The Museum features prominent artists and leading art groups of the era. New trends that were realized in Russian painting of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with all their unity, had different manifestations, sometimes quite different from each other. Moreover, the new trends did not immediately manifest themselves because of time factor: the older generation painters, associated with the previous stage of artistic development, combined innovations with traditions; artists who discovered some fresh techniques and touches, devoted their arrangements many years; others, being in seeking and striving for discoveries, were changing constantly. But all together they made a multifaceted picture of Russian painting of this time.
One of the outstanding masters was Valentin Serov, whose paintings, acquired by A. Abramyan, belong to the early period of his work. An excellent example of early Serov painting is “A bouquet of lilacs in a vase.” Interpreted indirectly, free from unnecessary details, this motif was given to the artist easily and without effort.
Arkhipov belongs to the constellation of the so-called late or younger Wanderers (Peredvizhniki) group of Russian artists. His painting “Young Peasant Woman” gives a good example of the decorative impressionism to which the young Wanderers came in the pre-revolutionary years.
Among Russian artists, K. Korovin entered the path of impressionism from the very beginning and held on it until the end of his days. The master created his painting “Paris” in the artistic capital of the world as a part of his urban landscapes series. Especially he liked to draw evening and night Paris, with sparkling lights and pedestrians’ bright costumes. The artist’s color gamma is very harmonious and resonant in his “Still Life,” in which pink flowers, red apples and purple plums are depicted on the intense blue background of the sea, creating a unique combination of two different genres of painting - still-life with the landscape.
Nesterov, presented in this same hall, often sought and found his ideals in religious legends, in a solitary life, in unity with nature and dissolution in it. A vivid example of this is his painting “Homeland of Aksakov" - a version of the landscape motive that the artist found in his native Bashkiria.
