Paul Cezanne and the Russian Avant-Garde
8 August - 24 September 1998

The dialogue between the works of French painter Paul Cezanne (1839-1906) and those of Russian avant-garde artists between 1907 and 1930 is the subject of this exhibition. It includes some 100 paintings and watercolours from the collections of the State Hermitage Museum, The Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, and major museums abroad.

The exhibition made clear for the first time the role of the classical avant-garde in the development of Russian painting and revealed how collections of Western art brought to Russia by private collectors influenced painters of the Russian avant-garde. Even after the nationalization of collections by the Soviet government, these works retained their importance for artists.

All the works by Cezanne in the Hermitage and the Pushkin Museum, including paintings from the former collections of Sergei Shchukin and Ivan Morozov, were displayed along with seven canvases from the selection of works brought from Germany following World War II and stored in the Hermitage.