Icons of Modern Art: The Morozov collection

Description

The Morozov brothers, wealthy Moscow textile merchants Mikhail (1870-1903) and Ivan (1871-1921), played a key role in bringing Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art to Russia in the first decades of the 20th century. Along with Sergei Shchukin, a fellow industrialist and art collector, they created an international audience for French art and had a transformative effect on Russian cultural life. Between the years 1903 and 1914, Ivan Morozov spent more money than any other collector of his time, amassing a stunning collection of works by Matisse, Monet, Picasso, Bonnard, Sisley, Renoir, Signac, Vuillard, Gauguin, Van Gogh, Degas, Pissarro, and, most especially, Cezanne (17 paintings, all of which will be on display). On his bi-annual trips to Paris, he bought from the most discerning dealers, including Paul Durand-Ruel, Ambroise Vollard, and Daniel-Henri Kahnweiler, as well as directly from the artists themselves. His collection comprises 278 paintings, not including 300 paintings by Russian artists (Chagall, Malevich, Serov, Vrubel, Levitan, Larionov, Goncharova) and 28 sculptures. The Morozov collection was nationalised after the October 1917 Revolution, and after World War II it was divided among the Hermitage Museum, the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, and the Tretyakov State Museum. This stunning catalogue has been published for a show of 100 highlights from the Morozov Collection that will run from February 24th to July 25th 2021 at the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris. It is the first time that works from the collection will travel abroad since they were acquired. This landmark exhibition will be the only stop for the show outside of Russia. AUTHORS: Anne Baldassari is Heritage curator, exhibition curator and editor of the catalogue. Authors include Albert Kostenevitch, senior curator Western European Art Department, at the State Hermitage Museum, Mikhail Dedinkin, curator of the exhibition and Deputy Head, Western European Art Department, at the State Hermitage Museum, Ilia Doronchenkov, Deputy Director for Research, The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Natalia Semenova for the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Tatiana Udenkova for the Tretyakov National Gallery, Jean-Claude Marcade, research director emeritus at CNRS. SELLING POINT: . The catalogue for a landmark exhibition of Russian avant-garde, French Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, and Modern paintings acquired in the early decades of the 20th century by a wealthy Russian industrialist family . 100 masterpieces from the collection on display at the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris from February 24, 2021 July 25, 2021 . These works have not travelled outside Russia since they were acquired. This will be the only European stop for the show 545 colour images

Anne Baldassari is a noted author, art historian and curator based in Paris. She is an expert on Picasso and from 2005 to 2014 was the president of the Musee National Picasso in Paris. She is the curator of the exhibition, and the editor of the catalog. Contributors include: Albert Kostenevitch, a senior curator in the Western European Art Department at the State Hermitage Museum (St. Petersburg); Mikhail Dedinkin, a curator of exhibitions and Deputy Head of the Western European Art Department at the State Hermitage Museum; Ilia Doronchenkov, Deputy Director for Research at the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (Moscow); Natalia Semenova, art historian and the author of numerous books, including "The Collector: The Story of Sergei Shchukin and His Lost Masterpieces" (Yale University Press, 2018), and "Morozov: The Story of a Family and a Lost Collection" (Yale University Press, 2020); Tatiana Udenkova, curator and Director at the State Tretyakov Gallery (Moscow); Jean-Claude Marcade, research director emeritus at CNRS (Centre national de la recherche scientifique), and a specialist in Russian avant-garde art.

"This year, the Fondation Vuitton strikes again with an exhibition of the Morozov Collection, about 200 French and Russian works bought by two other textile magnates, the brothers Mikhail and Ivan Morozov, who also made multiple Paris shopping trips" - New York Times