The bookish-illustrative exhibition "A Colour Symphony" dedicated to a still-life in world painting is held from June 28 to September 12 in the Art Documents reading room (room 306).
The fragrant freshness of the bouquet, on which the droplets of morning dew have not dried, a juicy lemon, a silky peach, the clear transparency of the fragile glasses and the frosted silver flicker - these and many other qualities of the material world embody the still life genre in painting. It seems that objects on canvas, transformed with an artist’s brush, become alive, gain profound meaning and talk with the audience in the secret language of allegories. Still life has a unique ability to invade the field of human feelings, affecting not only sight, but also smell, touch and even hearing. It is not for nothing that many art historians prefer to call this genre of painting not "dead nature" (from French “nature morte”), but to use the term of Dutch origin "stilleven", literally translating as "quiet life".
Every century put forward his masters of still life, and the genre experienced both ups and downs. Sections of the exhibition reveal the historical variety of still life paintings, displaying various artistic styles, national schools of painting, as well as the works of individual artists.
The first part of the exposition is dedicated to the Dutch still-life of the 17th century. Exactly during this time period in Holland that the still life was formed as an independent genre. In no other country it was paid such attention to the image of an inanimate world. To appreciate the atmosphere of the quiet life of things, flowers, ripe fruits, you could admire the works by Jan van Huysum, Pieter Claesz, Jan Davidsz. de Heem, Abraham Mignon, Balthasar van der Ast, Willem Claeszoon Heda.
The central part of the exhibition tells how the genre of a still-life in the 19th century developed in Western European countries. Albums and reproductions of the works by Auguste Renoir, Paul Cézanne, Vincent van Gogh, Henri Matisse and other painters demonstrate how varied the still life works were in that epoch.
One of the sections is dedicated to the Russian still-life of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, which reached its heyday at this time. Here are reproductions of the works of Igor Grabar, Konstantin Korovin, Alexander Kuprin, Aleksandr Golovin, Pyotr Konchalovsky, Ilya Mashkov, Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin and others.
A special place at the exhibition is dedicated to the work of the outstanding artist of the still-life of Ivan Khrutsky, Byelorussian by origin. Ivan Khrutsky reproduced the illusory nature of material world with genuine brilliance and made a significant contribution to the development of a still life of the 19th century.
In the final part of the exhibition there are such masters of the Belarusian still-life as Ivan Akhremchik, Boris Arakcheev, Valeriana Zholtok, Nikita Voronov, and others. Based on national traditions, drawing the experience of other nations, Belarusian artists have created valuable works that are included in the country's spiritual treasury.
The opening hours of the exhibition corresponds to the library’s opening hours.
Entrance to the exhibition is available by the library ticket or ticket of the library's social and cultural center.
For more info: (+375 17) 293 27 53.
