In 1942, the death of Stalingrad gallery

[Dogel]

interesting article, enjoy reading

Is there a treasure at the bottom of the Volga ("Volgograd
truth ", Volgograd) Julia Grechukhina

August 24, 1942 in a hail of Nazi bombs sank the ship,
that moves a priceless collection of paintings. This
collection of paintings in the world today would be appreciated auctions
astronomical.
These days it would be a common pride and heritage of Volgograd,
if not for the events of 70 years ago ...
Opinions differ. Perhaps no mystery and no. A August 24, 1942
, under a hail of Nazi bombs sank the ship, which is passed over
Volga, a priceless collection of paintings Stalingrad gallery.
And she's completely sunk into the abyss of water bubbling under fire.
But here's what's interesting.

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It is said that in 2003 in the basement of the morphological
Housing Volgograd Medical University accidentally
found a painting with a stamp of Stalingrad
Art Gallery. It was called "May Day in Tsaritsyn in 1903" and
belonged to the painter Petrov. What a miracle it has remained in
safe? As it turned out in the basement?
There is evidence that the politically "correct" picture "in the May Day
Tsaritsyn ... "graced the first secretary of the office of the Stalingrad Regional Committee
VKP (b) Alexander Chuyanova. And, obviously, there came from the gallery?
Unfortunately, reliable evidence about the fate of Stalingrad gallery about
which breaks off her trail, as there was no and no.
Stalingrad ... was something to admire, when January 15, 1938 they
first saw the painting exhibition, which would be the envy
Tretyakov Gallery and the Hermitage. Special room, however, for them then
was not. Exhibits hung in a former Lutheran church on
Spasskaya Street (now Volodarskii street). It is symbolic that this church
also razed to the ground ...
Now we have little information, anecdotal,
just crumbs. We can assume that the gallery was the main fund
created in 1920 in response to the call of the head flowery Narcompros
Comrade Lunacharsky: "... We now need a lot of songs
strong in form, graceful in thought and feeling, some
calm and stately preaching anger, love, hope ... "
In the budget for 1938 Stalingrad cost the gallery was 20
thousand, and it also speaks of its importance to the city. In a short
time it was visited by 216,000 people, leaving the record book
rave reviews. In 1939 he was appointed director of the gallery
Graduate School of Art Alexander Ivlieva.
Almost the only source of information about Stalingrad
Art Gallery is a slim book - catalog exposure
released in 1941. It implies that the visitors gallery
demonstrated outstanding works of Russian artists. That no name,
classic, the creator of the great masterpieces.
"Ruined pier" and "Night" by Ivan Aivazovsky, "Ruins of Rome"
Nikolai Ge, "the landlord in the church," Vasily Perov, "Park" and "Venice"
Alexandre Benois, "Study of the head" by Ivan Kramskoi, "Lights of Paris" and
"Spring" by Konstantin Korovin, "Istra River" and "Autumn Landscape" Isaac
Levitan, "Stepan Razin" and "Seashore" Vasily Surikov, "The Model"
and "Zouave" Valentin Serov, "Boy" and "Poor" by Victor Vasnetsov
"Vignette" and "Ornament" by Konstantin Somov, "Forest" by Ivan Shishkin
"Plane tree in the Crimea" Vasily Polenov. And that's not all.
In the West European art were also things that cause
tears of joy in art. Paintings by Dutch masters of the XVII century
Leyressa "Sacrifice of Venus, or the wedding scene in front of the statue
Venus, "for example. The canvas is once stored in the Imperial
Hermitage. Engravings from the works of Rubens and Rembrandt, exquisite Sevres and
Limoges Porcelain Rococo, Dutch enamel set with
Painted gold, bronze, faceted crystal. Sad to think that all of these
treasures lost forever.
Soviet (and Stalingrad) masters were also presented in
Stalingrad gallery, and even, according to some researchers, there
are works by Russian avant-garde artists Popova
Exter, Rodchenko, Rozanova.
No, that's why in 1939, the Commissioner for the Arts
by Sovnarkom art Sokolnikov noted that a number of
Volga cities (meaning Gorky, Kazan, Kuibyshev, Saratov,
Astrakhan) cultural and artistic life of Stalingrad takes
one of the first places.
Aivazovsky, Levitan, Repin, Shishkin, and others - it is the only known
Today the names of the artists who exhibited at Stalingrad
Gallery. And what was there more? Most likely, this will never be known.
The loss of all of this, of course, a real tragedy.
Stalingrad Gallery stopped working in early
War. Gallery director Alexander Ivliev were mobilized. In the autumn
1941 was in the army. Died in 1943.
October 24, 1941 the gallery had to evacuate the village Ilovatka.
Ordered in three days removed from stretchers and rolled in
canvas rolls, packaged in boxes of china and small plastics. Leave
premises and move to a rural area, away from the danger
bombings and fires.
Ready to cruise collection was moved to the basement of Stalingrad
Drama. For unclear reasons, it remained there until the beginning of
massive bombing of Stalingrad, black August 23, 1942.
According to some accounts, in the morning of that fateful day collection gallery
was loaded into a machine that was supposed to deliver it to the ship,
standing at the pier. Someone saw uncovered boxes with pictures on the beach
Volga ...
Picturesque ... canvas stamped Stalingrad gallery in
During World War II has been found in the Western
Ukraine. The picture was being taken to the German convoy, attacked the guerrillas. On her
subsequent whereabouts are also unknown.
According to a number of serious researchers, the collection, which
affected the fate of the city is considered to be lost. But believe it
do not want.
- Whether a miracle - that one, some, or any of the pictures
dissolve into nothingness Stalingrad galleries not dead, not
drowned while crossing, but somewhere waiting in the wings and just do not
detected? - I asked one of the women researchers of this painstaking
History of Art Tatiana Gafar. She was the first who collected
together the fragmented and disparate facts about the fate of the gallery.
- I would like to believe it - is responsible Tatiana - though in such cases
miracles are rare. Just have to continue to study further,
try to find out what else was in the gallery, studying available documents
artistic values ​​of returned after World
War. And then a miracle could happen opening, after obtaining new
facts is always a miracle.
And ... maybe some of the readers of "Volgograd truth" will make its
contribution to the disclosure of secrets death Stalingrad art gallery?