PJSC Severstal supported the opening of a unique exhibition "Our Light - Theater ..." at the Art Museum of Cherepovets. The official opening will take place on July 21 and will last until October 6, 2019. The exhibition presents 157 watercolors and graphic works from the largest private thematic collection of Alexei Yegorov in Russia: portraits of famous artists, sketches and variants of scenery, author's solutions for theatrical costumes, developments in the field of cinema.
The attention of visitors will undoubtedly be attracted by theatrical reformers, world famous artists such as K. Korovin, A. Benois, L. Bakst, as well as those who occasionally addressed the theatrical theme - N. Roerich and others. These masters thoroughly studied material culture, visual arts, the life of the era in which the performances took place.
The work of K. Korovin laid the foundation for a new approach to staging the performance as a single stage space, where the artist, along with the director, co-authored the theatrical work. In particular, the exhibition presents a sketch of the figurative image of Judith for the play based on K. Gutskov's drama "Uriel Acosta", created by the artist in 1910. Having studied the history of European women's fashion, K. Korovin depicted a lady dressed in the fashion of the 17th century.
Also noteworthy is the work of A. Benois - a sketch of the costume for the character of Tchaikovsky's opera "The Queen of Spades". The heroine of the work is dressed in the vtorogorokoko style, widespread in European fashion in the first half of the 19th century. The outfits of that era are characterized by lush dresses of light colors, made of satin and velvet, richly decorated with flowers, lace, ribbons, frills. Benois's sketches look like a full-fledged easel work, each of them conveys a unique image of a bygone era.
Works L. Bakst is stylistically very different from the works of A. Benois. L. Bakst was strongly opposed to retrospectivism, the cult of ideal artistic beauty and praise of the aesthetics of bygone eras. World fame came to the artist thanks to his design for "Russian Seasons" by S. Diaghilev, which took place in Paris in 1908–1914.
The sketch of scenery and costumes for the play "Phaedra" by L. Bakst presented at the exhibition demonstrates a combination oriental ornamentalism and ideal beauty of antiquity. Having studied the costume of ancient Greece, the artist reinterprets it, changes the cut, makes it shorter, transforms it to suit the needs of an actor who will have to be physically active on stage.
Among the exhibits there is an illustration by N. Roerich for M. Maeterlinck's play "The Seven Princesses". On the left side of the composition, which is most reminiscent of an engraving, a seascape with scraps is depicted in contrasting black and white parallel strokes. The tall lancet window depicted on the right side of the composition reminds us that the plot of the illustrated play develops in the Middle Ages.
The exhibition also shows works by F. Fedorovsky (opera by N. Rimsky-Korsakov “Sadko”), P. Williams (comedy Zh .Moliere "Tartuffe"), K. Rudakov (operetta "Princess of the Circus"), A. Lentulova (play "Ilya Muromets") and a number of others.
Deputy General Director of the company "Severstal" Alexey Egorov noted:
“Theatrical sketches are of great cultural, artistic and cognitive value. They provide ample opportunities for the study of both the visual and theatrical arts. Such works are rare to see in the permanent museum exhibitions, they are often neglected. I sincerely congratulate the citizens of Cherepov on the Day of Metallurgist and invite you to get acquainted with the collection, which is unique in its composition, high quality and value of the works presented.
