Wilde and Beardsley awarded “View from Russia” – Proceedings

Photo: Lime / Pavel Baranov

In the Gallery of Art in Europe and America XIX-XX centuries Pushkin Museum opened an exhibition of “Oscar Wilde. Aubrey Beardsley. View from Russia. ” The project, which has been prepared for several years and required the efforts of an entire team of domestic and foreign curators, has all chances to become one of the iconic exhibits the Pushkin Museum.

According to the director of the Pushkin Museum Pushkin Marina Lochak opening this exhibition is “playing a very significant role».

– In today’s time we have a lot of thinking about social issues, politics, our mood is not too great, because the world is in a state of extreme hostility and antagonism. People are endlessly trying to understand each other and live in general, in hatred rather than love. We are in this exhibition are talking about a special look at the world of the artist, the search for beauty, her self-worth and getting over all the other problems of man, – said Marina Lochak.

Pavel Baranov / JOURNAL

Pavel Baranov / JOURNAL

centerpiece of the exhibition devoted to the graph Aubrey Beardsley – the originals of the Victoria and Albert Museum, the British Museum and Galleries “Tate”: first, they are not in Russia exhibited. During the presentation of the project curator Anna Poznanskaya not without pride, said: “Along with us these pictures requested the Japanese, but we managed to get ahead of them.”

Thanks to the speed and diplomatic skills of employees Pushkin public will be able to see both early and mature work Beardsley, allows us to trace the evolution of the style of the great representative of English aestheticism: caustic caricatures of his contemporaries – actors, artists and politicians – are replaced by luxurious series of illustrations to “Salome” by Oscar Wilde and “Lysistrata” by Aristophanes.

Pavel Baranov / JOURNAL

Pavel Baranov / JOURNAL

Pavel Baranov / JOURNAL

The author of the idea of ​​the exhibition Zinaida Bonami included in the exhibition section “A View from Russia” – the work, talk about the impact of creativity on Beardsley native artists of the Silver Age. In the paintings of Konstantin Somov, Leon Bakst, Dmitry Mitrokhin, Constantine Feofilaktova undoubtedly imitation of his style. But neurotic and dramatic originals only managed to get close Sergey Lodygin, as can be seen in his works, “Death and the Maiden,” “The Mask of the Red Death” and others.

Pavel Baranov / JOURNAL

Pavel Baranov / JOURNAL

Oscar Wilde in the exposition is given less attention than Beardsley. But every one of the few exhibits that tell about the writer and poet, is unique. The display cases are located manuscript poems and the first edition of “Ballad of Reading prison” with notes of the author, and the walls of the first room is decorated with vintage portraits of Wilde by William Downey and Napoleon Saron.

The exhibition will run until December 1.

Pavel Baranov / JOURNAL

Pavel Baranov / JOURNAL