Exhibition "Golden Fund of Fine Arts of Sakhalin Oblast"

About exhibition

The exhibition includes more than 170 works by over thirty artists, reflecting the history and contemporary state of the visual arts of Sakhalin Oblast. Some works are being shown to the public for the first time, revealing new facets of the local artists' talents. The display shows how the visual language of Sakhalin artists has changed over 78 years and what themes preoccupied them. The history of island art begins in 1947, when Sakhalin Oblast was formed. At that time the first art exhibition was organized, attended by military artists serving on Sakhalin and amateur practitioners. In the first half of the 1950s the first specialized studio under the leadership of Boris Shakhnazarov appeared, and young talents from relevant educational institutions began to arrive. They made creative forays to mines, fish-processing plants, and state farms, where they gathered subjects for future paintings. Then artists faced an important state task — to introduce Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands to audiences across the vast country. The landscape genre was especially unique — nature generously provided material: seashores and hills, and diverse animal and plant life. The life of the islander, engaged in unusual pursuits and mastering the elements, unleashed the artists' imagination. Thus Sakhalin art became an illustrated chronicle of life on the islands, created for many years by exceptionally gifted people.