The exhibition at the Plyos Landscape Museum is the third joint project of the State Museum of Fine Arts named after A.S. Pushkin in Moscow and the Plyos State Historical-Architectural and Art Museum-Reserve.
The first project, presented in 2022, included an exhibition of Western European engravings and paintings from the 17th-18th centuries. This exhibition was a significant step in expanding the activities of the Landscape Museum, which until then had focused exclusively on domestic art.
In 2023, a new three-year project dedicated to foreign landscape painting from the 17th to the 20th centuries was initiated by Doctor of Art History and chief researcher of the State Museum of Fine Arts V.E. Markova. The first exhibition of this cycle included works by masters from Europe and the USA of the 20th century, generating great interest among the public and encouraging a deeper understanding of world art through the lens of landscape.
The current exhibition aims to acquaint Russian viewers with 19th-century landscape painting by foreign masters. This period was a time of searching for new expressiveness and rethinking the national identity of art, leading to significant experiments in painting techniques. For the Russian school of landscape painting, the 19th century was also an important stage of development, when domestic artists such as Fyodor Matveyev and Ivan Shishkin drew inspiration and experience from their European colleagues.
The exhibition “Western European Landscape of the 19th Century” offers an opportunity to trace the evolution of the landscape genre, understand its national characteristics, and enjoy the diversity of styles and techniques presented in the works of masters from different countries.
