02/05/08The Russia of Ilya Glazunov Exhibition
 The exhibition entitled Russia of Ilya Glazunov from the Moscow State Art Gallery of Ilya Glazunov was opened at the Palaty cultural and educational museum complex in Vladimir.
Ilya Sergeyevich Glazunov is a People’s artist of the USSR, Academician of the Russian Academy of Arts, Honorary Member of Madrid and Barcelona Academies, the founder and rector of the Russian Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture.
During the last 50 years his exhibitions took place all over the world – from Moscow to London, from Paris to Dusseldorf, from Havana to Samara – and were extremely successful…
The world-wide fame was won by Glazunov as a result of his portraits of kings, presidents, cinema stars, poets and writers. It is not by chance that American critics called the artist “the king of artists and the artist of kings.”
 The present display features 80 paintings and graphics by Glazunov, some of them created in 2007. This fact is really amazing as it demonstrates the fantastic capacity for work in this artist who was born in 1930 in Leningrad and who survived the blockade of the city having lost his father, mother and most of his relatives.
Glazunov’s art has become an integral part of the Russian culture. They say he is always different but his art remains deeply national in its character. The main theme of his works is clearly understandable just from their mere names – Russia, Russian North, Russian Venus and, of course, Russian Icarus, the symbol of daring and creative Russian spirit and the emblem of the present exhibition. Glazunov’s creative work expresses the inmost secrets of the Russian soul.
It is hard to believe that Ilya Glazunov is the author of all these paintings, beginning from monumental canvases dedicated to the fight of the good and the evil so typical of our tragic time – to exquisite lyrical works about love; from remarkable landscapes, full of deep sadness – to wonderful illustrations to the Russian classical literature.
It is natural that we want to sum up this short survey with the words of Ilya Glazunov: “I regard my work as the service and duty to my motherland. Sometimes I fear that I have done far less than I was able to do. Waste no time in doing the good. God bless Russia!”
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