Masterpieces of the Avant-garde from Astrakhan to Moscow
ARTinvestment.RU   12 июля 2008

Just over two weeks left to make in the Pushkin Museum Pushkin to see the masterpieces of Russian avant-garde from the Astrakhan State Art Gallery. Among the exhibits of paintings by Kandinsky, Malevich, Rodchenko and many others

Pushkin Museum Pushkin Moscow continues to acquaint the public with the art collections of cities and regions of Russia. The new project - an exhibition from the collection of the Astrakhan State Picture Gallery of P. Dogadin, timed to 450 anniversary of the Astrakhan. In the halls of the department of personal collections show work Vasily Kandinsky , Kazimir Malevich , Chagall , Olga Vladimirovna Rozanova , Aristarchus Lentulov , Paul Kuznetsova and other Russian artists of the early XX century from the collections of the museum in Astrakhan.

Astrakhan Picture Gallery was opened in December 1918. The history of its occurrence is linked with the name Paul M. Dogadin (1876-1919), Astrakhantsev, and from merchants' families, a mechanical engineer, educated in Moscow. Since 1912 Paul Mikhailovich Dogadin enthusiastically began to collect paintings and graphics, with the corresponding VA Гиляровским and a number of collectors in Moscow. By 1918, the collector has acquired in his collection of artworks by the best Russian artists of the turn of XIX - XX centuries: Basil Polenov , Isaac Levitan , Mikhail Vasilievich Nesterov , Fyodor Vasilyev . The paintings were bought in the exhibitions «World of Art», «the Union of Russian Artists», and in private collections.

In 1918, P. Dogadin decided to donate the native city and its priceless collection of a small mansion, which until August 1921 and placed first in the Lower Volga Art Museum. Collection P. Dogadin so far is the core collection of the Astrakhan State Art Gallery and the best part of the picturesque fund. In the early years of the gallery from the State Art Foundation and the All-Russian Collegium of the museum it was transferred 87 paintings of famous Russian artists - Vasily Kandinsky, Aristarchus Lentulov, Konstantin Korovin , Malyutina Sergey , Apollinary Vasnetsov , Igor Grabar . In late 1918 the museum added a rare collection of art in Asia and the East, formerly belonging to the Austrian merchant O.Ya. Viblingeru. In early 1919, the funds of the gallery has received some work from the famous art collection of the Astrakhan Sapozhnikova merchants.

In 1921 the gallery moved to one of the finest buildings of the city - a former merchant's mansion family Plotnikova, which is today. In 1926, an outstanding Russian artist, astrahanets Boris Kustodiev , has donated 25 paintings gallery. In the same year, the funds of the museum was a collection of prints of Western European Masters XVI - XIX centuries from the libraries Ilya Repin , a total of about 9 thousand pages. In the late 1920's funds galleries added labor Alexei Savrasov , Isaac Levitan, Arkhip Kuindzhi , Marc Chagall, Nikolai Konstantinovich Roerich , Michael Vrubel .

Today, Astrakhan Art Gallery is one of the most significant art collections Volga. The museum has two branches: the house-museum BM Kustodiev and the house-museum of Velimir Khlebnikov, which displays works of Faith Khlebnikov, Peter Mituricha , May Mituricha-Klebnikov. A special pride of Astrakhan the gallery are paintings of Russian avant-garde artists.

The exhibition will run until 30 July.

Source: them the Pushkin Museum. Alexander Pushkin