A fairly young museum in St. Petersburg is located in one of the most beautiful spots, near the Lion Bridge. It is the Museum of Art of St. Petersburg of the 20th–21st centuries, abbreviated as MISP. There is not yet a place for a permanent exhibition, but in the building of the former meeting house in Kolomna, on Griboedov Canal, 103,
exhibitions are constantly held, not only from its own collection but also guest exhibitions.
Currently, for example, works provided by the charitable foundation Seven Winds are displayed on the third and fourth floors. These are two separate exhibitions by the artists Petr Zverhovsky and Gleb Vyatkin, who were remarkably united by the fact that, already in middle age, after graduating from the Leningrad Art School named after Mukhina, they lived and worked in Volgograd.
There is no special concept in the very arrangement of the exhibition. It is simply a showing of the artists' works. The traditional wide, free hanging allows you to fully enjoy each painting.
In style the artists are similar in some respects: the color palette is natural, the brushwork non-realistic, the paintings are medium-sized, with many portraits. At the same time, of course, each has their own individual manner.
I liked both artists, but Zverhovsky's paintings simply stunned me. Color from Modigliani, forms from Matisse, techniques from Pirosmani. And yet harmonious and lively. You want to look at the works for a long time, admire them. I was especially attracted to the female portraits. On the one hand simply, almost naively executed, on the other incredibly expressive, conveying character and emotion.
Photos, of course, cannot convey the beauty and mood of the works, but I still took a few pictures; I couldn't resist.
It is worth saying that exhibitions at MISP are quite short, usually 4–5 weeks. This exhibition will close on August 11. So hurry.
Bonus: in the museum courtyard there is an exhibition by the well-known St. Petersburg sculptor Lev Smorgon.
