They present a radio tour of Katya Medvedeva’s exhibition in Petrovsky Passage.
One of the most prominent representatives of “naive art” in Russia, she began drawing at the age of forty, when she worked as a cleaner at an art school. Twenty years later, her paintings hung in Parisian museums next to works by Marc Chagall and Henri Matisse. Critics call her a “Russian nugget”; collectors consider it a great success to get her works for their own collections. "Art pure soul“- this is the name of the exhibition of works, which has been open in Petrovsky Passage since April 26. Spontaneity in joy and sadness, the pure gaze of a child - this is the “naive art” of Katya Medvedeva.
A radio tour for Silver Rain listeners was conducted by:
| Anna Chudetskaya exhibition curator |
Listen to the entire tour
1. Dasha Ivanova. 2000. Silk, oil, mixed media. 129*92
2. Today I'm dancing! 2004. Cardboard, acrylic. 68*48
3. Three graces. 2001. Silk, acrylic.
4. Spanish dance. 2004. Silk, oil. 67.5*48
5. Self-portrait. 2003. Oil on canvas.
6. Bride. 2013. Oil on canvas, mesh. 93*63.5
7. Mom, I don’t want custody! 2017. Silk, mixed media. 87*75
8. The lonely sail is white. 1994. Oil on canvas. 78*58
9. To be born in Russia is already destiny 1989. Oil on canvas. 145*97
10. Happy Christmas! 1990. Oil on canvas. 70*50
11. Torn button accordion. 2016. Oil on canvas. 68.5*54.5
12. Russian landscape. 2001. Oil on canvas. 65*86
13. Moscow. 2009. Silk, oil, mixed media. 60*80
14. Sunflowers. 2009. Fabric, oil, glitter. 100*100
Project partner
As part of the Open Arts Festival “Cherry Forest”, an exhibition of one of the most famous representatives of naive art in Russia, artist Katya Medvedeva, opened in the aristocratic Petrovsky Passage (April 26 – May 31). Marina Loshak, Tatyana Metaksa, Andrey Kolesnikov, Margarita Koroleva, Mark Tishman, Igor Vernik and others were among the first to appreciate the exhibition and talk with Katya.
The evening began with a charity auction, for which the artist provided several of her works. For many lots, the proceeds from the sale of which will be transferred to the young ward charitable foundation“Galchonok,” a real struggle ensued. The first winner was Andrei Kolesnikov, who received the painting “Ballerinas,” and the most expensive lot of the auction was the painting “Giselle,” which was purchased by Dmitry Pushkar for 195 thousand rubles.
In his welcome speech festival organizer Edith Kusnirovich emphasized that the retrospective “Katya Medvedeva. The Art of a Pure Soul" is timed to coincide with two anniversaries: the artist turned 80 years old, and she devoted 40 of them to painting. “Katya’s creativity touches everyone’s soul and resonates with us. The idea of the project was proposed by a friend of the festival, collector Vladimir Tsurko, and the exhibition is entirely formed from the works of private collectors - faithful accomplices of Chereshnevy Les,” she said. – This project is a continuation of our tradition of organizing exhibitions in the elegant Passage building on Petrovka – architectural monument XIX century".
Western collectors often call Katya Medvedeva’s work “painting of the naked soul”: “People felt something real in my work. I want to give advice: don’t give up - never. This exhibition in Petrovsky Passage is a lesson for you: look for yourself at any age. I still live because I write – for you!” – Katya admitted.
An orphan from an orphanage, self-taught, Katya Medvedeva began painting when she was almost 40 years old - working as a cleaner at an art school. But just three months later her first exhibition took place, and another 20 years later, in the 90s, her paintings hung in Paris in the same room with works by Marc Chagall and Henri Matisse. “Purely Russian talent,” an admiring Chagall wrote about her. “Russian nugget!” - critics exclaimed, and collectors lined up.
The importance of Katya Medvedeva’s creativity was emphasized by the director of the Pushkin Museum. A. S. Pushkina Marina Loshak, which put her in line with outstanding artists XX century: “All the exhibitions that take place within the framework of the Chereshnevy Les, a long-time partner of the Pushkin Museum, are wonderful. But I have a special relationship with Katya: her paintings were exhibited in 2004 in our museum, which, as you know, is very strict in selecting artists. I also have two works by Katya Medvedeva at home. How better artist The more subtle he is, the more free he is internally, the more he wants to be like the talent that Katya shows. Both Kandinsky, Larionov, Goncharova, and Malevich dreamed of getting closer to wonderful, naive and sincere art to some extent. But only a few succeeded: Pirosmani, Henri Rousseau and Katya Medvedeva - in some ways close to children, with their absolute openness, generosity, with their free view of the world, joyful and happy. Therefore, the things that we see here cannot leave anyone indifferent: they change something in us, they make us smile, think, and sometimes become sad. But this is true art, which gives us what we so lack in life: sincerity and joy.”
The exhibition in Petrovsky Passage, which is supported by BOSCO DI CILIEGI, presents works by Katya Medvedeva from ten private collections, created over the past several decades. This is oil painting, acrylic and tempera, watercolors, works on velvet and silk.
Her stories are always a response to positive and dramatic processes in the surrounding world, a concentration of personal impressions and inner experiences. Medvedeva’s favorite themes – piercing landscapes, portraits, biblical scenes and ballet – are presented on the second floor of the Passage.
A catalog with reproductions of 150 works from private collections, performed from 1984 to the present, was published for the exhibition.
