THE TSUKANOV ART COLLECTION

 

‘Mikhail Shvartsman’

Exhibition dates: 13 March to 26 April 2009
Location: The State Russian Museum, The Tretyakov State Gallery, Aachen Museum (Germany)

The work of Mikhail Matveevich Shvartsman (1926-1997) has yet to reach a wider audience. The State Tretyakov Gallery and the Fund for the Inheritance of Mikhail Shvarzman jointly present this exhibition entitled ‘Mikhail Shvartsman’. This exhibition of the artist’s work, which includes around 70 items from his widow’s collection, The Tretyakov State Gallery, the Fund for the Inheritance of Mikhail Shvartsman as well as private collections, will be ‘on tour’ during autumn 2008 and winter 2009, taking in The State Russian Museum, The Tretyakov State Gallery and the Aachen Museum, Germany. Works from the artist’s early figurative period open the retrospective. Even at this stage the artistry of the lines is noticeable, the selection of details is meaningful and laconic and the moods range from lyricism to irony. Many of the drawings from the 1970’s, including sketches for paintings, explain the artist’s searching to understand the engineering function of forms, giving rise to the word ‘structure’ in their names. Individual pieces act as examples of the symbiosis of text and figurative solutions: compositions are dotted with inscriptions, reminiscent of the outline of a labyrinth and are of primary importance for the craftsman to  understand his ideas. From 1985 onwards he devoted himself entirely to painting.

The exhibition includes two works by Mikhail Shvartsman from the Igor Tsukanov Collection, ‘Sisters’ and ‘Serenity’.
« back