GENIUS LOCI OF OUR CITY Automatic translate

Borey Gallery and collector Kirill Avelev continue the series of exhibitions “The Unknown Photographer Presnyakov – the Last World of Art in Leningrad.”

At the turn of the 1920s and 1930s, in the genre of urban photography, the Hermitage photographer Vladimir Presnyakov rose like Piranesi on the ruins of engraved Rome. But after his arrest in 1934 and execution in 1937, he was consigned to complete oblivion, like most of his repressed fellow citizens. The blockade, which thinned out Leningraders, and the ungrateful Soviet era almost erased him from memory. Only the surname and initials remained: “With a photo of V.V. Presnyakov.” And that’s not true everywhere: many postcards are nameless.

In 1927, Presnyakov filmed a famous series of views of the city through the parapet statues on the roof of the Winter Palace. Gracefully, like an entomologist catching a butterfly, the genius of the place caught it among the baroque forms and angles of the Neva.

The series was most likely taken in the summer of 1927. At the same time, in Leningrad, Sergei Eisenstein filmed the anniversary “October” on a grand scale. Probably, Presnyakov, as a staff photographer of the museum, ended up on the roof of the palace along with the film crew.  

In the film, revolutionary sailors sneak along the roof of the Winter Palace along the same statues overlooking the Neva. the same parapet with statues. Who suggested a spectacular angle to whom? Now we can only guess. But postcards with Presnyakov’s photo were printed by the KPHI back in 1927, and Eisenstein’s painting was released in 1928.

Thanks to a talented photographer, the Hermitage sculptures have become our genius loci. Repeatedly quoted, over time they turned into the Leningrad canon, along with the angels of the Palace and Peter and Paul Fortress.

The second exhibition will last from June 1 to June 30, 2024.
The entire six-part exhibition cycle will run from April 22 to November 7, 2024.