Andrey Vasnetsov’s Spaces Automatic translate

The Russian Academy of Arts presents the exhibition "Spaces of Andrei Vasnetsov", dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of the People’s Artist of the USSR, academician and member of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Arts Andrei Vladimirovich Vasnetsov (1924-2009). The exhibition displays works of monumental art, painting and graphics, as well as sketches, life sketches and drafts of the author from private collections, many of which will be shown for the first time. A special section of the exhibition "Pedagogy" is presented by works by the master’s students.

One of the active sixties generation and creators of the so-called "severe style" was a representative of the famous Vasnetsov dynasty of artists, the grandson of the famous Russian painter, professor of the Imperial Academy of Arts V. M. Vasnetsov. He was born in 1924 in Moscow into the family of Moscow State University professor Vladimir Viktorovich Vasnetsov, and from childhood he absorbed the atmosphere of high art. In 1936, he began painting in the art studio of the Moscow City House of Pioneers under the guidance of A. M. Mikhailov. His works were first shown at the State Tretyakov Gallery at an exhibition of the art studio of the House of Pioneers when the master was 15 years old. Since 1946, he studied at the Moscow Institute of Applied and Decorative Arts, Department of Monumental Painting, under such artists as A. A. Deineka, A. D. Goncharov, P. P. Sokolov-Skalya. He defended his diploma at the Leningrad Higher Art and Industrial School named after V. I. Mukhina at the Faculty of Monumental Painting under P. M. Shukhmin.

Andrei Vasnetsov’s creative path began in the 1950s and found himself at the center of the turning points in culture. Even then, the young artist’s painting, full of romantic asceticism, devoid of falsehood and smoothness, attracted the attention of a wide audience and professionals.

In the Russian artistic culture of the 1960s-1990s, his name was largely associated with Soviet monumental art. The author realized a different view on the ability of man-made creativity to resist technocratic urbanism and on the role of the artist in creating the appearance of a building, in forming the urban environment surrounding a person. The works of Andrei Vladimirovich opened a new page in the history of Russian monumental and decorative art, architecture. He created more than 30 paintings, mosaics, stained glass windows, decorative sculptures in different cities of Russia and the world, including the mosaics "Conquerors of Space" in the State Museum of the History of Cosmonautics named after K. E. Tsiolkovsky in Kaluga (1966) and on the facade of the Oktyabr cinema and concert hall in Moscow (1967). A new achievement in the field of monumental and decorative art was the work on the organization of space and development of interior details of the Russian embassy in the German city of Bonn, and for the mosaic “Man and the Press” in the interior of the Izvestia newspaper building (1977), created in collaboration with N. Andronov, the master received the USSR State Prize.

A talented teacher, Professor Andrei Vasnetsov taught drawing at the Moscow State Academy of Printing from 1975 to 2002, where he generously shared his vast experience and knowledge with the younger generation. The humanism traditional for Russian art, high pictorial culture, and distinct individual artistic style allowed the artist’s works to enter the golden fund of Russian classics of fine art. His works are presented in the largest museum collections, including the Tretyakov Gallery and the Russian Museum, many other museums of the Russian Federation, foreign and domestic private collections.

The master’s legacy is multifaceted and remains relevant over the years. The centenary year of A. V. Vasnetsov’s birth was marked by a number of anniversary projects, which opened with an exhibition at the Abramtsevo Museum-Reserve. Then there were exhibitions at the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts and the Tretyakov Gallery. The exhibition at the Museum and Exhibition Complex of the Russian Academy of Arts, the Zurab Tsereteli Art Gallery, sums up the anniversary year in a way. The vast majority of paintings for this exhibition were provided by the famous collector Vladimir Nekrasov and artist Elena Krylova-Nurenberg, models of monumental works were provided by artist Ivan Shakhovskoy and architect Alexander Remizov, the graphic section is mainly made up of the collection of his second cousin, the custodian of A. Vasnetsov’s legacy, Olga Vasnetsova. The exhibition also includes works by the artist’s students and masters who collaborated with A. V. Vasnetsov and whose work was influenced by him.

The project introduces all facets of the artist’s personality and is organized as a sign of respect for the memory of the outstanding master by admirers of his talent, colleagues and friends. A documentary film about the author’s monumental works was shot for the exhibition project and a catalog with articles and memoirs was published.

Exhibition curator from the Russian Academy of Arts: First Vice-President of the Russian Academy of Arts, painter Viktor Kalinin. Co-curators: architect and artist Alexander Remizov, art critic Marina Terekhovich.