On January 2, two new exhibitions will open at the Ilya Glazunov Gallery – “Time of Search” and “Ilya Glazunov and the Theater”. Visitors will be able to admire this artist's famous works from the late 1950s to the early 21st century. Many works will be presented for the first time.
search time
At the exhibition “Time of Search” you can admire the artist's first works from the late 1950s – early 1960s. The creativity of that period is distinguished by a variety of genres and stylistic techniques. The author's works trace central themes – the history of Russia and the “City” cycle, dedicated to the everyday life of a person in the metropolis. They are united by lyricism, contemplation, poetry and sincerity of the depicted plot.
Impressive musical notes gently permeate the work “Dawn” (1960). The artist's distinctive and recognizable painting style in the early 1950s and 1960s is shown through the painting “Boy with a Bird” (1958).
In the genre painting “Soviet Children Crossing the Street” (1959), Ilya Glazunov used an unusual artistic technique – the composition was intentionally cropped and the viewer only saw a red dress fluttering like a banner, followed by a group of children.
In the painting “The Clown” (1960), the artist used real pieces from foreign press publications to depict a newspaper on a table. This was the first application of the mosaic technique – the use of three-dimensional details created from different materials in painting, which would become a characteristic feature of his work.
Ilya Glazunov and theater
The exhibition “Ilya Glazunov and the Theater” was organized on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Union of Theater Workers of the Russian Federation. Through many years of studying portraits of his contemporaries, Ilya Glazunov captured personalities of Russian and European theater and cinema of the 20th and early 21st centuries. These are famous Russian directors – Sergei Bondarchuk, Mark Donskoy, Mikhail Kalatozov, composer and director Yury Sherling, opera singer Elena Obraztsova, actresses Yulia Glizer, Lyudmila Kasyanova, Larisa Luzhina and Natalya Gundareva, actors of the French national theater TNP, Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida, film directors Michelangelo Antonioni, Lukino Visconti and Federico Fellini and others.
The crown jewel of the Italian series is the portrait of actress Gina Lollobrigida. The graphic image was created in just 30 minutes at the artist's studio in Moscow. The portrait was kept by the actress in Italy and was never exhibited in Russia until it was acquired by the Ilya Glazunov Gallery in 2024.
The artist's most famous stage works were settings for opera productions, including Alexander Borodin's “Prince Igor” and Pyotr Tchaikovsky's “The Queen of Spades” at the Berlin State Opera (1978–1981), Nikolai Rimsky-Korskov's “The Tale of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Girl Fevronia” at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow (1983), as well as the play “The Black Bridle of the White Mare” by Yury Sherling at the Jewish Chamber Musical Theater (1978) and the ballet “Masquerade” by Aram Khachaturian at the Odessa Opera and Ballet Theater (1982).
The uniqueness of his images lies in the absence of stereotypes and props inherent in cinemas of the second half of the 20th century. Each theatrical painting of Ilya Glazunov created a separate, unique realistic and poetic artistic image.
You can visit the exhibition until June 30, 2026, admission at ticket to the museum
Quickly find out the main news on the official channels of the city of Moscow on Messenger MAX And “Telegram”.
