“Hunters in the Snow”

Exhibition (dedicated to the memory of Brueghel)

 

“Prominent writers never copy anybody, but somewhere in the depth of

one or another work by a writer that had thoroughly studied the oeuvre of

already gone writers in the early days of his career you are sure to find tracks

of those already gone ones”.

                                                     Yuri Olesha

Art lessons of Pieter Brueghel (the Elder) (1525–1569) are more than just an outstanding phenomenon of Flemish painting. They extend beyond their epoch. United by their eagerness to honour the 440th anniversary of his death artists that share his ideas, irony and philosophical core of his works keep their search contemplating the eternal and the fleeting, the tragedy and the

farce of essentially a short period of time called life.

The display explores landscapes, genre art works, and

portraits as seen by contemporaries through the alembic

of creative perception of works by Pieter Brueghel. Thus

the organizers of the art display try to show the impact the

great Dutchman has had on the history of Russian culture,

which is reflected in oeuvre of our contemporaries. Each of

the artists tackles motifs that seem congenial to him to then

creatively interpret them.

Just like his favourite artist Pieter Brueghel, Alexei

Smirnov-Voskresenskiy tenderly depicts market scenes,

rural holidays, sprung men, blind men, and hunters in the

snow of course. His paintings are so interesting to view.

With a background boasting thoroughly depicted details

they teem with life: they feature people eating in the openair,

drinking, kissing, making a racket, and brawling. In villages and small towns life is uncovered – just as it used to be in the Netherlands in olden days. Russian landscape itself is arranged as a stage set. It resembles a flat land with small hills,

where the artist introduces architecture, characters, and his thoughts for them all to coexist and play the game by their own rules there.

Besides landscape compositions with hunting scenes the maestro of snow processions Vitaliy Yermolayev presents his portrait of the Master. His works are distinguished by refined humour, thought-out compositions, and versatile colours. Populating his canvases with exaggerated human figures, mummers enjoying shrove-tide, and costumed characters of distant epochs, our contemporary relates routine scenes to boundless winter landscapes and pristine endless beauty of Russian nature.

Dina Yeltseva like her grand ancestor Pieter Brueghel finds it pleasing to depict proverbs, rural scenes, and children playing and having fun. She decorates her canvases with motley bright colours similar to those of Croatian primitivist Ivan Generalic. Creating multifigured panoramic compositions she depicts the background in details and carefully recreates rural interiors.

Works by People’s artist Kim Britov, the founder of Vladimir school of painting, are imbued with immense vital energy and power. His festivous shrove-tide compositions featuring dances and mummers boast atmosphere similar to that of peasant feasts his acclaimed ancestor used to portray. Sergey Belov uses his typical trompe l’oeil technique to present contemporary workers

against boundless winter landscapes. His mysterious paintings seem paradoxical, prompt contemplations and arouse numerous associations. Precise painting and laconic colours Brueghel would use serve as a basis for St. Petersburg artist Nickolay Kirillov. Works by the brilliant ancestor are our

contemporary’s source of pleasure and drive to create his

own works.

Sergey Volkov has built his own world that seems

both real and unreal at the same time. It differs from the

known world and boasts its own special perspective. Recognizable

architectural edifices in Moscow seem to get on the move. Among a range of a few grotesque characters paradoxical creatures may suddenly appear. Looking at the artist’s canvases you cannot help thinking that the Earth is round and it keeps turning, so its twirl makes buildings,people, hats, balloons, and other objects fly away. Ignoring the conventions of gravity force Sergey Volkov’s characters often soar in the air where talks, tea parties, and lovers’meetings take place. His aspiration to get off the ground is evident in his “Grown-up Children’s Games”. The character that often appears in the artist’s canvases is a yard keeper – a believer in rational principles and a man that resists general phantasmagoria.

Andrei Dubov interprets Brueghel’s oeuvre through the alembic of domestic realistic school of painting presenting winter landscapes with open-work lace of tree branches. The surrealist Mikhail Gorshunov uses works by Bosch and Brueghel as a basis for his metaphysical creations depicting monsters and

hybrid fantastic creatures. Works by Ekaterina Yastrebova are more lightened and life-asserting. They are distinguished by precise meticulous style. The artist’s crowded canvases featuring thoroughly depicted details are accurate

and precise, which to a certain degree makes them look like masterpieces of the Northern Renaissance. Ilya Kaverznev exhibits his copy of “Hunters in the Snow” created in Vienna Art Museum.

Most of the painters are distinguished by meticulousness of work over their canvases, deliberativeness, and attention to details.