The Art of the Belskys
In the history of Russian painting of the XVIII century, the work of the Belsky brothers takes a special place. Artists Ivan (1719-1799), Alexey (1729-1796) and Efim (1730-1778) Belsky were the greatest masters of the painting team of The Chancellery (later The Office) of buildings of Her Imperial Majesty. For more than half a century they performed the most responsible painting work commissioned by Empresses Elizabeth and Catherine the Great. With equal success, Belskys created huge palace ceiling paintings and small images, worked in the field of the wall and easel painting. In addition, Ivan Belsky almost thirty years was an "inspector of mosaic art". From the entire family of painters Belskys, the dynasty was continued only by the eldest son of Ivan Ivanovich - Mikhail Ivanovich Belsky (1753-1794).
The exhibition is dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the birth of Ivan Belsky, the 290th anniversary of the birth of Alexei and Efim Bielsky and the 225th anniversary of the death of Mikhail Belsky. The exhibition will feature about 40 paintings and graphic works from the collections of The State Russian Museum, The State Hermitage Museum and The State Tretyakov Gallery.
