Must see: TOP-10 paintings in Moscow galleries
Seeing masterpieces of Russian painting and becoming more closely acquainted with high art in Moscow is a must! The capital is a place with hundreds of galleries, which regularly host a variety of exhibitions.
Viktor Vasnetsov, Bogatyrs and Alyonushka
A master of folklore and epic paintings, Viktor Vasnetsov graduated from a religious school and seminary. There, the artist developed an interest in the stories of ancient Russian literature, which later manifested itself in his paintings.
One of Vasnetsov's first references to a Russian epic was the painting Bogatyrs, which he worked on for almost 20 years. The master captured three of the most famous heroes in Russian folklore: Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya Nikitich, and Alyosha Popovich. The work was completed in April 1898, and in the same year, Pavel Tretyakov purchased it for his collection. The canvas can be seen in Hall 26 of the Tretyakov Gallery.
Back in 1880, Vasnetsov started working on a painting at Savva Mamontov's estate, based on the fairy tale "Sister Alyonushka, Brother Ivanushka." Nowadays, it's considered one of Russian art's classic pieces. The model of the melancholy red-haired subject sitting on the bank of a pond was a girl whom the artist met purely by chance. She struck his imagination and became the orphan girl later depicted on the canvas. In 1881, the painting, under the name Fool Alyonushka ("fool" was the word used to describe an orphan in Rus'), was presented in St. Petersburg by The Society for Traveling Art Exhibitions. By 1882, Vasnetsov had slightly reworked the painting, giving it a more fairy-tale style and preparing it for the All-Russia Industrial and Art Exhibition in Moscow. The work also changed its name, becoming simply Alyonushka. The painting proved to be a hard sell, but it was eventually bought by Savva Mamontov for only 500 roubles. Then it changed owners several times until it was acquired by the Tretyakov Gallery in 1900 for 8,000 roubles. You can see Alyonushka there to this day.
Valentin Serov, Girl with Peaches
The son of a composer and a pianist, Serov showed an aptitude for drawing at a young age and took classes from Ilya Repin, honing his skills in painting portraits and still lifes and using chiaroscuro, the use of strong contrasts between light and dark. He later became a student at the Imperial Academy of Arts.
One of Serov's most famous works, Girl with Peaches, was painted in 1887. The subject of the painting was Vera Mamontova, the daughter of Savva Mamontov, whom the artist often visited at the Abramtsevo Estate. It was there that she posed for two months. This painting, along with another of Serov's works, The Girl Covered by the Sun, was presented to the general public in 1888 by The Society for Traveling Art Exhibitions. These paintings have brought the artist recognition from both art critics and connoisseurs. The master's work can be seen in Hall 41 of the Tretyakov Gallery.
Ivan Shishkin, Morning in a Pine Forest
One of the most famous paintings by landscape artist Ivan Shishkin and a famous landscape in the history of Russian art is, in fact, the result of a fruitful collaboration between two painters. Shishkin was assisted by the artist Konstantin Savitsky: the former painted the forest landscape, while the latter depicted the bear family in the foreground; however, only Shishkin's signature on the canvas has survived to this day. Savitsky's name was removed either by the painter of the bears himself, or by Pavel Tretyakov, who bought the painting (in any case, those are the two versions explaining the disappearance of the second artist's signature from the canvas). The painting, dated 1889, is in Hall 25 of the Tretyakov Gallery.
Kazimir Malevich, Black Square
The avant-garde artist and founder of Suprematism Kazimir Malevich became the creator of the first work of art in the history of Russian painting without a subject. Connoisseurs first saw this abstract artwork in 1915 at the Last Futurist Exhibition of Paintings 0,10 held in St. Petersburg. According to the artist himself, he chose black, as it is the colour that absorbs all other tones, while white is a metaphor for boundless space concentrating all the colours on the spectrum.
Initially, the painting was called Quadrilateral. There were no strictly right angles on the canvas, since the artist sought to create a dynamic shape. Also, during an investigation of the canvas in 2015, two geometric compositions on top of which Malevich eventually painted Black Square were discovered. The world-famous painting is in the Tretyakov Gallery in Krymsky Val Street.
