Exhibition: Graphics by Ivan Shishkin are presented at the exhibition in Udmurtia

The Art and Exhibition Complex "Bashenin villa" of the Museum of the History and Culture of the Middle Kama region (Sarapul, Udmurtia) hosts the exhibition of graphics "What could be better than nature?" from Sarapulsky museum collection. The exhibition presents etchings by famous Russian landscape painter Ivan Shishkin (1832-1898). Several times the artist came to Sarapul to his beloved sister, Olga, who was married to a Sarapulsky merchant D. G. Izhboldin. Along the way he made sketches and notes in his diary describing home places.

Ivan Shishkin was a first-class schedule painter, draftsman. He revived the art of etching and raised it to new heights. Contemporaries told about him. "…If he is one of the first in a series of contemporary Russian painters of the landscape is a landscape as an engraver - unique and unprecedented in Russia". Graphics by Shishkin was a huge success. During the life of the artist published 4 albums of etchings, which includes all the best that was created by a master in the field of graphic arts. 

A great connoisseur of art by Ivan Shishkin was Russian scientist-geobotanist Alexei Porfirevich Ilyinsky (1888-1945). His collection of etchings and drawings by Ivan Shishkin was the largest collection in our country. Scientists and artists are united by passion for nature and native land. Alexei Ilyinsky was born in Sarapul, studied at the real school of Alexeev. He soon began to get involved in the study of nature. The exhibition presents the student's drawing by Alexei Ilyinsky "Fir trees", indicating the excellent knowledge of "Anatomy of the forest" and the outstanding artistic abilities. 

Today, graphic sheets of Ivan Shishkin from Alexei Ilyinsky collections are in major museums of our country. In the 1980s, thanks to painstaking research, the Museum of History and Culture of the Middle Kama region managed to acquire a few etchings by Shishkin, as well as interesting information about the collector and his scientific activity. 

Older graphic sheets are extremely fragile, requiring careful storage. Exposure is possible only for a short time. The Museum of History and Culture of the Middle Kama region provides an opportunity to get acquainted with unique artwork and invites all residents and visitors to the exhibition "What could be better than nature?".