Star Tribune; Mary Abbe, Art Review, September 7, 2012

Examiner; William Fietzer

Star Tribune

Southwest Journal

Discovering 20^th Century Russian Masters: Nicolai Fechin

MINNEAPOLIS (August 14, 2012) — Beginning August 25, The Museum of Russian Art presents a new exhibition featuring over thirty-five works by Russian-American artist Nicolai Fechin, many on display for the first time in Minnesota.

The fourth in the series Discovering 20^th Century Russian Masters, this exhibition illustrates the artist’s impeccable skill as a draftsman, his finely tuned sense of color, and bravura brushwork. A student of the celebrated Ilya Repin at the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg, Nicolai Fechin (1881-1955) is one of the most prominent 20^th century artists in the Russian tradition.

The exhibition includes works generously on loan from American museums, as well as private collectors in the United States and Russia, and is held under the aegis of the U.S.-Russian Bilateral Presidential Commission, whose goal is to strengthen the democracy, security and prosperity of the American and Russian peoples. This presentation of Fechin’s work is uniquely suited to promote this goal, as Fechin spent half of his career in Russia and half in the United States. After immigrating to the United States in 1923, his work was not shown in Russia for over thirty years. Initially settling in New York City, health concerns soon forced him to relocate to a more suitable climate in Taos, New Mexico. Fechin’s career flourished during his years living in the American Southwest, where his presence launched a dramatic rebirth of the artists’ colony in New Mexico. Known as the “living old master…an artist’s artist,” he became well known for his refined style, his portraits of prominent Americans and his portrayals of indigenous American culture. Fechin’s work incorporates a broad range of styles that explore the influences of his birthplace and adopted home.

TMORA Director, Chris DiCarlo adds: “Fechin’s portraits will amaze and inspire you—he is a true heavyweight in this discipline. His mastery is easily comparable to more well-known American artists such as John Singer Sargent and James Abbott McNeill Whistler.”

Nicolai Fechin’s dazzling work has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity and public interest in recent years, both in the United States and Russia. Referred to as the Michelangelo of our time, Fechin’s work is not to be missed. The exhibition will arrive in Minneapolis from Moscow, where it was on display at the Tretyakov Gallery, the foremost federal repository of Russian art in the Russian Federation.

Discovering 20^th Century Masters: Nicolai Fechin is on view through January 20, 2013.

High-resolution images available upon request.

The U.S. tour of the exhibition is organized by the Foundation for International Arts & Education, Bethesda, MD and the State Museum and Exhibition Center ROSIZO, Russia in cooperation with The Museum of Russian Art, Minneapolis, MN.

About The Museum of Russian Art (TMORA)

The Museum of Russian Art, a non-profit, educational institution, is the only museum in North America dedicated exclusively to the preservation and exhibition of all forms of Russian art and artifacts from many eras. TMORA is located in a state-of-the-art, historical building at 5500 Stevens Ave. S. (intersection of I-35W and Diamond Lake Road) in Minneapolis. Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Monday-Friday), 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Saturday) and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. (Sunday). Admission is $7 for adults; voluntary donation for full-time students and on behalf of children 18 and under. To learn more about the Museum’s exhibitions, events, and history, visit http://tmora.org/ or call 612-821-9045.

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The Anniversary Celebration:

 A Decade of Russian Art and Culture

MINNEAPOLIS  (August 6, 2012)–The Museum of Russian Art celebrates its tenth anniversary with an exhibition featuring treasures of its permanent collection, as well as highlights from past critically acclaimed exhibitions on loan to the Museum.

Bringing together eighteen superb works by prominent Soviet artists from the post-WWII period, The Anniversary Celebration: A Decade of Russian Art and Culture will include technically proficient and stylistically diverse paintings. These post-war paintings are excellent examples of a revival in the unique tradition of Russian Realism, and a move away from the controlled style and content of earlier decades. Artwork from this period touched the hearts and minds of the masses, telling stories and addressing universal themes. Artists from this period created works that were sincere and non-commercial. They found ways of addressing Soviet ideology while striving for personal integrity in a difficult political situation.

