From September 22, 2021 to February 22, 2022, the exhibition of events at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris brought together more than 200 masterpieces of modern French and Russian art by the Moscow brothers Mikhail Abramovich Morozov (1870-1903) and Ivan Abramovich Morozov (1871-1921).
Exhibited for the first time outside Russia, the Morozov series brings together the main works of Cézanne, Gauguin, Van Gogh, Renoir, Monet, Pownard, Dennis, Matisse, Deland and Picasso, as well as iconic artists of the Russian avant-garde, such as Malevich, Repin, Larionov, Serov.
Designed by Chief Curator Anne Baldassari, the exhibition houses this set in an original museum that occupies all the space of the Fondation Louis Vuitton. The second part of the Icon of Modern Art event was organized in cooperation with the State Hermitage Museum (St. Petersburg), the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (Moscow) and the State Gallery of Art in Tretyakov (Moscow). Following the Exhibition of the Schukin Collection of the Fondation Louis Vuitton from 2016 to 2017, the Morozov Collection will become another important historical component of the great Russian collectors of the early 20th century.
The Moscow merchants Mikhail and Ivan Morozov brothers collected Picasso, Matisse, Gauguin, Van Gogh, Cézanne, Bonnard, Dennis, Degas, as well as Russian artists (Vrubel, Chagall, Malevich, Repin, Larionov, Serov...). A series of works that were nationalized during the Revolution of 1917, and after World War II, the collection was distributed between the Hermitage Museum (St. Petersburg), the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, and the Tretyakov Gallery (in Moscow). It is thanks to the extraordinary cooperation with these Russian museums that the Fondation Louis Vuitton was able to display these works. It was a special artistic event, as this series of works has never been exhibited outside of Russia.
After Stalin's death, as ideology loosened, it was discovered that former Russia had great collectors, such as Sergei Shukin and the Morozov brothers. The grandsons of these serfs made their fortunes in the textile industry before the revolution and began to conquer the artistic "New World" of Paris at that time. They splurge on their collections and soon brought together an extraordinary collection of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, and Modernist works. They stand out in particular for their unconditional support for contemporary European and Russian art, which has largely contributed to the international recognition of modern French painters.
The exhibition occupies a large part of the exhibition hall of the Fondation Louis Vuitton, taking the elevator along the exhibition route while admiring the masterpieces of art while lamenting the wonderful layout of the building. This exhibition is very attractive, there is no hour to see the end, serious appreciation will certainly be worth the ticket money. After seeing the exhibition, you can also purchase related souvenirs in the downstairs hall.