Icons of Modern Art. The Shchukin Collection. 

The exhibition "ICONS OF MODERN ART. THE SHCHUKIN COLLECTION. HERMITAGE MUSEUM – PUSHKIN MUSEUM" will be held at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris, from 20 October 2016 to the 20 February 2017.

The exhibition is organised as part of the official programme of the FRANCE-RUSSIA YEAR OF CULTURAL TOURISM 2016-2017 and will be its most prominent event in France.

The exhibition pays homage to one of the most important art patrons of the early 20^th century, Sergei Shchukin, the visionary Russian collector of French modern art.

From the end of the 19^th century, Sergei Shchukin, the important muscovite industrialist, began to integrate himself into the Parisian arts milieu of the era, which tasked itself with defending the impressionist, post-impressionist and modern movements. Shchukin forged relationships with modern art dealers Paul Durand-Ruel, Berthe Weill, Ambroise Vollard, Georges Bernheim and Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, and celebrated artists Monet and Matisse. These friendships heavily influenced the formation of his collection, which remains one of the most radical art collections of its time.

Thanks to the generous contribution of the Hermitage and the Pushkin State museum, which took part of the creation of the project, the exhibition will therefore have the opportunity to present a significant ensemble of 130 major pieces by the Impressionist, Post-Impressionist and Modern masters from the Shchukin collection, with particular emphasis on the art of Monet, Cézanne, Gauguin, Rousseau, Derain, Matisse and Picasso, alongside works from Degas, Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec and Van Gogh.

The exhibition will also deal with the impact of the Shchukin collection on the shape of cubo futurist, suprematist and constructivist movements through an ensemble of 30 works (28 paintings, collages, structures and outlines, and two sculptures) from major artists of the Russian Avant-Garde will bear witness to the impact of Shchukin’s collection of the formation of the Cubo-Futurist, Suprematist and Constructivist movements (as seen in the Tretyakov Gallery, the Thesalonniki Museum of Contemporary Art, the Russian Museum, the Pushkin Museum, the Stedeljik Museum, Thyssen museum and Moma). The exhibition will show works by the masters of these movements, for example Malevitch, Rodtchenko. Larionov, Tatline, Popova and Rozanova.

The exhibition will also provide the opportunity for a scientific review, and will be accompanied by an important catalogue. In February 2017, a symposium will bring together the international community of researchers investigating the role of the great collectors of modern and contemporary art of the 19^th and 20^th century. The project will also include a programme of dance, music and cinema based events, which will demonstrate the breadth of the artistic exchanges that took place between France and Russia at the beginning of the 20^th century, and their continued relevance for contemporary creativity today. 

The general curation of the exhibition, cultural programming and scientific direction of the catalogue have been entrusted to Anne Baldassari. The project was made possible thanks to the help of Sergei Shchukin’s grandson, André-Marc Delocque Fourcaud, expert in the work of his ancestor and historical advisor on the project, and Marina D. Loshak, Director of the Pushkin Museum and Mikhail B. Piotrovky, Director of the Hermitage Museum, who have worked in close collaboration in order to ensure the project’s success.

On 10 February 2016 in Moscow the project was made the subject of an official partnership signed between the Fondation Louis Vuitton, The Hermitage Museum and The Pushkin Museum.

The exhibition “ICONS OF MODERN ART. THE SHCHUKIN COLLECTION. HERMITAGE MUSEUM – PUSHKIN MUSEUM marks a new step in the long-term collaboration between the Fondation and the Hermitage and Pushkin museums, which started in 2015 with the exhibition “Keys to a Passion.

The Fondation Louis Vuitton is a private cultural institution of public interest located in Paris. It was founded thanks to the corporate philanthropy of the LVMH/Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton Group and its Chairman, Bernard Arnault. The Foundation focuses exclusively on modern and contemporary artists and on introducing them to visitors from all over the world. It is one of France's – and Europe's - most important foundations.

The building, conceived by architect Frank Gehry, represents its first artistic statement and through its originality is an important landmark of French and international urban heritage of the 21st century.

For more information, please download the press release.