Dadu Museum of Art showcases Russian oil painting

Visitors enjoy oil paintings at the Dadu Museum of Art in Beijing. [Photo/people.com.cn]

Moscow's State Tretyakov Gallery's collection and Nicolai Fechin's oil painting exhibitions are on show at the Dadu Museum of Art in Beijing until Feb 1, before moving on to Hangzhou and Jinan through Feb 27.

The State Tretyakov Gallery was constructed in the latter half of the 19th century. Founded by Russian art collector Pavel Tretyakov, the gallery's holdings span a thousand years of Russian art history, from early religious paintings to modern art.

The state gallery says it possesses more than 170,000 art pieces. The exhibition organizers have selected 56 significant pieces by celebrated artists; these works now touring China include oil paintings from a century-long period beginning in the 1890s.

The concurrent show at the Dadu by Nicolai Ivanovich Fechin, who in his lifetime was called an artist sent from heaven, demonstrates how he awakened the world through forms, colors and lines of his works. He was considered a bridge between 19th- and 20th-century art.

As an outstanding painter, sculptor and educator, Nicolai Fechin had a solid academic foundation in his art, yet his work absorbed elements of impressionism and expressionism.

The show's opening ceremony on Dec 6 was attended by officials from the State Tretyakov Gallery and the State Museum of Fine Arts of the Republic of Tatarstan, as well as Jin Shangyi, curator of the Dadu Museum, Liu Dawei, chairman of the Chinese Artists Association, and other experts.