Gift to the Russian Museum from Vladimir Nekrasov

Vladimir Nekrasov’s collection of Russian fine art is the largest in the country. Over a few decades, Vladimir Nekrasov has collected many remarkable art pieces and presented many artists in their monographic entirety, while others – by rare but unique and unexpected works. The exhibition will feature a significant part of more than six hundred art pieces donated by Vladimir Nekrasov to the Russian Museum. These works give a comprehensive idea about Russian art of the 20th – early 21st centuries.

Vladimir Nekrasov’s collection includes many art pieces by recognized masters of Soviet art: Arkady Plastov, Sergei Gerasimov, Alexei Gritsai, Vladimir Igoshev, Mikhail Konchalovsky, Mikhail Kupriyanov, Dmitry Nalbandyan, Boris Nemensky, Boris Shcherbakov and Viktor Tsigal. In some cases, the exhibition items reflect various, sometimes little-known, stages of the work of these masters. Works by Gely Korzhev form a separate important section. These are mostly sketches and drawings for his famous paintings from different years. They reveal the complicated creative search of the artist and have the value of independent art pieces.

One of the passions of the collector was and still is the search for new names and undeservedly forgotten events in art. Iosif Rubanov, Adolf Alexeyev, Nikolai Baskakov, Yuri Matushevsky, Konstantin Maximov, Igor Razdrogin, Nikolai Troshin and other masters worked apart from the mainstream but were and remain an integral part of a single artistic process.

The collection’s section dedicated to 21st-century art is a vibrant cross-section of the artistic life from the 2000s through the late 2010s. Among the artists are both well-known masters, contributors to numerous exhibitions, and young artists who have not yet taken a certain place in any ratings or hierarchies. Many works by contemporary artists were acquired by Vladimir Nekrasov immediately after their creation or first exhibition. The most recent works were created in 2020. Thanks to the collector, the Russian Museum became the owner of Aidan Salahova’s series New Saints. It is made up of seven large-scale icon paintings of doctors fighting the coronavirus, some of them will be shown at the exhibition.

The artistic level and variety of the artworks will allow visitors to appreciate the cultural significance of Vladimir Nekrasov’s collection and his gift to the Russian Museum.

Age restriction: 6+