Jubilee Exhibitions in the Museum of the Russian Academy of Arts

The Russian Academy of Arts Museum in St. Petersburg presents a photo exhibition commemorating the 110th anniversary of Ilya Repin Estate-Museum “Penaty”  and  a display of photo copies of graphic portraits by the celebrated Russian artist Ilya Repin (1844-1930) devoted to his 165th birth anniversary.

 

On show in the Raphael Hall are over 100 photographs highlighting the most interesting moments in the history of the estate. The celebrated Russian artist Ilya Repin (1844-1930) lived in his home in Repino (known by its Finnish name Kuokkala until 1948, it is 29 miles NW of St. Petersburg) for about 30 years until his death in 1930 at the age of 86. Ilya Repin bought the estate in 1899. Named Penaty after the Roman household gods, Penates, the house was redesigned by Repin himself to accommodate all that the artist might need, including a glass-panelled veranda downstairs, which was used as a winter studio. The extraordinary wooden building has a steep glass roof and an abundance of angled windows, while the interior reflects the progressive views of Repin and his wife, Natalya Nordman.

 

When he came to live in the house in 1903, he was a professor of the Russian Academy of Arts and a world renowned artist.  “Penaty” became a kind of Mecca for many noted figures of Russian culture and world celebrities who visited and stayed at the house as guests.

 

Penaty estate was at the center of attention of photographers. The photos of the house, its interiors, the park surrounding it and, first and foremost, its inhabitants and numerous guests were published in popular newspapers and magazines of that time. Thus the estate obtained its own photo history.

 

The estate was photographed not only during Repin’s life in it, but in other periods of its existence.  It is the photos that made it possible to restore the house after damage in World War II and now give us an idea of its remarkable  history. 

 

The second exhibition in the Titian Hall entitled Nordman’s Album features photo copies of graphic portraits executed by Ilya Repin in Penaty in 1905-1911. Thirty eight drawings from the private album of Natalya Nordman were first shown in 1911 at the world exhibition in Rome. Now, they are in museums and private collections and it is impossible to combine all the originals.  This exhibition provides us with an opportunity to see all the works from Nordman’s Album in photographs.

Visitors will also be able to see a film about Repin and his estate in Kuokkala from the collection of Ilya Repin Estate-Museum “Penaty”.

 

The opening ceremony on August 5th, 2009 will include a presentation of the unique  project “Repin’s Gift to Finland” - video show of the collection  of works by Russian artists  from Repin’s Penaty which he presented as a gift to the Finnish Art Association in 1919. These works together with eight paintings by Repin himself were transferred to Atenum Museum in 1920 and were a basis for the department of Russian art in the Finnish National Gallery. Repin’s canvases from this gift could be seen both in the permanent collection of Atenum Museum and at temporary exhibitions, including those in Russia, but 20 other works by Russian masters from Repin’s and Nordman’s collection have never been displayed to the public or published. The project has been organized in association with the department of photography of the Central Art Archives of the Finnish National Gallery.






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