Event

The centre Collection of Russian Museum, Saint Petersburg/ Málaga has 2,300 square meters and 777 linear meters to exhibit works of art in a building adapted to this new use within the premises of the old tobacco factory of the city, known as Tabacalera (tobacco industry) and erected in the 1920s, according to the model of regionalist architecture which was in vogue then.

By means of a hundred pieces dating from the period between the XV and XX centuries that are specially selected for Málaga, in addition to the works, each year two temporary exhibitions will be integrated. Agreement signed by Málaga City Council and the mother Museum in St. Petersburg, allows a permanent dialog between Russian artistic creation and visitors.

The collection Works chosen for the first year cover from icons inspired by the Byzantine tradition to the socialist realism of the Soviet era: an impressive set of pieces ranging from the small size up to monumental pieces. These works bear witness to the rich Russian artistic legacy in the past few centuries, with worldwide and well-known names of the Russian and Soviet art, such as Repin, Kandinsky, Tatlin, Rodchenko o Chagall, until other authors that will be a discovery for visitors. Here these latter will also find a centre that, in addition, will offer two temporary exhibitions each year, with works selected from among the more than 400,000 ones that the State Russian Museum treasures in St. Petersburg.

These works will be continuously enveloped by a non-stop and varied cultural offer by means of guided tours, film screenings and concerts that help to know the great wealth of the Russian art in the best way: from orthodox devotion that represent icons with a gold background, to the middle-class tradition of portrait or landscape, to the great upheavals of the cubist, cube-futuristic and constructivist avant-gardes, and to the social message of socialist realism. All the ups and downs of the Russian art will be present in the Collection of Russian Museum, St. Petersburg/ Málaga, which is the first stable and permanent relationship between a Russian museum and a Spanish city.

The permanent exhibition of the Collection of the Russian Museum, St. Petersburg/Malaga is divided into nine thematic areas: the old Russian art, the XVIII century, Romanticism in Russia, Realism, Realism with Russian topics, the movement of “World of Art” and Neoprimitivism, the Avant-garde, Socialist Realism and art in the Melting Era that was experienced after the death of Stalin.

Iberia is a suite for piano composed between 1905 and 1909 by the Spanish composer Isaac Albéniz. It is composed of four books of three pieces each; a complete performance lasts about an hour and a half. It is Albéniz’s best-known work and considered his masterpiece. It was highly praised by Claude Debussy and Olivier Messiaen, who said: «Iberia is the wonder for the piano; it is perhaps on the highest place among the more brilliant pieces for the king of instruments». Stylistically, this suite falls squarely in the school of Impressionism, especially in its musical evocations of Spain. Technically, Iberia is one of the most difficult pieces in the repertoire, requiring immense strength from its interpreters and flexible hands.

1th.Part
–
Evocación
El Puerto
Corpus Christi en Sevilla
Rondeña
Almería
Triana

2th.Part
–
El Albaicín
El polo
Lavapiés
Málaga
Jerez
Eritaña

Vision of Spain presented: The topic of the work is Spain. (He could not call it España, since two pieces had recently appeared with that title.) Yet the vision of Spain it presents is primarily Andalusian. Non-Spaniards may not realize how unusual this is, how this is really «taking a position» with regard to the ongoing debate within Spain over just what Spain is. Cádiz (“El puerto”), Granada (“El Albaicin”), Ronda, Málaga, Jerez, Almería, are all Andalusian, and three of the twelve pieces are dedicated to Seville, that most musical of Spanish cities, where more operas have been set than in any other city : Fête-Dieu à Seville, Triana, and Eritaña. The only appearance of Madrid is the working-class Lavapiés neighborhood.