Still Life. Portrait. Landscape. After Genre

A major exhibition exploring the classical genres of painting that anticipated the selfie, advertising, short-form video, video games, and other forms of digital content.

The project shows how three principal genres of European painting—still life, portrait, and landscape—reflected major socio-cultural phenomena of world history over the last few centuries, and how today they continue to describe a rapidly changing reality.

On the first Wednesday of every month, you can visit all our exhibitions for free.

The illustration uses: Kazimir Malevich. Self-Portrait (The Artist), 1933. State Russian Museum; Jan Boeckhorst. Frans Snyders. Cook in the Larder, 1630s. State Hermitage Museum; Erik Bulatov.The Artist en Plein Air, 1968. Collection of V–A–C Foundation

One of the key themes running through all of our projects is a conversation about what is contemporary now. This time, the starting point was the question of what role the fundamental genres of painting—still life, portrait, and landscape—play in constructing contemporaneity, and what forms they can take today.

— Alisa Prudnikova, Programme Director of GES-2 House of Culture

Still life emerges as a chronicle of economic exchange and commodity fetishism. Portrait is considered above all as a tool of image-making—including online. Landscape records shifts in the relationship between humanity and nature: from the Industrial Revolution to the construction of modern data centres.

The exhibition brings together more than 80 artists and around 100 works, including masterpieces from the collections of the State Hermitage Museum, the Tretyakov Gallery, the State Russian Museum, and other institutions.

Artists

The exhibition organised with participation of
Tim Alexandrov
Alina Pinsky Gallery
Ark Gallery
Sergei Buniyatov
Ksenia Chilingarova
Collection of Dilyara Allakhverdova and Elchin Safarov
Collection of Denis Khimilyayne
Collection of Anton Kozlov
Collection of Irina Mogilatova
Collection of Yekaterina and Vladimir Semenikhin
Collection of V–A–C Foundation
E.K.ArtBureau
FUTURO gallery
Alexander Grigoriev’s estate
Lili Grigalashvili
Harun Farocki Institut
Yulia Kamalova
Olga Karput
LUX, London
Maria Minogarova
Moscow Museum of Modern Art
OVCHARENKO
Vitaly Plisov
Anastasia Poletaeva
pop/off/art
Victoria Salavat
State Hermitage Museum
State Russian Museum
State Tretyakov Gallery
Stella Art Foundation
Sergei Zhegalkin

Alina Brovina — Marcel Broodthaers — Jonjoli Flowers — Collective Actions — Kazimir Malevich — Claude Monet — Roman Sakin — Paul Signac — Frans Snyders — Anna Taganzeva-Kobzeva — Caspar David Friedrich — Dmitry Tsvetkov — Ivan Chemakin — Ellina Gennadievna and others

Project team 

Information partners