The Odesa Museum of Art, from which the featured paintings came, has been in existence for more than 100 years and has an impressive collection of more than 10,000 works. The exhibition was a representative, though necessarily selective, presentation of this particular circle of Russian and Ukrainian painting of the 19th and 20th centuries, which had a significant impact on art and allowed several authors to rise to prominence.
Among the outstanding figures is certainly I.Aivazovsky, who made a significant contribution to the revival of marine painting, which has always fascinated artists. With great technical proficiency and sense of perspective, he added to the typical romanticism a unique
dynamism, emphasising the changeability of the seascape, and the play of colour and light. As befits a museum of a port city, maritime themes are presented in abundance, of which R. Sudkowski’s ‘Odesa shore’ deserves special attention.
The presentations of the little diversified landscape are far from monotonous. The contemplative perception of nature leads to the extraction of the subtlety of the harmony of colours, emphasised by light, remaining surrounded by perceptible emotions. Typically Russian atmospheres dominate the landscapes of G.Golovkov, S.Kolesnikov and M.Pfeferkorn, but Western European influences are already evident in the works of P.Gansky. Particularly astonishing are the unreal, colour-saturated landscapes of O.Gaush. An atmosphere of gentle understatement emanates from T.Dvornikov’s painting ‘Calm Water’. A real rarity are two works by the ‘father’ of abstract art V.Kandinsky – such paintings by the master are not to be seen in the world’s largest museums exhibiting his works.
Among the authors of the exhibited portraits, great masters come to the fore. I.Riepin’s image of the Shoemaker staffman, V.Surikov’s ‘Old Man in Fur’ or O.Kiprensky’s ‘Portrait of an Unknown Man’ fascinate with their psychological depth. The portraits painted by N.Bodarevsky and N.Kuznetsov show technical perfection,
The eye-catching images are of such well-known figures as the bass of all time F.Shalapin (N.Kuznetsova) or the writer-novelist I.Bunin (E.Bukovetsky). And on top of that, the delicious ‘Girl in a Blue Cloak’ by K.Kostandi impresses with its subtle charm.
After Sopot, Szczecin, Poznan and Wroclaw, Stalowa Wola was one of the last places in Poland where this unique exhibition could be seen.
