The exhibition "Levitan and Chekhov: The Poetics of Landscape" is intended to celebrate the 165th anniversary of the birth of both - the writer and the artist.
The Chekhov Manor's new exhibition space features 24 original sketches by Isaac Levitan. These sketches are part of the collections of the Anton Chekhov Museum-Reserve "Melikhovo", the Vassily Polenov Fine Arts Museum and National Park, as well as a private collection owned by art collector A. N. Zhilin.
The exhibition is based on the idea of comparing the artistic approaches of two masters in their depiction of a landscape: Levitan through painting and Chekhov through literature.
Two great artists and two close friends, they had a dialogue not only in life, but also through their art.
Both of them, gifted with exceptional talent, the artist and the writer developed their own unique artistic approaches and gave art - painting and literature - "completely new forms of expression."
“The idea behind the exhibition is simple: to showcase a conversation between two prominent contemporary artists, two undisputed masters in their respective fields. Their dialogue in life and work, painting, and literature. A dialogue that occurs every time these two names are mentioned together.
It is also a viewer–reader dialogue with authentic works of art. Therefore, this exhibition is intended for careful consideration and "slow reading".
It is the first time that such a large number of Levitan's works have been brought together for display in Melikhovo. These works include both: recognized masterpieces and less well-known pieces, which are rarely presented to the attention of public. But this is what gives the exhibition its intimate, poetic, and the so called "Levitanwise" atmosphere.
Moreover, the new exhibition space of the museum, which has recently been opened after reconstruction, seems to have been specifically designed for this event.
Upon entering this exhibition area, a visitor will immediately face a large window. And through this spacious window, one can see a real landscape with trees in different seasons and weather conditions. Thus, he would be able to transform this "piece of nature" into his "landscape of mood", even if only in his imagination. As advised by the great master”, – said Anastasia Zhuravleva the director of the Anton Chekhov Museum-Reserve "Melikhovo" who is the curator of the exhibition.
The similarity of the motifs and images, artistic styles, and ways of depicting nature, used by the writer and the artist, becomes especially evident when we compare and examine Levitan's sketches alongside with Chekhov's texts. In addition, their accurate and detailed descriptions of the origins of creative works and the purposes of art, as well as their techniques and principles for portraying landscapes, clearly "illustrate" such a similarity.
The exhibition is attended by: The State Literary and Memorial Museum-Reserve of A. P. Chekhov "Melikhovo", ", the Vassily Polenov Fine Arts Museum and National Park, as well as a private collection owned by art collector A. N. Zhilin.
Curator: Anastasia Zhuravleva.
Artist: Anastasia Yudina.
The exhibition is supported by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Moscow Region.
