History and Culture: Exhibition “Honour Students”, spotlighting European travels of young Russian masters, opened in Moscow

From February 9 to May 21, 2023, the Museum of Russian Impressionism presents the exhibition Honour Students spotlighting the European travels of young Russian masters – the best graduates of the Imperial Academy of Arts and the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. At the turn of the 19th – 20th centuries, ambitious aspiring artists refused to imitate foreign masters and, rethinking the experience gained abroad, laid the foundation for a new round of development of Russian art. This crucial period can be found in the works of participants of retirement trips: from the academic works of Henryk Siemiradzki to the impressionistic experiments of Ilya Repin, Vasily Polenov, and their followers.

The exposition includes works of both famous masters and artists for whom the time spent abroad has become the most striking stage in their work. Visitors will have an opportunity to see paintings by Boris Kustodiev, Isaak Brodsky, Mikhail Demyanov, Alexander Yakovlev, Vasily Shukhaev, and other painters from the private collections, federal and regional museums, including the State Tretyakov Gallery, the State Russian Museum, and the Kovalenko Krasnodar Regional Art Museum.

A special project on the third floor of the museum will showcase the works of European masters whose names are found in letters and memoirs of Russian painters about foreign trips. The works of Camille Corot, Gustave Courbet, Eugène Carrière, Franz von Stuck and other artists from the collection of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts will immerse visitors in the creative atmosphere of European capitals at the turn of the 19th – 20th centuries.