From the National Gallery in Kiev, 50 masterpieces arrive in Italy for a traveling exhibition

About fifty masterpieces from the National Art Gallery of Kiev are arriving in Italy. These works, which have night as their common thread, alluding to the darkness into which Ukraine plunged with the Russian invasion, will be displayed in a number of Italian museums for a traveling exhibition entitled Symbolism and Mystery in Painting between the 19th and 20th Centuries (From the National Gallery of Kiev), curated by Vittorio Sgarbi, Xenia Filonenko and Oleksandra Varbanets.

Paintings and works on paper, from the 19th and 20th centuries, from Romanticism to Academicism, Symbolism to Realism and Impressionism will be on display: from Ivan Aivazovsky (1817-1900) to Wilhelm Kotarbinsky (1848- 1921), Julius von Klever (1850-1924) to Arkhyp Kuindzhi (1841-1910) and Illiia Repin (1844- 1930).

The theme of theeternal battle between light and darkness, with the undeniable victory of day over night, is intended to add deeply symbolic meaning to this exhibition. The works on display demonstrate how technical developments in painting in the nineteenth century opened up new possibilities for artists: candles and electric lamps, poignant sunsets and shimmering sunrises created new visual energy to illuminate the social and political turmoil of the period. Among the most famous pieces are the late 19th-century landscapes of Ivan Aivazovsky and Mykola Ghe, the group of works by Ilya Repin and Mukhailo Vrubel from the early 20th century, not to mention contemporary Ukrainian artists.

This exhibition aims to recall the international resonance of landscape painting, which was also developed by the 19th-century Italian school. These artists established a new relationship with nature. Works that influenced even distant cultures beyond the borders of Europe. Notable works include Night on the Dnipro by Arkhyp Kuindzhi (1882), Scenes from Cairo by Ivan Aïvazovsky (1881), Satyr by Wilhelm Kotarbinsky and Nun by Ilya Repin (1887).

From the National Gallery in Kiev, 50 masterpieces arrive in Italy for a traveling exhibition

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