Exhibition 'Viktor Ivanov and the Land of Ryazan'

About exhibition

The basis of the gallery collection 'Viktor Ivanov and the Land of Ryazan' consists of more than 600 works donated to the city by People's Artist of the USSR, laureate of the State Prize and the M. A. Sholokhov Prize, full member of the Russian Academy of Arts, and honorary citizen of the region Viktor Ivanovich Ivanov. The artist was born in Moscow (in 1924), but his creative path is connected with the Ryazan land. In his mother's homeland, in the Spassky District, he found the themes and protagonists of his work. The inhabitants of the villages Ryassy, Krasny Yar, Agramakovo, and Isady became characters in his works. In his paintings Viktor Ivanov reflects on the cycle of human life, traditional values and the sense of community, and the moral foundations historically rooted in peasant life. The permanent exhibition, spanning more than fifty years of creativity, presents over 100 works by the master: portraits, landscapes, and genre compositions, among which are notable works such as 'A Person Was Born' (1968), 'On the Oka' (1872), 'Afternoon Snack' (1977), 'Baptism' (1990), 'Funeral in Isady' (1962–1983). Significant for the gallery are the artist's repeated versions of works, the first variants of which are housed in the State Tretyakov Gallery ('Ryazan Meadows' (2005)) and the State Russian Museum ('Family. 1945' (2007)). Drawings by the artist are an important component of the collection and exhibition.