"FROM ST. PETERSBURG TO MOSCOW:
THE FRIENDSHIP OF TWO ENGRAVERS." Exhibition of works by A.P. Ostroumova-Lebedeva and N.V. Sinitsyna Automatic translate

The Russian Academy of Arts presents a unique exhibition - an exhibition of the works of two artists, amazing people and extraordinary craftsmen. One of them is Anna Petrovna Ostroumova-Lebedeva (1871-1955) - the world-famous St. Petersburg master of woodcuts, the second Nikolai Vasilievich Sinitsyn (1912-2000) - a Moscow artist and teacher, today, alas, many forgotten, but whose heritage, in the opinion of researchers, widely expected in the future. These two people were connected by a spiritual community of exceptional strength, friendship, which is difficult to find a comparison.

The exhibition is dedicated to the 145th birthday of A.P. Ostroumova - Lebedeva. The exposition refers us to that layer of Russian culture, which is associated with the era of the turn of the XIX-XX centuries - the time of the search for a new great artistic style, the rise of Russian art.

In the history of Russian and world art there was only one artist, whose name is immediately associated with exquisitely beautiful, majestic, accurate and characteristic images of St. Petersburg. This is A.P. Ostroumova-Lebedev. It was she, along with the poets of the Silver Age, who created the image of the great city on the Neva, which to this day lives in each of us, the image is already modern and, at the same time, classic in its unchanging expressiveness and forever memorable character.

Anna Petrovna was born in 1871 in the family of Privy Councilor P.I. Ostroumova. She studied at the famous St. Petersburg Foundry Gymnasium, attended the evening classes of the school of Baron Stieglitz, then entered the Imperial Academy of Arts. Her teachers were I.E. Repin, P.P. Chistyakov, V.V. Mate. She continued her studies in Paris with the famous American master D, Whistler.

At the turn of the XIX-XX centuries, the artist became close to the "World of Art". Alexander Nikolaevich Benoit called it "… one of the most integral and typical figures" of the creative association. Among the masters of the “World of Art” she stood out as an exceptional addiction to engraving, the most “demanding”, rigorous and technically complex form of art. Thanks to A, P. Ostroumova - Lebedev, the art of engraving in Russia from the end of the 19th century received a new direction in its development. From craft, reproduction engraving became original, author’s.

A.P. Ostroumov-Lebedev. The tracks. Woodcut

A.P. Ostroumov-Lebedev. Neva through the columns of the Exchange. Woodcut

Throughout his creative life in the schedule of A.P. Ostroumova-Lebedeva was dominated by the theme of St. Petersburg, from the views of Pavlovsk in the 1900s to the mid-1940s, when, already seriously ill, she completed a series of her St. Petersburg works with a woodcut “View of the Fortress at Night”. In total, she created 85 works dedicated to the great city. Petersburg under the cutter A.P. Ostroumova-Lebedeva becomes an eternal, enduring space, indestructible symbol of the era of the highest flowering of her work, the time of the rise of all Russian culture. Here, each line is not accidental, and chamber, and monumental at the same time, here the genius of the architect combined with the exquisite vision of an artist who is attentive to the beauty.

The exhibition at the Academy of Arts will feature more than 100 works by masters from private collections, mainly dedicated to St. Petersburg. This is the famous color woodcut “Petersburg. Hooks channel "," Petersburg. Perspective of the Neva "," Petersburg. Neva through the columns of the Exchange ”,“ Petersburg. Exchange columns and fortress ”,“ Leningrad. Elagin bridge in hoarfrost "," Petersburg. Summer Garden "and others, autolithographs, watercolors, drawings, works created in foreign trips - Italy, France, Finland, as well as the well-known series of postcards" To Help the Community of St. Eugenia "1904-1913.. depicting the architecture of St. Petersburg and wildflowers.

A.P. Ostroumov-Lebedev. Leningrad. New holland

A.P. Ostroumov-Lebedev. Venice at night. Col. woodcut

The second exhibition is often devoted to the work of the Moscow engraver and teacher N.V. Sinitsyn, a student of A.P. Ostroumoy-Lebedeva, who immensely admired her work, extremely gifted, devoted and active, who unselfishly helped the artist in endless everyday, business chores. Their long business and creative communication was accompanied by constant correspondence. The authorship of N.V. Sinitsyn belongs to the monograph “Engravings by Ostroumova-Lebedeva” in which she appears as one of the Russian women artists, which truly should be called a great master.

N.V. Sinitsyn was born in 1912 in the village of Ivankovo, not far from the Trinity - Sergius Lavra, and chose the path of a drawing teacher and artist for himself. In the early 1930s, he settled in Moscow and began to teach at once in several schools. Among his students are N. Kalita, D. Krasnopevtsev, Y. Manukhin, L. Durasov, Yu. Berkovsky, T. Skorodumova, D. Dmitriev, L. Tukachev, H. Avrutis. From a very young age, he taught, and then in every possible way helped Anatoly Zverev, managing to preserve and develop the vivid personality of the famous artist.

Back in the 1930s, N.V. Sinitsyn laid the foundation for his collection of graphics, the compilation of which revealed his rare artistic taste, knowledge and intuition.

N.V. Sinitsyn. The village on a winter evening in the place of Orekhovo-Borisovo. 1966. Color linocut

N.V. Sinitsyn. From the series “Architectural Creations of Architect V. Bazhenov in Tsaritsyno”. General view of the palace. 1951. Color Lnograving

N.V. Sinitsyn did not abandon his work and was well known as a gifted graphic artist, masterfully mastering the technique of all genres of this art form. Perhaps his work was best described by Alexander Benois in his letter from Paris: “Your engravings amazed me and all of my friends here who know a lot about art. One sheet is better than another. You combined the subtle, deeply poetic sense of nature with the most sophisticated technique…. it amazes me that you managed to turn this strange agglomerate of buildings into something truly monumental and full of elevated mood that were erected at the whim of the queen in Tsaritsyno. ",,.

Creativity N.V. Sinitsyna is represented by 60 works. These are cycles of color and monochrome linocuts - portraits, architectural monuments, landscapes, a unique linocut dedicated to the Tsaritsyno ensemble. The exposition will be complemented by a series of watercolors that capture the views of the Oka River in its middle reaches, Zvenigorod with its picturesque hills, covered with pine trees, ancient ramparts of the princely Kremlin (in the Zvenigorod town of Gorodok), and the majestically beautiful Savvino-Storozhevsky monastery.

N.V. Sinitsyn. Bank of the Istra River.

N.V. Sinitsyn. Zvenigorod gave. watercolor

The exhibition will feature documentary photographs.

The exhibition also includes works by A.N. Korotaeva (Sinitsyna), engraver and watercolorist - the daughter of N.V. Sinitsyna. She was born in Moscow in 1964, studied at the First Moscow Art School. V. A. Serova, graduated from the art department of the Moscow Technological Institute with a degree in fashion designer. In her work A. Sinitsyna continues family traditions and works as a graphic artist. She, first of all, addresses the topics of Russian nature and domestic historical monuments, most often, combining them together. In its historical landscapes, the natural world and culture are inseparable unity, transmit to each other particles of their special hypostases - natural charm and spiritual meaning.