(KZN.RU, September 8, Mikhail Chentsov). In the days of
celebrating the 75th anniversary of the artist Konstantin Vasiliev, 25 his
paintings are exhibited in the museum of his work from the storerooms of the
Moscow Manege and Kolomna's art gallery. “Marshal Zhukov”, “Fatherland”,
“Farewell of the Slav”, “Invasion”, and “Longing for the Motherland” are among
them. Ilsur Metshin, the Mayor of Kazan, visited the gallery and got acquainted
with new paintings from the military and epic cycle of the artist.
The exhibition, timed to the anniversary of the artist, is a
joint project of the Department of Culture of Kazan and the Ministry of Culture
of the RT and will last until November 15.
For today, the largest in Russia collection of works by
Konstantin Vasiliev in the amount of 150 paintings presented in the Kazan Museum.
Gennady Pronin, a friend of Konstantin Vasiliev and a museum employee, told
that almost entire the artist’s heritage is now represented in Kazan, taking
into account the paintings brought.
Showing the work, G. Pronin remembered how he got to assist
K. Vasilyev once while making the portrait of Marshal Zhukov. “At first he drew
an approximate portrait, then he bought the medals at a film studio in Moscow,
so I put them on and posed for him”, he said.
The Mayor of Kazan met with the gymnasium students during
the inspection of the exhibition, which came to get acquainted with the new
exposition. It turned out that they came to the gallery not for the first time.
Olga Vechkanova, the head of the picture gallery, noted the
growing attendance of the museum. Since the beginning of this year, the museum
has been visited by 92 thousand people.
“You keep us up. Konstantin Vasiliev is one of our brands,
as well as Chaliapin, Baki Urmanche, Tukay. All that we did not have time to do
earlier for the museum, we must plan for the future. The desire and the system
work are important”, the Mayor addressed the museum staff.
Thanks to the decision of Ilsur Metshin, the Mayor of Kazan,
the municipal museum of Konstantin Vasiliev opened on June 26, 2013 on Bauman
Street in the historical center of Kazan. The area of the new museum is 3 times
larger than the former picture gallery of Konstantin Vasilyev on Gvardeiskaya
Street. In addition to the exhibition halls of the museum, there are a storage
facility, an archive, and a memorial zone. Every year the best teachers of
Kazan art schools are awarded the prize of K. Vasiliev in the museum. The idea
to establish an award for the first time was voiced on the opening day of the
artist's museum and was supported by Ilsur Metshin. The awarding, established
in the Year of Culture, has become a traditional significant event in the
cultural life of the city.