History of Saint-Petersburg: Exhibition “Leningrad residents. Painted portrait of the XX century in the collection of the State Museum of the History of Saint-Petersburg”

The exhibition “Leningrad residents. Painted portrait of the XX century in the collection of the State Museum of the History of St. Petersburg” opens on October 3, 2013 in the Rumyantsev Mansion (St. Petersburg). 

The exhibition brings together more than 170 paintings of portraits created since 1917 and till the start of the 2000s. They depict Leningrad residents: famous scientists, writers, artists and ordinary citizens. The fate of each of them - is part of the history of the city. Therefore, the collected by museum the Portrait Gallery is not only artistic interest, but also an invaluable historical material. Written in the best tradition of Soviet realist art, these works capture the spirit of the era and recreate a generalized image of Leningrad. 

The exhibition features almost all the areas of the portrait genre: ceremonial and formal, group and intimate portraits, self-portraits. The earliest on-time portrait in the exhibition depicts Russian opera singer Feodor Chaliapin. It was created in 1917 by a student of Ilya Repin, academician of painting Gregory Bobrovsky.

A significant part of the exposition takes portraits of ordinary citizens of Leningrad. A characteristic feature of the time is the portraits of distinguished work - Heroes of Socialist Labor of the Kirov, the Baltic, the Leningrad Metal and other plants.

The exhibition also includes several children’s portraits.