Picasso

The Spanish Collection -
Picasso, Dali, Miró, Gris, Clavé, Tàpies,
at the Pushkin Fine Arts Museum

The collections of artists' books amassed by Boris Friedman and George Gens are probably the fullest of their kind in Russia. There comes a point in the life of many collectors when they feel the urge to make the riches at their disposal available to the public. Such were the motives of Friedman, when he approached the Pushkin Fine Arts Museum with a suggestion for cooperation. The museum was pleased to accept: the material on offer was of extremely high quality, and such projects have undoubted educational value. On show from February to the end of March 2012, it was the first an exhibition of its kind in Russia.

THE NEW YORK JEWISH MUSEUM'S SHOW LAST YEAR, "COLLECTING MATISSE AND MODERN MASTERS: THE CONE SISTERS OF BALTIMORE", PROVED BREATHTAKING. THE EXHIBITION DISPLAYED ONLY A SMAH PART OF WHAT HAS BEEN CALLED "A COLLECTION OF COLLECTIONS" OF EXQUISITE PAINTINGS, GRAPHIC WORKS, PRINTS, SCULPTURE, FURNITURE, EMBROIDERY, RUGS, AND TEXTILES. BUT THE CORE OF THE COLLECTION, ITS PRIDE AND GLORY, IS MATISSE, WHOSE PORTRAITURE, STILL-LIFES, SCULPTURE AND LANDSCAPES WERE ON VIEW. THE EXHIBITION TOLD THE FASCINATING STORY OF THE TWO SISTERS WHO, LED BY A FEMALE INSTINCT FOR BUYING BEAUTIFUL AND OFTEN USELESS -OR AT LEAST UNNECESSARY -THINGS, DEVELOPED A PERFECT TASTE FOR GENUINE ART AND BECAME DISTINGUISHED COLLECTORS OF 19TH- AND 20TH-CENTURY MODERN EUROPEAN ART. "A THING OF BEAUTY IS A JOY FOREVER," WROTE THE BRITISH POET JOHN KEATS, AND ONCE THE CONE SISTERS HAD EXPERIENCED THE JOY OF ART, THEY CHERISHED THIS SUBLIME FEELING THROUGHOUT THEIR LIVES.