On November 23, as part of the Days of Russian Culture in the Republic of Belarus, the grand opening of the exhibition of graphics by Sergei Alimov “Dead Souls”: illustrations to the poem by Nikolai Gogol” took place.
Sergey Alimov (1938–2019), People's Artist of the Russian Federation, full member of the Russian Academy of Arts, Professor at the All-Russian State Institute of Cinematography, member of the Russian Academy of Cinematographic Arts. The Gogol theme is one of the main themes in the work of Sergey Alimov. The first drawings on Gogol were made by him for the novels “A Nose” and “A Portrait” in the 60–70s of the last century. The first edition of “Dead Souls” with 15 of his illustrations was published in 1971, and since then 25 more drawings have been created in a new technique for the artist – screen printing. Alimov managed to get into the very essence of “Dead Souls”, to show the depth of the characters thanks to the chosen technique, which allows achieving almost sculptural relief of the images.
At the exhibition project, you can see a series of 40 graphic works. They have already been presented in Moscow, Vienna, Brussels, Rome, as well as many Russian cities: Pyatigorsk, Ryazan, Tolyatti, Izhevsk, Sarapul.
Viktar Pshybytka, Deputy Director General of the National Library of Belarus, made a welcoming speech at the event. Yuri Makushin, Head of the Russian House in Minsk, Olga Butskaya, representative of the Russian Cultural Foundation, Natalia Avgustinovich, widow of Sergey Alexandrovich Alimov art critic member of the Moscow Union of Artists and the Association of Art Historians, all have shared their expert opinion on the submitted works and the history of their creation.
The exhibition of graphics was supplemented by a book exhibition from the collections of the National Library of Belarus, which included the first editions of the poem “Chichikov's Adventures, or Dead Souls” (1842, 1846), the first illustrated editions of the work are presented. One of the most striking copies is a folio from 1901 published by A.F. Marx in St. Petersburg with 10 helioengravings, 355 illustrations, initials and vignettes.
As part of the event, the Russian Cultural Foundation handed over its publications to the National Library of Belarus. Among them are literary and artistic books of the “Laureates of the Sergey Mikhalkov’s International Competition” series, popular science publications, and art albums.
The exhibition is on display until January 31, 2023.
The end date of the exhibition can be changed.
Entrance to the exhibition is available by the library ticket or ticket of the library's social and cultural center.
For more info: (+375 17) 368 37 37.
The article is provided by the Public Relations Department.
