News and Events
Savitsky Poster and Calendar of Events for 2009
Download a copy of the Calendar of Events for 2009. (1mb pdf)
Arkadiy Stavrovskiy Exhibition
The Savitsky Museum is currently holding an exhibition dedicated to the Russian painter Arkadiy Stavrovskiy (1903-1980).
The exhibition, in the year of what would have been Stavrovskiy's 105th birthday, demonstrates the rich and unique world of this creative artist, whose work was essentially forgotten for 40 years before Igor Savitsky started collecting him en masse.
Stavrovskiy belongs to the post Avant-garde generation; pupils of Avant-garde leaders such as Malevitch, Kandinsky, Lentulov, Popova, Chagall and Filonov (Stavrovskiy himself was a pupil of Lentulov). Some of these artists such as Deineka and Pimenov were already known in the 1930s. However, the majority of these cool generation artists, such as Rublev, Levina-Rozengoltz, Safronova, Sokolov and Stavrovskiy, were only discovered in the 1960s and 1970s, by people like Savitsky.
The Nukus Museum is nearly the sole heir of Stavrovskiy, housing more than 2000 works, including 1700 graphics. The exhibition itself presents 25 paintings and 38 drawings which demonstrate the diversity of his work.
Indeed, Stavrovskiy's work is varied, experimenting with realism, cubism, primitivism and futurism. He was constantly in search of his own language that would allow him to depict his ideas and feelings. Stavrovsky fought in World War II, which deeply affected him and stayed with him for the rest of his life, explaining the tragedy and anxiety depicted in much of his work.
Stavrovskiy's favourite themes were darkness and night. In some paintings, subjects remain hidden behind doors and small windows or the scene takes place in partially visible courtyards (notably in the courtyards and dance under the streetlamps series). He also painted clowns as many XXth century masters, returning to this theme throughout his life. These works represent clowns realistically, often exposing a strange sense of premonition.
Museum expert assists Collection
Eric Aubert, a Tashkent-based museum expert with UNESCO spent one month at the museum this summer. A French national and a graduate of the Sorbonne in Art History and Museum Management, Mr. Aubert worked with the museum's staff on developing the offerings for visitors as well as museography issues. His work will form the basis of a museum assessment report for UNESCO.
Europe through the eyes of Uzbeks – photo exhibit
For two weeks in June, the Museum hosted an exhibition of photographs entitled “Europe through the eyes of Uzbeks”, part of a larger traveling exhibition around Uzbekistan arranged with the support of the German Embassy in Tashkent.
Redko and Nikritin
From end-February through June, the Museum held an exhibition of paintings from the Savitsky Collection by Kliment Redko (1897-1956) and Solomon Nikritin (1898-1965). Redko, who spent several years in Paris in the 1920s, is well represented in the Collection with over 50 paintings. One of his best known being perhaps his Motherhood oil on canvas (1928) on display in the Museum’s permanent exhibition. Nikritin, a graduate of the Kiev School of Art and one of the founders of the Jewish Cultural League in 1919, is similarly well represented in Nukus by over 170 works
International Conference on the Aral Sea draws visitors to the Museum
March 2008: A number of distinguished national and international persons visited the Museum on the sides of an International Conference on the Aral Sea, including First Deputy Prime Minister Rustam Azimov; the new French Ambassador to Uzbekistan; UNESCO’s new Regional Representative, Ms. Anna Paolini, and a delegation of German financial institutions.
25th Anniversary of Savitsky’s death
July 27, 2009 A number of special events and activities are under consideration to mark the 25th anniversary of Savitsky’s death in 2009, including a possible exhibition of his own paintings, and the publication of a biography.