The Anniversary Celebration: A Decade of Russian Art and Culture will feature paintings from the Museum’s permanent collection, as well as paintings from past exhibitions, including some of the best examples of Soviet Realism the Museum has ever shown. Works will be featured from, In the Russian Tradition (2005), the first exhibition to be held in the Museum’s current building, Russian Realism: Art of the 20^th Century (2006), Colors of Russian Winter (2007), Russian Impressionism: On the Edge of Soviet Art (2008), Russkiy Salon: Select Favorites and Newly Revealed Works (2009), The Road North (2010), and The Art of Vassily Nechitailo (2011). The favorite painting “Milkmaids, Novella,” by Nikolai Baskakov, a key painting in the 2007 exhibition Milkmaids and Friends will also be on display.

Museum Director Chris DiCarlo shared his thoughts saying, “The past decade has been a time of incredible growth and change for The Museum of Russian Art. This exhibition only addresses a fraction of what the Museum has accomplished, but also demonstrates the immense potential we have.”

Founded in 2002 by the prominent collector, Ray Johnson, the Museum of Russian Art moved to its current home in 2005. In 2007, the Museum was registered as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. The Museum of Russian Art is the only institution in North America solely dedicated to the presentation and preservation of Russian art in its many forms. A cultural ambassador for Russia and Russian culture, the Museum is governed by a Board of Trustees.  Seeking to advance its educational mission through dynamic exhibitions ranging in content from 19^th and 20^th century painting, Russian Orthodox icons, photography, printmaking, lacquer art, porcelain, Soviet stamps, textiles, sculpture and other decorative arts, The Museum of Russian Art is a unique and integral part of Minnesota’s rich cultural history.

High-resolution images available upon request.

About The Museum of Russian Art (TMORA)

The Museum of Russian Art is a member-supported, non-profit, educational institution that is governed by a Board of Trustees. It is the only museum in North America dedicated exclusively to the preservation and exhibition of all forms art and artifacts from Russia and its surrounding regions. TMORA is located in a state-of-the-art exhibition facility at 5500 Stevens Ave. S. (intersection of I-35W and Diamond Lake Road) in Minneapolis. Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Monday-Friday), 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Saturday) and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. (Sunday). Admission is $7 for adults; voluntary for full-time students and on behalf of children 18 and under. To learn more about the Museum’s exhibitions, events, and history, visit http://tmora.org/ or call 612-821-9045.

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Made from original photographic negatives, the remarkable images were printed in the Soviet Union at or around the time they were taken and reflect the photographers’ creative choices in capturing the various sides of Soviet life. The exhibition also includes a selection of approximately seventeen intriguing artifacts from the Soviet era. On display for the first time in a U.S. museum, the selection of photographs and artifacts draws from the extensive collection of Thomas Werner, professor at the famed Parsons The New School for Design in New York.

The fascinating images provide an insider’s view of the realities of Soviet life under the socialist regime, exploring its various sides and reflecting the multiplicity of lifestyles in the seemingly uniform socialist environment. The black-and-white photos feature Soviet food stores, daycare centers, schools, and construction sites, showing Soviet citizens at work and leisure. Specificities of life under socialism provided extensive material for photographers to refer to. From becoming a young pioneer to taking a bath in a communal men’s bathhouse, the images provoke the dissection of the perceived stereotypes in the presentation of Soviet realities. There is no attempt to answer questions about whether there is a single Soviet identity. Instead the exhibition creates a context that invites reflection while presenting diverse points of view from a selection of photographers who worked within the contexts of the Soviet Union.

The structure of the exhibition is based on the juxtaposition of images, which are divided into groups of two-to-three, each showing the various, often-conflicting aspects of life under socialism. Rather than attempting to define a single Soviet identity, the exhibition contrasts the official Soviet ‘story’ with unembellished depictions of Soviet citizens’ daily pursuits. Portrayals of public meetings and celebrations, professional photographer images, vernacular shots and sentimental family photos are brought together in an orchestrated dialogue to recreate the complex texture of the Soviet world in its four final decades.

With the decline of film photography, pre-digital era photographic prints are becoming increasingly rare, and many of the images in this exhibition exist in one unique copy. The collapse of the Soviet Union also contributes to the rareness of these items.  All of the photographs included in this exhibition are original images developed from 35-millimeter negatives and printed between the 1950s and 1990s in the former Soviet Union.

The exhibition closes September 16, 2012.

Please refer to our website for sample images and more information:

http://tmora.org/exhibition/photography-from-the-ussr-soviet-life-russian-reality/