Painting of the end of the •I• - •• centuries

In the end of the 19-start of the 20 centuries the new artistic societies were organized, namely the Society of the Russian aquafortists (in 1871), the Society of the Russian watercolour artists (in 1880 ), the Society of Saint-Petersburg artists (in 1893 ), the Society named after A.I. Kuindji (in 1909-1910 ), existed till 1930 ; in the Soviet times M.I.Avilov, I.I.Brodsky, A.A.Rylov and others were the members of this society. In 1890 the Society "The World of Art" was organized in Petersburg .This Society was characterized with the esthetical admiration to the olden days and the attention to the city beauty. N.Roerich, A.N.Benois, B.M.Kustodiyev and V.A.Serov were the members of this society. The greatest Russian artist V.A.Serov studied in Repin's studio, then - in Chistyakov's studio in the Academy of Arts . In one of the last Serov's great masterpieces "Princess Orlova's portrait" (1911) the expressive image of the cold "refined lioness" is shown, using the acuteness of the composition and masterly selection of the accessories. The well-known Kustodiyev's "Merchant's Wife" (1918) is the example of the "Russian avant-garde".

In 1898 the Russian Museum was opened. It is the greatest store of the Russian art masterpieces ( comparable to Tretyakovskaya Gallery in Moscow ). Since October 1918 the nationalization and art masterpieces collecting began. The masterpieces from the private collections, museums and former emperor's became accessible to the working people. In the fall of 1920 the art treasures of the Hermitage,Peterhof's and Grand Tsarskoselsky's Palaces were returned from Moscow, where they had been evacuated earlier. On April 23, 1932 the Leningrad Union of the Soviet artists was organized. It became the center of the creative life of the city. The system of the artistic education was revised and changed fundamentally. In 1933 the work of the All-Russia Academy of Arts started in Leningrad. During 1934-1939 it was directed by I.I.Brodsky.

During the years of the World War II all the energy of Leningrad artists were given to the Motherland defense and the victory over the enemy. The Leningrad Union of the Soviet artists became the organizational headquarters of the city artists. The members of the Union joined the battles in the front, participated in the fortifications construction, recruiting posts designing, military objects camouflage making and so on.Posters, caricatures and other visual campaigning items publishing was developed in Leningrad and didn't stop either in the conditions of the severe siege of the city. During the very first weeks of the War the numerous posters, made by the well-known artists occurred in the city. These posters were the works of V.A.Serov, M.I.Avilov, A.A.Kazantsev, I.A.Serebryany, A.M.Liubimov, N.M.Kotchergin and others. Leningrad artists were represented widely in the All-Union exhibitions: the "World War II", the "Heroes of the front and rear" and the next exhibitions. The most outstanding works among the canvases painted during the period of the War are: "We will never forget it" (1943 ) by V.A.Serov,"The break of the siege" (1943) by V.A.Serov, I. A.Serebryany and A.A.Kazantsev, "What for ?" (1941 ) and "To the great land" (1945 ) by Ya.S.Nikolayev, "The duel between Peresvet and Tchelubei" (1943 ) by M.I.Avilov, and "The bomb-hunters" (1943 ). After the World War II many talented artists graduated from the Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture named after I.Ye Repin and joined the number of Leningrad artists. In the end of the 40-50-s the great place in the easel painting was taken by the war theme. There were many canvases with the battle, lyrical and dramatic plots, depicting the life in the rear and in the front by Ye.Ye. Moiseyenko, V.V.Sokolov, Yu.S.Podlyasky, M.P.Trufanov, B.S.Ugarov, V.F.Zagonek and many others. The picture of A.A.Mylnikov "At the peaceful fields" (1950 ) is one of the examples. The pictures of the peaceful work and life are full of romantic (L.V.Kabachek "Thoughts") and the inner world aspiration - the portrait of that time (V.M.Oreshnikov "Ballerina's portrait").

The characteristic features of Leningrad painting of the 70-80-s are: the wide range of themes and the variety of the artistic solutions and image intonations. The attention to the revolutionary and labour themes became the tradition of Leningrad school (G.A.Savinov "Seizing by storm", M.P.Trufanov, Yu.S.Podlyasky "Hard kilometers" and other ). The great place was still taken by the plots, connected with the World War II events (Ye.D.Maltsev, Ugarov and others).