This exhibition within the traditional Hermitage Christmas Gift series is devoted to the 100th anniversary of the birth of Alexei Vorobievsky.

The exhibition presents more than 200 works reflecting the career of the master from the late 1920s to the late 1980s. Particular attention is drawn to works of the early period in the artist's career - his vase entitled The Lay of Igor's Host, which was created in 1939, as well as the table services Folk Designs and Russian Lubok, which received the gold medal at the World's Fair in Brussels in 1958.

Over the course of 65 years, Vorobievsky's career was linked with Leningrad's Lomonosov Porcelain Factory. He came to the porcelain factory when he was a 19-year-old youth and already within two years works by the talented young artist were entered in major international exhibitions in Milano, Paris, New York, Brussels and Montreal.

Vorobievsky never did preliminary sketches for his works. He also never created his own shapes. He could begin painting from any point and build a composition that went impeccably with the shape of the object.

Thanks to his inexhaustible fantasy, amazing capacity for work and dedication, Vovobievsky was recognized as a classic of Soviet porcelain in his own lifetime, someone who created his own style of painting. The master's career was unusually productive. A multitude of his works are in various museums and private collections: the State Hermitage alone has more than 1500 of his works. The paintings on porcelain which he created often were given as presents and also were purchased to decorate the interiors of various public organizations. The artist's works have been copied for decades and enjoy unsurpassed demand among collectors and lovers of porcelain.

Vorobievsky's works are an endless kaleidoscope of fantastic landscapes, festive processions, theatre pieces, fantastic ornamentation and visions like the fires of a magical carnival which turn everyday life into a beautiful fairy tale. The master's works are recognizable by their clear individual style: a slight naivety of depiction, elegance of a miniaturist's painting and the harmony of drawing, color and shape. The subjects of his works are poetic, imbued with a festive mood: Spring Carnival, Fantastic Venice, Arctic Fantasy, Winter Amusements, Puppet Theatre, Golden Bridge, Spring Holiday, Fairy tale Country.

A scholarly illustrated catalogue has been prepared for the exhibition (Publishing House of the State Hermitage, 2006). The author of the catalogue and curator of the exhibition is N.S. Petrova, senior employee of the Museum of Porcelain Department, State Hermitage.

News source: hermitagemuseum.org
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