Irina Shumanova

CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

Irina Shumanova, Yevgeniya Ilyukhina
Working with the Material

#3 2012 (36)

The exhibition "The Basic Materials of Graphic Art: Paper and Wood, Silk and Glass..." features items from the Tretyakov Gallery's collection of drawings of the 18th-early 20th centuries. It is the final show in a series devoted to drawing materials, media and techniques used in Russia, and is intended to introduce to the public the history and diversity of the materials used in graphic art. The word traditionally applied to them in Russia — "the foundation" — most aptly characterises their role in the creation of an artwork, that of a "tuner" directing the artist towards a certain drawing style. The choice of material to a large extent determines how strokes or dabs of colour are applied — their tempo, rhythm, energy, and density. The exhibition is thematically arranged, exploring different kinds of materials and their characteristics such as structure, texture of the surface, colour, and tone.

CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

Irina Shumanova, Yevgenia Ilyukhina
DRAWING TECHNIQUE:
From Orest Kiprensky to Kazimir Malevich

#1 2011 (30)

of an idea and the stages of its further development. But drawing also has a life of its own as an independent art form with a distinctive language, specific rules and history. Pencils come in many different varieties – silver, lead, graphite, black chalk, wax, coloured pencils, lithographic pencils and other types – and the word also refers to a large number of similar media which can be categorized as the techniques of “dry drawing”, like charcoal, sanguine and sauce. There is an almost limitless variety of techniques involving the use of these materials, and they serve to show off a particular artistÕs individuality, sense of form, innate talent and level of skills. A drawing in pencil, charcoal, sanguine or sauce is the best reflection of its creatorÕs temperament and character. From the vast variety of pencil and pencil-related techniques every epoch chooses those that suit it best. The age of classicism treasured the austere beauty of linear drawing, romanticism – the contrasts and the picturesque quality of strokes; for the “Peredvizhniki” (Wanderers) artists, pencils were “modest workers”, and the modernist movement re-invented the selfsufficiency of lines and the aesthetic value of the process of drawing as such.

CURRENT EXHIBITION

Evgenia Ilyukhina, Irina Shumanova
Sergei Diaghilev’s “Ballets Russes” on the Tretyakov Gallery Stage

#3 2009 (24)

Sergei Diaghilev occupies a special place in the culture of the 20th century – many publications have analysed his personality and artistic projects. But who can state that the puzzle of Diaghilevʼs infinite creativity has been unriddled. For many, he is not so much a real person as a composite figure of the ideal impresario, in whom the talent of an organizer was married to an exceptional sensitivity and receptivity to any innovation in art and, of course, the faculty for finding like-minded individuals and financing for his projects.

CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

Irina Shumanova
The Magic of Watercolour

#3 2008 (20)

The exhibition of watercolours from the 18th to early 20th centuries from the Tretyakov Galleryʼs Department of graphic art.

ART COLLECTORS AND PATRONS

Irina Shumanova, Yevgenia Ilukhina
Among Moscow Collectors.
Drawings from Moscow Private Collections of the late 19th – early 20th century

#3 2007 (16)

Over the last ten years the Tretyakov Gallery has been displaying drawings from its collections at temporary exhibitions. The exhibition programme has had a continuous focus on the history of the collection of 18th–20th century drawings. The gallery’s 20th exhibition in the series reflects a new stage in the history of its collection – namely, the significant enlargement of the collection in the first decade following the Bolshevik revolution due to new acquisitions from private Moscow collections.