The Great Victory Day Exhibition opened at the SUSU Art Gallery. This is a real milestone event since the exhibition features a number of famous paintings dedicated to a specific page in the history of the Great Patriotic War.
The main exhibit here is the world-wide famous canvas, The Signing of the German Instrument of Surrender (1945-1946), by the Kukryniksy creative team of the Soviet artists. Mikhail Kupriyanov, Porfiriy Krylov and Nikolay Sokolov worked together under this collective pseudonym. They became famous due to brilliantly created posters, caricatures, cartoons, book illustrations, and large picturesque paintings that left a significant imprint on the Soviet art.
“Of course, on the eve of Victory Day, a stunning painting created by the masters, the brilliant trio of Kukryniksy during the years of the Great Patriotic War is presented here. This canvas painted in 1945 symbolizes the commemoration of the end of the war and the day of victory for our country, which is hard to overestimate. The uniqueness of the painting is that the artists of Kukryniksy were living witnesses of those events. It's great that this painting is presented at South Ural State University, all students can come and see it. I think that excursions will be organized so that everyone could learn about it. Due to the fact that this picture was painted by living witnesses of that day, it also has its specific energy,” said Chairman of Chelyabinsk State Duma Andrey Shmidt.
The organizing the exhibition was initiated by the Head of the Art Gallery, Professor, Doctor of Sciences (Arts), Honoured Worker of Arts of Russia Natalya Parfentyeva. For 20 years now, the SUSU Art Gallery has been actively collaborating with Chelyabinsk State Museum of Visual Arts. The exhibition of works by Kukryniksy at the SUSU Art Gallery would not have been possible without the arts expert and Director of the Chelyabinsk State Museum of Visual Arts Stanislav Tkachenko.
“Indeed, the exhibition is dedicated to the Victory Day. It is the main event that we celebrate every year. And we try to organize either an exhibition or some kind of educational event, marking this great day, great occasion. It happened that this year the Art Gallery of South Ural State University is celebrating its 20th anniversary. Therefore, it became possible to connect these two events and show one of our iconic paintings, a large-format historical document by the artists of Kukryniksy,” noted Director of the Chelyabinsk State Museum of Visual Arts Stanislav Tkachenko.
Also, visitors of the grand opening of the exhibition could see large-scale works by Chelyabinsk artists: The Return by Anatoly Ladnov, and The Rest After the Battle; People’s War; and Leningrad Outskirts. Days of War by Anatoly Pastukhov.
Everyone is welcome to visit The Great Victory Day Exhibition for free until May 30, 2023. Weekdays from 10:00 to 17:00, Saturdays from 10:00 to 15:00, Sundays closed.