A new Valentin Serov exhibition at the Russian Museum “Serov as not only a portrait painter” opens on March 5th. Valentin Serov (1865-1911) is one of the most outstanding Russian artists from the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. He is well-known as a master of portraits. His most famous works are exhibited in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow and in the Russian Museum in St Petersburg including fascinating portraits of the Yusupov family, and his “The girl with peaches” (1887) now exhibited in Moscow was the painting that inaugurated Russian Impressionism.

At the turn of the century Serov became arguably the best portrait painter in Russia, surpassing even his prominent teacher Ilya Repin. However the artist himself often claimed to be not just a portrait painter. In the exhibition devoted to the 150th anniversary of the artist’s birth visitors will enjoy historical paintings, genre scenes, and landscapes by Valentin Serov. In these works he is said to anticipate the world-famous Russian avangard (the most famous masters of which are Malevich and Kandinsky). About 250 works of this outstanding artist including paintings, sculptures, graphics from the collection of the Russian Museum and other museums of Russia will be on display until June, among them being the painting “Jesus walking on water” which Serov created together with another Russian artist Konstantin Korovin for a parish church of the Kostroma manufacture, which at that time belonged to Paul Tretyakov (the famous founder of the Tretyakov Gallery) and Vladimir Konshin. It will be the first time when the painting is on display.

A visit to the exhibition can also become a part of your tour of the Russian Museum (which actually houses the largest collection of national art in the world) including its permanent exhibition and you will have a perfect opportunity to follow the whole history of  Russian art which gave to the world such outstanding masters as Valentin Serov.