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Month: September 2021

Dali-Picasso Exhibition in Moscow (An Overview)

I’ve got a special skill: I’m excellent at visiting exhibitions on their last day. 26th of September was the last day of an exhibition I’ve longed to visit since 2020. In the top photo you see my selfie between Moliere and Honore de Balzac – by Pablo Picasso and below there are several pieces from Salvador Dali’s halls. And whereas Picasso is represented at the Pushkin Museum in Moscow, Dali’s artwork is mostly in private collections, to my knowledge, at least. To say I was thrilled to visit the exhibition of artwork of two of my favourite painters is clearly an understatement.

Notes on Moscow City Day

I’ve spent an entire day in Moscow city center. I’m sitting in Nikitsky Boulevard, blogging and noticing people walking past. Tomorrow is expected to be overcast but today there were many sunny spells. It was very warm, and is only just beginning to get chilly as the sunset approaches.

Although there are no major celebrations this year due to the pandemic, people went to the city centre to enjoy the good weather and some outdoor events. I mentioned the Soviet photography exhibition, which starts a dozen of meters away from my bench. Another set of events, Flower Jam, apparently lasts until October: there are different flowery displays scattered across the city, starting with Apothecary Garden.

People do wear masks in shops, museums, and on the public transport. Yet in the streets one only remembers about the coronavirus when a mask hanging under someone’s chin pops in the view.

Overall, the weather is almost spring-like, and it feels like there has never been any pandemic…

Moscow Celebrates 874th Anniversary

For the 874th anniversary of my native city I went to the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts. There are currently two “Italian” exhibitions. One, in collaboration with Pinacoteca di Siena, focuses on the rise of the Sienese school of art. It features at least one work attributed to workshop of Duccio di Buoninsegna and works by Simone Martini, Giovanni di Paolo, and others. It also demonstrates some rare Sienese biccherni and 13-14th Italian paintings and altarpieces from the Pushkin Museum collection.

Another exhibition features works by Giambattista Tiepolo (18th c.) and other Italian painters of 17-18th cc.

In the city, in one of the boulevards, there is an exhibition of Soviet photography. Photos span 1930s-1980s and focus on celebrations in Red Square and Moscow architecture.

Below is one of exhibits, a painting by a 17th c. Neapolitan master, “The healing of the man sick with palsy”.

My Julia Lambert Moment

At the end of Maugham’s novel Theatre Julia Lambert dines on steak and chips. She savours life and art and reflects on her role as an artist.

I love the novel and Julia’s character. Now and again I also wish I could be “normal”; then I remember how many people want to have at least one ability to do something creative, and I withdraw to “my room”.

But every time I want to reflect on something, to assess my progress, to ponder things, and especially to practice gratitude and feel proud and happy for myself —

I go to my local cafe and buy myself some chips. If the weather is good, I go outside, perhaps to the pond; if not, I stay in the cafe, observing people and feeling myself on top of the world.

Or, instead of chips I buy some ice cream. Today I had both, but I only took a photo of the magnificent, glorious maple tree at my local park.

And what do you do on such occasions?

A Room of One’s Own

My room is not quite what you see in the photo, although, as I’m writing this post in bed, I’m lying next to tall bookcases. But it is definitely a dream: to have a study and a library, with an impressive desk, a comfortable armchair, and a windowsill-turned-bed where I could have a nook and a nap.

The time I spent away from my blog was rather productive. I won a translation contest, finished another book, wrote content for several sites, contributed articles on education, translated a couple of books, and still managed to get some sleep! Sadly, my oldest dog died at the beginning of September.

I also travelled to New Jerusalem monastery not far from Moscow, and I’ve got other trips planned. I plan to share photos of them soon.

I also found out that some people really care when we disappear from the view. Given the situation with the pandemic, this is understandable. So I am grateful to everyone who inquired about my whereabouts. I am, as the photo suggests, at home, doing rather well.

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