ON THE EDGE OF COLOR. VLADIMIR SCHOOL OF PAINTING

The Institute of Russian Realist Art presents an exhibition of the Vladimir school of art titled On the Edge of Color. The Vladimir school, like the renowned Barbizon school, is inseparably linked with the site of its birth. The artists Kim Britov, Vladimir Yukin and Valery Kokurin sought inspiration in the nature of the Vladimir Oblast and in its crafts – in Mstyora embroidery and lacquer miniatures, in the glass art of Gus-Khrustalny and in the toys of Gorokhovets. This synthesis of folk art and a classical art education has become the predominant style of the Vladimir artists. Their striking, distinctive landscapes are more likely to inspire associations with the Fauvists and the Nabi group than with the works of their contemporaries, and their experiments with priming and color refer us to analogous experiments of Igor Grabar and Vincent Van Gogh. The exhibition’s curators reflect on the phenomenon of this school and seek the sources of its origin, as well as attempting to compare the artists of the Vladimir school and the artists of Vladimir. Works by Kim Britov, Vladimir Yukin, Valery Kokurin, Yury Matushevsky, Nikolay Modorov, Nikolay Mokrov, Pyotr Dik, Viktor Dynnikov, Mikhail Izotov, Vladimir Nilov, Vladimir Sevostyanov, Boris Frantsuzov and others are included in the exhibition. Examples of the renowned Mstyora lacquered miniatures and rare photographs and documents from the artists’ archives are also featured.