Now the works of Katya Medvedeva are stored in the Moscow Tsaritsyno Museum-Estate, the House folk art in Moscow, the Municipal Museum of Naive Art in Moscow, the Charlotte Zander Museum in Germany and in other museum and private collections in Russia and abroad. Visitors to Petrovsky Passage can also purchase some of Medvedeva’s recent works presented at the exhibition for their collection.
Katya Medvedeva’s immediate joy and sincere sadness are known today all over the world. To live up to 80 years of age, continuing to look at the world with the open, pure gaze of a child - this is the path of Katya Medvedeva, which the exhibition “The Art of a Pure Soul” dedicated to her will try to trace.
The XVII Open Arts Festival has prepared many other events this year interesting events: full program you can see .
In Petrovsky Passage there is a childishly spontaneous exhibition of paintings by 80-year-old artist Katya Medvedeva - a very woman difficult fate with the talent to create light paintings filled with happiness.
The admiring Marc Chagall called her “a purely Russian talent,” and sophisticated Parisian critics could not write a single negative review about Katya’s work.
At the exhibition, which opened as part of Open Festival Art "Cherry Forest" with the support of the company BOSCO DI CILIEGI, you can see paintings by Katya Medvedeva from ten private collections, created over the past several decades.
Fairy-tale characters, poets and ballerinas, birds and village huts are painted as if by a child’s hand. The artist always fantasizes with materials, creating her paintings using not only traditional watercolors, oils and acrylics, but also decorating the canvases with black velvet, silk, cloth, artificial pearls, rhinestones and even colored feathers!
“People felt something real in my work. I want to give advice: don’t give up - never. Have a goal in life - you cannot live without a goal. This exhibition in Petrovsky Passage is a lesson for you: look for yourself at any age. I achieved my happiness through creativity. I still live because I write – for you!” - Katya admitted.
One of the first guests of the exhibition were Marina Loshak, Tatyana Metaxa, Andrei Kolesnikov, Margarita Koroleva, Mark Tishman, Igor Vernik and other celebrities who solemnly congratulated Katya on her anniversary and helped hold an auction for the Galchonok charity foundation.
Katya Medvedeva’s magical exhibition “The Art of a Pure Soul” is open in Petrovsky Passage until May 31.
Text: Diana Mickiewicz
More than 50 of her works were hung at Katya Medvedeva’s exhibition
Dozens of ballerinas in fluffy tutus, much larger than the hostesses themselves, look with playful eyes from the canvases hung on the walls made of pink ribbons. The girls are perfect, airy, lily-like, vaguely tender, as happens in naive art. They are looked after by angels in colorful robes, depicted with childish sincerity. Armfuls of lilies, orchids, and marigolds in pastel shades fly to the feet of the dancers. This whole fairy tale is at Katya Medvedeva’s exhibition in Petrovsky Passage. The artist turned 80, of which 40 years she has been creating.
– For the anniversary of the special and beloved Katya, we are showing her touching, childishly naive and surprisingly subtle works created in last decades, says the organizer of the arts festival, “ Cherry forest» Edith Kusnirovich. – The idea of the exhibition was proposed by our friend Vladimir Tsurko, and the exhibition is entirely composed of works by private collectors.
Edith Kusnirovich, Igor Vernik, Katya Medvedeva, Tatyana Metaxa. Photo: Danil Kolodin.
For her, Medvedeva was allocated two floors in an elegant building of the 19th century, they hired one of the most talented theater artists Alexey Tregubov, released a hefty catalog of iconic works, some of which were put up for auction, the money from which went to the Galchonok Foundation. And the heroine herself was dressed up, surrounded by loyal fans and flowers. Here Katya is sitting in a smart caftan and a hat, under which pink hair is hidden, holding a bouquet of sunflowers in one hand, a glass of champagne in the other, and is perplexed:
- God, why did I deserve such luxury? She was always simple, never put in teeth, and was not at all drawn to wealth. And why does an orphan from an orphanage need it? I learned the beauty of painting only at the age of 40, when I came to work in art school. A cleaning lady. There I started drawing, and they immediately organized my first exhibition. I always drew easily - from the heart, from the people. I'm lying in bed and writing...
Marina Loshak. Photo: Danil Kolodin.
Soviet spectators immediately felt the kindness and originality of Katya’s seemingly light works, in which, if you look closely, the theme of theater is intertwined with biblical stories. 20 years later, the paintings of the Bears were received with a bang by Europeans. Her paintings hung in Paris next to paintings by Marc Chagall and Henri Matisse. “Purely Russian talent,” Chagall admired. “Russian nugget!” - critics responded, and collectors lined up.
To this day, many people buy Medvedeva’s works. They radiate light, freedom, beauty. Katya's angels flutter, ballerinas dance, flowers swirl. And all her characters, painted with light strokes of watercolor, oil or tempera on velvet and silk, live in their own world. They are drawn into it instantly, since there is no rubbish, opportunism, or officialdom here...
“I can also boast that I have works by Katya Medvedeva at home,” admits the director of the Pushkin Museum. Pushkina Marina Loshak. – Every time I wake up, I see beautiful ballerinas who create a unique atmosphere that defines my day. Katya Medvedeva is a rare artist. It seems to us that only professionals whose work we understand as high professional art can be geniuses. But I want to be close to fine artists, which are free internally, regardless of the presence or absence vocational education. Kandinsky, Goncharov and Larionov dreamed of getting closer to the wonderful naive art. Its representatives are Pirosmani, Russo, Medvedeva. And this is not an exaggeration or a compliment, it is the truth. Katya is close to the children with their absolute openness, generosity, free look, joyful and happy, which permeates the entire exhibition. Everyone who comes to it will receive their share of happiness!
