The Holly Sixties (The Art of Russia of the 1860s)

The exhibition is devoted to the 1860s, which is one of the most interesting and extremely important periods of history of Russian art. Some 350 works of painting, graphics and sculpture from collection of the Russian museum, as well as from the Tretyakovskaya gallery and the Hermitage, will be shown. The larger part of works will be those of genre art, which got mainly civil, socially directed contents. Its essence was determined by enthusiasm for accusation and criticism against social environment. Works of V.Petrov will become a kind of leitmotif of the exhibition. Such famous works as Seeing-off a decedent and Troika will be exhibited among the paintings from the Tretyakovskaya gallery. Besides them, visitors will see paintings by F.Juravlev, A.Volkov, L.Solomatkin and I.Pryanishnyakov, and many other famous Russian artists. Outstanding sensitivity to sore points of social existence, intolerance of evil, sincerity in expressing their ideas, consonant to opinions of progressive intellectuals, these make the art of "men of the sixties" a phenomenon of extreme importance. A considerable contribution to the art of 1860s was made by portraiture. Portraits by I.Kramskoy, V.Perov, N.Ge, and others will be showcased at the exhibition. Great and serious achievements were reached in the 1860s by historical painting and its central work, epochal and unique for its idea and aesthetic meaning, that was 'The Last Supper' by N.Ge. This masterpiece occupies one of the central positions in the permanent exhibition of the Russian museum. Landscape will be also fully presented at the exhibition with works of M.Klodt, L.Kamenev, F.Vasilyev, A.Savrasov, I.Shishkin. The exhibition will showcase the history of forming and the first brilliant results of Critical Realism in a very interesting, complicated and rich epoch, which was marked with great achievements in literature, music, and theatre.