Icons of Modern Art. The Shchukin Collection

The exhibition pays tribute to one of the greatest Art patron of the early 20th century, Sergei Shchukin, the visionary Russian collector of French modern art.

From the end of the 19th century, Sergei Shchukin, the important muscovite industrialist, began to integrate himself into the Parisian arts milieu of the era, which tasked itself with defending the impressionist, post-impressionist and modern movements. Shchukin forged relationships with modern art dealers Paul Durand-Ruel, Berthe Weill, Ambroise Vollard, Georges Bernheim and Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, and celebrated artists Monet and Matisse. These friendships heavily influenced the formation of his collection, which remains one of the most radical art collections of its time.

Thanks to the generous contribution of the Hermitage and the Pushkin State museum, which took part of the creation of the project, the exhibition will therefore have the opportunity to present a significant ensemble of 130 major pieces by the Impressionist, Post-Impressionist and Modern masters from the Shchukin collection, with particular emphasis on the art of Monet, Cézanne, Gauguin, Rousseau, Derain, Matisse and Picasso, alongside works from Degas, Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec and Van Gogh.

A cultural programme designed around the exhibition and focusing on dance and music will bear witness of the artistic dialogue between France and Russia at the beginning of the 20thcentury and still present within the contemporary creation.

The exhibition will also provide the opportunity for a scientific review, and will be accompanied by an important catalogue. In February 2017, a symposium will bring together the international community of researchers investigating the role of the great collectors of modern and contemporary art of the 19th and 20th century.

The general curation of the exhibition, cultural programming and scientific direction of the catalogue have been entrusted to Anne Baldassari. The project was made possible thanks to the help of Sergei Shchukin’s grandson, André-Marc Delocque Fourcaud, expert in the work of his ancestor and historical advisor on the project, and Marina D. Loshak, Director of the Pushkin Museum and Mikhail B. Piotrovky, Director of the Hermitage Museum, who have worked in close collaboration in order to ensure the project’s success.

On 10 February 2016 in Moscow the project was made the subject of an official partnership signed between the Fondation Louis Vuitton, The Hermitage Museum and The Pushkin Museum.

The exhibition “ICONS OF MODERN ART. THE SHCHUKIN COLLECTION. HERMITAGE MUSEUM – PUSHKIN MUSEUM marks a new step in the long-term collaboration between the Fondation and the Hermitage and Pushkin museums, which started in 2015 with the exhibition “Keys to a Passion"