Large Painting. Large scale works of art from the funds of the Russian Museum

The exhibition introduces works by Russian and European artists who worked in Russia. These works are a part of the Russian Museum collection, but have either never been taken out of the store-rooms, or have rarely been exhibited due to their large size. Many of the works shown had, for a long time, been kept on special axles and were therefore in need of considerable restoration. The exhibition showcases 29 paintings by the artists of the eighteenth to early twentieth centuries. Among the participants are I. Belsky, Y. Moshkov, V. Shebuyev, A. Venetsianov, H. Buchholz, F. Fontebasso, G. Dawe, P. Kovalevsky, V. Perov, V. Vereshagin, K. Makovsky, as well as such lesser-known painters as G. Gorelov and N. Losev. Such large-scale works as The Last Day of Pompei by Karl Brullov, Christ and the Adulress by Vasily Polenov, Russian Troops under Suvorov Crossing the Alps by Vasily Surikov, and Ceremonial Meeting of the State Council by Ilya Repin have their own honourable and fully deserved place in the museum's permanent exhibition. However, not all large-scale paintings have been so lucky.Since the exhibition area is limited, the permanent exposition of the museum shows only those works which best represent a certain art school or historical period. A considerable portion of the museum collection is kept in stores. Therefore the general public can see them only at temporary exhibitions. Among such works are those created by order of the government, programme compositions and paintings for special expositions. The works and their creators were well-known in their epoch; the artists won awards and later sank into oblivion. The exhibition offers visitors a new look at the role of large paintings in the history of Russian art, showing works only previously seen in academic catalogues or not at all to the general public.