St Petersburg artists have launched a new Museum of Fine Arts to "revive" classical arts.
The museum is the result of an eight-year struggle by the St Petersburg Academy of Arts to fight modernism. The opening was marked by the first in a series of exhibitions which included a variety of contemporary works of art and classics. Works by Leonardo Da Vinci, Antonello Da Messina and Luka Giordano were among the classics attracting the attention of many visitors, along with modern works by Oleg Maslov and Victor Kuznetsov's adding flavor.
The second series of exhibitions, which was devoted to antique arts, can be seen this Saturday and the next.
The museum's think tank includes Russian, French, German and Austrian artists who believe that classic arts have been left for dead and buried since the turn of the century.
The Museum's director, Timur Novikov, said they intend to fight the long-standing attitude that Eastern Europe has had nothing to offer since the end of World War II other than a totalitarian-controlled school of arts.
"As long as we live, classics will be here to stay," he said.
The artists don't intend to compete with other museums or schools of arts but want to revive the classic heritage which has long been forgotten in Europe.
The artists have had a difficult time because they didn't have a building of their own. There was also an ownership dispute between the academy and the St Petersburg's Channel-5 TV over the building that presently houses the museum.
The academy is an institution for 18 art students from Russia, France, Germany and Austria who will attain their first degree in fine arts following the completion of the three-year program.