Watercolour

The age when Russia fought against Napoleon presented through artefacts from the Pushkin Museum and the collection of Alexander Vasiliev

The Pushkin Museum is one of the first museums to begin the commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the war against Napoleon, this landmark event in Russian history — the Patriotic War of 1812 — with the museum's new project "TIME OF GLORY AND ELATION!". The developments in and around the year 1812 had a special importance for Pushkin both as an individual and as a writer. This age of huge upheaval became for the poet one of the main sources of inspiration and focused his reflection on the destinies of humankind, his motherland and the world. A whole series of his masterpieces in poetry and prose (from the youthful "Recollections about Tsarskoe Selo" to the philosophical "The Commander") directly or indirectly address the era that remains embedded in the memory of almost all citizens of Russia. The circle of his family and friends included many people who had participated in the heroic battles of the Great European War of 1812-1815.

OCTOBER 2014 WILL SEE CELEBRATIONS MARKING THE 200TH ANNIVERSARY OF MIKHAIL SCOTTI'S BIRTH. TODAY, THE GENERAL PUBLIC IS HARDLY AWARE OF THE ARTIST'S NAME; IN HIS LIFETIME, HOWEVER, AS A MEMBER OF THE ACADEMY OF ARTS AND PROFESSOR, SCOTTI WAS WIDELY KNOWN AND HIS WORK WAS MUCH SOUGHT AFTER. SCOTTI'S CONTEMPORARIES, INCLUDING MEMBERS OF THE RUSSIAN IMPERIAL FAMILY, ADMIRED HIS MASTERFUL WATERCOLOURS, HIS "ITALIAN-STYLE" PAINTINGS, AND HIS PORTRAITS. SCOTTI RECEIVED WELL-DESERVED RECOGNITION FOR HIS HISTORICAL PAINTINGS, TOO: RECENTLY HIS PAINTING "MININ AND POZHARSKY" (NIZHNY NOVGOROD ART MUSEUM) HAS BECOME PARTICULARLY FAMOUS.

THE ART OF ALEXEI SHMARINOV IS MARKED BY THE SUBTLETY OF ITS ENVIRONMENTAL PERCEPTION, A PROFOUND KNOWLEDGE OF HISTORY AND APPRECIATION OF TRADITION, A DELICATE SENSE OF HERITAGE AND THE INTEGRITY OF ITS ARTISTIC ATTITUDE. THE ARTIST CELEBRATES HIS 80TH BIRTHDAY WITH A MAJOR EXHIBITION AT THE RUSSIAN ACADEMY OF ARTS. IT IS A SPACE FILLED WITH THE YEARS OF HIS CREATIVE STRUGGLE AND SPIRITUAL WANDERINGS, AND THE MULTITUDE OF PAINTINGS AND GRAPHICS FROM DIFFERENT PERIODS ARE LIKE LIVING ILLUSTRATIONS OF A GREAT TALENT PASSING THROUGH THE MOST SIGNIFICANT STAGES OF LIFE.