The Shchukin Collection

A wind from Russia blows on the French capital

Dear readers,

There are some days, I walked near the Saint-Martin canal when suddenly I met by chance a friend from Les Beaux-Arts School. I was pleasantly surprised and excited to see him, especially as he no longer lives in France but in Russia.

So I invited him to have coffee to take some news, it was nearly five long years we haven’t seen each others. Our reunion was warm, as you say that the memories abounded in our minds. I seemed to live again my student life. It is in these moments that  you realise how time flies and how it is fundamental to enjoy life.

During our studies at Les Beaux-Arts we regularly were out in museums to find the inspiration. Aware of its Russian nationality, I suggested an exhibition taking place in Paris from the 22nd of October 2016 to 20th February 2017 at the Louis Vuitton Foundation. He looked at me and laughed, I did not understand what was funny about my invitation until he declares to be one of the manager of the Franco-Russian partnership.

Louis Vuitton Foundation

He kindly agreed to be my guide during our visit. Immediately, he put forward the place that received this exhibition, including its ability to sublimate the works it presents. He showed me how this building with modern lines, becomes in little time one of the centers of the Parisian art and its various currents. It is especially pleasant to walk at a time when the colors of the autumn sun illuminated its various windows.

Louis Vuitton Foundation unveiled an extraordinary, unique and surprising exhibition. He explained how it was set up by the Franco-Russian cultural tourism program. Many museums such as the Pushkin Museum, the Stedelijk Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts got together and have generously contributed to the development and the realization of this fantastic project.

The objective of this exhibition was to honor one of the greatest patrons of the early 20th century, Sergei Shchukin. This man was a Russian collector, visionary of modern French Art and it is the first time that the entire collection was assembled as a singular and coherent artistic entity since its release in 1948.

The exhibition was to restore the heritage value of the Sergei Shchukin collection presenting a significant set of one hundred and thirty masterpieces of Impressionist masters, post-impressionist and modern such as Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Paul Gauguin and Claude Monet.

I will let you my dear readers with this quote « The limit of knowledge is not only the one we imposed on it. So keep learning and be surprised by life. »

See you soon !