Valaam: 200 years in Russian Painting
Valaam Island, a unique natural monument and an inexhaustible source of Orthodox faith, has long been known as an ideal place for artists’ creative retreats. I.I. Shishkin, A.I. Kuindzhi, F.A. Vasiliev, M.K. Klodt, A.V. Gine and other Russian painters would go to Valaam to paint landscapes and stay in the monastery.
After the revolution of 1917, Valaam was part of independent Finland. With the beginning of the Winter War at the end of November 1939, it was decided to evacuate the monastery to Heinävesi. This is how the history of the New Valaam Monastery in Finland began.
Nowadays, we have an opportunity to present the continuous history of the artistic life of Valaam, the Northern Athos, as a whole. The exhibition “Valaam: 200 years in Russian Painting” for the first time unites the valuable collection of paintings of the New Valaam Monastery (Finland) and works from the Valaam Monastery (Russia). Works on Valaam theme from the State Russian Museum and private collections are also part of the exhibit of more than 70 works.
The exhibition is dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the Valaam monastery reopening for religious use.
