The Power of Colour - Works from the Collections of the State Tretyakov Gallery 23 September 2011 - 15 January 2012

Aristarh Lentulov: Gates with a Tower. New Jerusalem, 1917 © State Tretyakov Gallery

The Power of Colour continues the Helsinki Art Museum’s series of exhibitions on Russian masters from the collections of the Tretyakov Gallery. The Power of Colour is the third exhibition in the series. It concentrates on the period from 1900 to 1930, a turbulent time for Russia and its art.

In the early 20th century, Western artists took a critical stance towards the rules and ideals of art. They broke with realism, the realistic representation of the world, and sought new ways of expression; bold colours and simplified forms became common. Many artists adopted a completely abstract and non-representative mode of expression. New art movements emerged and developed new styles and published manifestos to declare their views. The reformists were known as the avant-garde, the vanguard of art.

At the same time, Russia’s old social system collapsed. The monarchy was replaced by the Soviet system in 1917, and art was given a key role to play in the revolution. The avant-gardists renounced the principles of academic art education and turned to European modernism and Russian folk and icon art for inspiration. Many emphasised spirituality and designed utopian visions of future. The outcome was original and revolutionary art that influenced artists all around the world. By the 1930s, avant-garde had been denounced as degenerate in the Soviet Union.

The artists of The Power of Colour are: Marc Chagall, Nataliya Goncharova, Wassily Kandinsky, Pyotr Konchalovsky, Pavel Kuznetsov, Aristarkh Lentulov, Kazimir Malevich, Ilya Mashkov, Lyubov Popova, Olga Rozanova and Mikhail Vrubel.

Natalia Gontšarova: Mother of God with Child, 1911 © ADAGP 2011

Vasili Kandinski: Rider. St. George. Study, 1914-1915 © ADAGP 2011