Alexander Labas. Unknown portraits Automatic translate

Exhibition “Alexander Labas. Unknown Portraits" will be held at the Moscow theater "Workshop of P. N. Fomenko" from March 17 to May 31, 2023. For the first time, the exhibition of the outstanding avant-garde artist opens the little-studied pages of his work - it is composed of paintings and graphic works made exclusively in the portrait genre. Moreover, many of them have never been exhibited before. The time period for the creation of works is more than half a century - from 1929 to 1983. In total, more than 80 portraits are exhibited, made in a very recognizable manner of the master.

Alexander Labas is known to a wide audience as a master of conveying movement and speed on canvas (it was not without reason that he was a founding member of the Society of Easel Artists (1925), which paid special attention to the idea of ​​movement). A slightly narrower circle knows and loves him as a science fiction artist, passionate about the expanses of space and extraterrestrial life. And only a few are familiar with his portrait work, in which the painter reveals himself as a subtle lyricist and connoisseur of human souls.

The exhibition in the "Fomenko Workshop" presents images of contemporaries of the artist of the same age of the twentieth century (Labas was born in 1900 and lived for 83 years). These are famous and sometimes legendary personalities, most of whom he was well acquainted with: Svyatoslav Richter, Martiros Saryan, Ilya Mashkov, David Burliuk, Solomon Mikhoels, Ilya Ehrenburg, and Albert Einstein, whom the artist did not personally know, but greatly revered. There are portraits and sketches of unknown people, information about which was collected bit by bit by the art history group in preparation for the project.

The co-founders of the Foundation for the Preservation of the Artistic and Cultural Heritage of Painters Alexander Labas and Raisa Idelson, the daughter-in-law of the artist Raymond Labas (who initiated the idea of ​​holding such an exhibition) and granddaughter Alisa Labas, have long dreamed of showing these portraits to the audience.

Raymonda Labas: “Someone will say: Silent portraits? No, they are always alive. We were close, and I remember how much attention he paid to his models, most of whom were close friends. For me, this is a very long-awaited exhibition.”

Alisa Labas: “We live, meet people, make friends and create our own circle. These people remain in our memory for life. But, unfortunately, we - not artists - cannot capture the image, even the closest ones, and give it a second life. Alexander Labas could."