Ivan Aivazovsky, The Rainbow
One of the most well-known paintings by the famous Russian marine artist Ivan Aivazovsky was painted in 1873. The subject centres on water, typically a raging element that leaves people completely defenseless, as depicted by the painter. A seething, foaming sea during a storm, a ship that has suffered a wreck, a ship’s boat with people trying to save themselves: it seems that the waves are about to swallow those unfortunate souls, but a barely noticeable rainbow poking through the clouds still leaves hope for salvation. The canvas is kept in the Tretyakov Gallery, and you can find it in Hall 19.
Alexander Ivanov, The Appearance of Christ Before the People
The artist, a creator of many works with biblical and mythological themes, worked on the main painting of his life, which now occupies an entire wall in Hall 10 of the Tretyakov Gallery, for almost 20 years (1837-1857). Initially, Ivanov planned a smaller canvas, but as time went on, from the time he conceived a plan for his work to the moment he started, more and more new details appeared that he wanted to convey. As a result, the painting turned out to be truly enormous: 7.5 metres in length and 5.4 metres in height. This monumental work astonishes with its abundance of nuances, meticulous drawing of images, and multitude of philosophical meanings. Before painting on the canvas, Ivanov created hundreds of sketches, many of which are masterpieces of Russian painting. Incidentally, the painter himself became the model for one of the characters, while another was copied from the writer Nikolai Gogol.
Marc Chagall, Above the City
In the work of one of the most famous avant-garde artists of the 20th century, there is a subject that accompanies almost all of his works, the city of Vitebsk, and in one of the master’s most famous paintings, Above the City, it, his beautiful hometown, joins a couple in love flying over sloping roofs. In the romantic subject, the main characters are Marc Chagall himself and his first wife Bella. They are soaring in the sky, and this third "character" connects a sublime fantasy world where you literally soar with happiness with a real one where a goat grazes in the yard of a simple house or a person relieves himself by a high fence. During his work on the painting, Chagall used the principles of primitivism, cubism, and expressionism. For example, the male figure is cubed and the female is painted with soft lines, with careful attention to detail (see the lace of the dress and her shoes). The painting, finished in 1918, is kept in Hall 9 of the Tretyakov Gallery in Krymsky Val Street.
Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin, Bathing of a Red Horse
The artist's paintings were praised by some for their "nobility of form", while others called them "the deformity of an ignoramus". Nonetheless, Petrov-Vodkin became an iconic figure in the culture of the 1920s and 1930s. His well-known painting Bathing of a Red Horse, completed in 1912, holds an honourable place among the most famous masterpieces of Russian painting. In the mighty scarlet stallion, the artist's contemporaries saw the very fate of Russia, which the young rider is trying to harness. This monumental example of Russian avant-garde art is kept in Hall 13 of the Tretyakov Gallery in Krymsky Val Street.
Ilya Repin, Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan
One of the most outstanding Russian realist artists, Ilya Repin, first presented his textbook painting, Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan, in 1885 at a showing held by The Society for Traveling Art Exhibitions, and the government, vexed by this work, banned it from being displayed almost immediately. That same year, the painting was bought by Pavel Tretyakov, who exhibited it in his gallery only three months later, once the ban was lifted. In fact, the painting is called Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan on 16 November 1581 and depicts the tsar's accidental murder of his son and his subsequent remorse. The painting can be seen in Hall 30 of the Tretyakov Gallery.
Mikhail Vrubel, The Demon Seated
The central theme of the artist Mikhail Vrubel's work was the image of the Demon, which became the subject of a whole series of paintings, illustrations, and sculptures. The Seated Demon was crafted in 1890 with crystal edges and a painting knife. The image, painted with broad strokes, resembles a mosaic panel. Take a closer look at the Demon's hands folded below his knees; they resemble the outline of a heart, which is very symbolic. After all, the image of the Demon appeared in Vrubel's work for the first time when he was suffering from unrequited love. The artist’s masterpiece can be seen in Hall 33 of the Tretyakov Gallery.