed everyday by people who want a chance to see one of the most comprehensive collections in Russia's history featuring masterpieces by Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso and Vincent Van Gogh, among many others.
Currently, some 4,350 people visit the exhibition daily and if the number grows by mere 5 percentage points, "Shchukin. Biography of a Collection" may break the museum's record, currently held by the 2011 Salvador Dali exhibition, according to media reports, citing the museum's press service.
COLLECTION AGAINST CONVENTIONAL TASTE
With 24 artworks each by Henri Matisse and Picasso, 13 by Monet, 13 by Paul Gauguin, seven by Paul Cezanne are on display, it is no wonder why people rush to the exhibition. However, some visitors have criticized the organizers for not bringing more artworks from the abroad and instead presenting pieces that were already on permanent display at the Pushkin Museum and St. Petersburg's State Hermitage Museum. However, it is a rare opportunity to see pieces from the Shchukin collection reunited under the same roof.
Sergei, the most avid art collector in the Shchukin family, had salons at his mansion in Moscow fully devoted to his favorite painters. The Pink Salon, known as the Matisse Room, and the room bearing the Names of Cezanne and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. The Pushkin Museum has organized the exhibition to recreate the layout of Shchukin's residence, giving the audience a unique chance to immerse themselves in the collector's world and creative vision.
Sergei Shchukin was a late bloomer as a collector, only starting to acquire art in his 40s, but has managed to build a collection that is now worth billions of Dollars. He was not afraid to take risks, support artists who were not as well known in their times and acquire art that was considered radical for that time, such as "The Dance" by Henri Matisse. The famous painting hangs separately from other showpieces, in the museum's White Hall, and is the first thing visitors see when entering the exhibition.
"First of all, because it is a truly unique and magnificent art piece by Matisse. Secondly, because the acquisition of this work has sparked the biggest resonance among the public in Moscow. It was a work of a big format, very avant-garde, with naked figures. It was uncommon for Moscow's merchant households to put such things on display. Moreover, it was not a small picture that could be hung somewhere in the dining room and you could pass it by and pretend that you have not seen it," Anna Poznanskaya, the exhibition's co-curator, told Sputnik, when asked why the museum opted to highlight this painting by placing it in a separate hall.
Even though the exhibition mainly revolves around Sergei's collection, the Pushkin Museum also pays tribute to his brothers � Dmitry, Pyotr and Ivan � and has devoted a separate hall for each of them.
The exposition starts with the collection of Pyotr Shchukin. Visitors will find themselves in a hall cluttered with numerous historic relics and household items, and will certainly experience the feeling of being in an actual salon of the late collector.
It was known that Pyotr had a soft spot for jewelry and antiques, but certain showpieces reveal his exceptional taste in art. "Nude Seated on a Sofa" by Renoir is hard to miss as it shines like a diamond against the background of Chinese porcelain, Persian carpets and Turkish textiles.
Pyotr's hall is followed by the collection of Dmitry Shchukin, who was regarded as a great art history expert. His taste was more conservative than that of his brothers, preferring Dutch painters and 18th century French art by Francois Boucher, among other artists.
Ivan Shchukin, the youngest brother, also has a separate hall devoted to his collection. Even though his legacy is overshadowed by his brothers, it was Ivan who introduced Sergei and Pyotr to new French Art as he was friendly with many prominent artists of the time, including Renoir, Auguste Rodin and Edgar Degas.
Due to his extravagant Parisian lifestyle, he went bankrupt by 1907 and had to sell off many of the masterpieces he owned. He was devastated when, during the auction, it turned out that most of what was in his collection was fake. Unable to cope with the string of personal setbacks, he took his own life a year later.
But some of Ivan's art pieces were authentic and now are on display at the exhibition. They include "The Penitent Mary Magdalen" by El Greco, the "Portrait of Antonin Proust" by Edouard Manet and Monet's "Lilac in the Sun."
Subsequent halls at the exhibition are fully devoted to Sergei's collection. There is a gallery full of art pieces that are considered to be the epitome of Impressionism, including Monet's "Meadows at Giverny" and "Rouen Cathedral at Sunset," as well as works by Alfred Sisley, Paul Signac and Camille Pissaro.
At his mansion in Moscow, Sergei Shchukin had a dining room known as the Gauguin Room, where masterpieces by Paul Gauguin, one of the most well-known Symbolist artists, were displayed very close to each other, creating an impression of iconostasis. The Pushkin Museum replicated this display style and is exhibiting Gauguin's works against a black background in order to further highlight the painter's bright yellow colors.
Sergei Shchukin also favored Picasso and acquired many works from the artist's Cubist and Blue periods. The exhibition includes Picasso's "The Absinthe Drinker," "Port of the poet Sabartes" and "Old Jew and a Boy," among many others.
"Shchukin. Biography of a Collection" ends on a poignant note and documents the fate of Sergei's collection after the 1917 Russian Revolution. The victory of the Bolsheviks resulted in the nationalization of Sergei's collection, while he himself was forced to emigrate to Europe. At first, Shchukin's collection was merged with that of Morozov �� a prominent merchant family� � and was exhibited at the State Museum of New Western Art. However, the art pieces from the collections did not fall in line with Soviet propagandist politics, which encompassed visual arts, and were dubbed as "bourgeois" and "formalist."
As a result, the State Museum of New Western Art was closed, and the Shchukin collection divided between the Pushkin Museum and the Hermitage Museum. Many works were not displayed for decades and remained hidden in storage. Only in the 1990s was the Russian public made aware of who the founders of the French art collections were.
FONDATION LOUIS VUITTON THE NEW SHCHUKIN?
It is not a coincidence that the exhibition of Fondation Louis Vuitton's collection is held simultaneously with "Shchukin. Biography of a Collection," at the Pushkin Museum's Gallery of 19th and 20th Century European and American Art. The foundation has previously hosted an exhibition of Sergei Shchukin's collection at its extraordinary building in Paris.
"On the other hand, what has inspired us to hold the Vuitton exhibition simultaneously with Shchukin, is that the Fondation Louis Vuitton is now practically doing what Shchukin used to. They are buying contemporary art and not only contemporary but the art of today, too. The one that exists in the moment and sometimes, just like the Shchukin collection, against the public opinion, even though it could be some well-known names, but the general public does not understand all of their works," Poznanskaya noted.
"Shchukin. Biography of a Collection" will run through September 19. The exhibition is an outstanding tribute to the Shchukin family and their role in formation of Russia's own collection of foreign art.
