ALEXANDER SAMOKHVALOV. 1894-1971

Solo exhibition of one of the most prominent artists of the Soviet Russia is dedicated to his 120th birthday anniversary. The finest paintings by Alexander Samokhvalov (1894-1971) that appeared to have become the classics of the Russian art of the 1920-1930 are displayed at the permanent exhibition of the Russian Museum and often are among the key works at other exhibitions. The paintings that had been completed during the first decade after the Revolution reveal the harmonious synthesis of the artistic innovations of the beginning of the XX-th century and traditions of Old Russian monumental painting. They have gained most recognition as well as subject compositions and portraits of the beginning of the 1930s devoted to the youth of the Soviet Russia including «The Metrostroevki» - the famous series of watercolours.

Previously the Russian Museum held the exhibition of works by A.Samokhvalov forty years ago. The current exhibition shows all the mediums in which the artist worked - oil paintings, graphical works, sculpture, porcelain paintings, posters and architectural graphics. The latter shows the projects the artist was engaged in the very beginning of his career. The exhibition presents more than 250 works by the artist from the collection of the Russian Museum, the Tretyakov Gallery and many other museums of Russia; the Institute of the Russian Realistic Art (Moscow), the Union of Artists of Russia as well as private collections of Moscow and Saint-Petersburg.

The exhibition shows the main stages of Samokhvalov's artistic career starting from the earliest works of the 1920s culminating in one of his monumental paintings «Appasionata (the builders of the Communism)». The emphasis is made on the works painted in the period when  A.Samokhvalov was most active - 1920-1930s. The core idea of the exhibition is to present the artist who not only managed to embody the significance of the changes of his time but also had subtle, lyrical perception of the world.