Man of Light - Vasily Polenov at the Samara Regional Art Museum

In mid-March, the all-Russian exhibition project “Man of Light. To the 180th anniversary of V.D. Polenov" in Samara.

Paintings by the great Russian artist are being collected throughout the country for participation in this grandiose exhibition. They will be donated by 11 Russian museums, including the V. D. Polenov State Museum-Reserve. 

Vasily Polenov. They brought the children (sketch). Samara Regional Art Museum

Polenov is a recognized master of landscape, master of the plein air, and participant in exhibitions of the Itinerants. The author of “Golden Autumn” and “Moscow Courtyard” saw his main mission in creating a cycle of paintings “From the Life of Christ”. The Samara Regional Art Museum chose this cycle as the basis for the future exhibition. Currently, the museum’s collection contains three paintings from this series: “They brought the children” (study), “We decided to go to Jerusalem” and “She announced joy to those who wept.” The exhibition will show how many more paintings the museum will be able to collect. Museum director Alla Shakhmatova believes that this exhibition will be an example of successful cooperation between museums and a vibrant cultural event in the life of the region.

Vasily Polenov. We decided to go to Jerusalem. Samara Regional Art Museum

An exhibition of paintings from the gospel cycle, which featured 72 paintings, was first held in 1909 in St. Petersburg and Moscow and aroused the admiration of the general public. During the Civil War, some of the paintings in the series were exported to the United States for sale, and some disappeared. Recently, at Bonhams auction, the painting “Calvary (Standing Away)” from this series was sold for $1.9 million.

Museum website: https://artmus.ru/

The news was prepared by Natalya Shembereva