The exhibition is an integral part of Belgazprombank’s corporate project — Art-Belarus. It includes 69 pictorial, graphic and sculptural works from the collections of Belgazprombank, the National Art Museum and private collections. In fact, it is a concentrated presentation of the works by artists of the Paris School (Ecole de Paris) of the early 20th century, who were born in Belarus and who subsequently became world famous. This is the first time that the exhibition will be shown outside Belarus.
For the first time, this art project will appear outside the border of Belarus
The exhibition covers a wide range of trends of classical modernism of the 20th century: fauvism, cubism, suprematism and expressionism. The works of the Belarusian artists are distinguished by their particular world view, a combination of drama and melancholy, emotional colouring and pronounced visual expression.
“Vilnius had a special place in the fate of many Belarusian artists. Many of them attended the Vilnius Trutnev’s School of Drawing, including Chaïm Soutine, Pinchus Krémègne, Sam Zarfin, Léon Indenbaum, Robert Genin and Michel Kikoïne. It was in Vilnius that future artists received the first ideas about modern art; it was from here that they left for Paris. Artists from Eastern Europe gave the new trend in art — Ecole de Paris — restraint and elegance, rich colours and extraordinary expressiveness,” note the organisers.
The Director of the Lithuanian Art Museum, Romualdas Budrys, looks forward to welcoming the exhibition, as Lithuanian art lovers will be given an exclusive opportunity to see what is absent even in France. This cultural project helps disclose the ties between contemporary European art and the artistic processes that are happening in Belarus and Lithuania. Before this, exhibitions used to travel from Vilnius to Minsk, featuring the portraits of our common historical figures and Slutsk belts. Now, we have an opportunity to surprise Lithuanians, and the cultural dialogue continues.
