Memorable Dates: Exhibition “I Know of No Other Such Country” marking the 100th anniversary since the formation of the USSR presented in Omsk

The Vrubel Omsk Regional Museum of Fine Arts presents the exhibition I Know of No Other Such Country marking the 100th anniversary since the formation of the USSR, which is celebrated on December 30, 2022. The exhibition is open at the Hermitage – Siberia Centre.

The exposition features about 200 works of artists of 15 Union republics: painting, graphics, sculpture, decorative and applied art of 1922-1991 from the collections of the Vrubel Museum. Over 20 paintings are being exhibited for the first time.

The exhibition continues the introduction of the art of the Soviet period from the collections of the Vrubel Museum and marks the solemn date – the 100th anniversary of the formation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1922-1991), a multinational state with no analogues in world history. The name of the project was given by a line from the popular march Wide is My Motherland, written for the movie Circus (1936).

The Soviet Union was created as an association of equal republics with the RSFSR taking the leading historical role in the process of its formation. Therefore, the display in one of the exhibition halls is entirely dedicated to the art of the RSFSR, its autonomous republics and regions (1920s-1980s). The easel painting, widely popular in the 1930s-1970s (it served as translator of official ideology), reflected the main directions of the policy of the Soviet state: industrialization, collectivization, cultural revolution, nationality issue.

Being the only customer ordering works of art, the party was interested in such subjects as images of leaders, a new Soviet man, scenes of Soviet labour, while socialist realism was chosen as the only method of its embodiment. The main stage was occupied by a historical painting dedicated to modernity – the theme of the Civil War and the image of a leader among the people. The viewer will have a chance to see for the first time the monumental canvas of P. V. Williams For the Defence of Petrograd. 1919, created in 1937 for the most grandiose pre-war art exhibition The Industry of Socialism. There are also presented six more works that took part in that historical exposition – in a way, it is an exhibition within an exhibition.

Many works of art were made by painters during creative business trips to the Soviet republics. These are landscape paintings and genre compositions, sculpture and works of other genres.

The final thematic block of this section explores the work of artists of autonomous republics, regions and districts of the RSFSR: Kabardino-Balkarian Republic, North Ossetian ASSR, Bashkir ASSR, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area, Komi ASSR.

The second exhibition hall presents the works of painters, graphic artists, sculptors and masters of decorative and applied arts of 15 Union republics.

Most of the pieces were created in the 1970s-1980s – the time when numerous all-Union thematic and anniversary exhibitions, timed to coincide with various historical dates, were held in the USSR. The vast majority of the works were transferred to the museum’s collection during the 1950s-2000s from the holdings of the Ministry of Culture of the USSR, the RSFSR and the Russian Federation.

Over 20 paintings have been restored for this project. Many works participated in museum exhibitions more than 50 years ago. Some of the exhibits are showcased to the viewers for the first time.

The exhibition will run until January 28, 2024.