RUSSIA and Britain have a few issues to sort out on the diplomatic front – excitable types are even talking of a new Cold War – but a warm welcome is guaranteed the new From Russia exhibition which opens at the Royal Academy of Arts this weekend.
Popular on LondonNet
The subtitle to the show is French and Russian Master Paintings 1870–1925 from Moscow and St Petersburg, which gives some clue as to the importance of the 120 works on display.
The exhibition “surveys the main directions of modern art from Realism and Impressionism to Non-Objective painting,” is how the Royal Academy puts it, the kind of statement that would look ridiculous without serious back up. Luckily, there’s little chance of let-down with landmark paintings from the likes of Cézanne, Gauguin, Kandinsky, Matisse , Renoir, Repin and Van Gogh to adorn the Academy walls.
The works have come from four of Russia’s principal galleries – two Moscow, two St Petersburg – but here they have been gathered together for the first time in a single exhibition.
From Russia: French and Russian Master Paintings 1870–1925 from Moscow and St Petersburg runs at the Royal Academy of Arts from 26 January to 18 April.
