Ilya Glazunov and Finland
21.5.-29.8.2010
4th floor

PRESS RELEASE

Ilya Glazunov and Finland

The Ilya Glazunov and Finland exhibition looks at Finland in the
Kekkonen era (1956-81) through one phenomenon of the art world. The
Soviet painter Ilya Glazunov (b. 1930) attracted considerable public
interest and many influential Finnish friends in the early 1970s with an
individualistic approach and Slavic Romanticism that brought worldly
style and flair to a Finnish art world stifled by solemn social
obligations.

Styled the court painter of the Kekkonen era, Glazunov made his mark in
Finland in 1973 after he was commissioned to paint an official portrait
of President Kekkonen. He also painted several other prominent Finns of
the time, such as Marimekko founder Armi Ratia (1973), leading designer
Timo Sarpaneva (1975), and Speaker of Parliament Johannes Virolainen
(1982), and his subjects included many other influential cultural,
financial and organisation leaders and their close relatives, as well as
the artist’s Finnish friends. Glazunov also created an entire series
of portraits, mostly by drawing, at the time of his 1975 exhibition in
Kunsthalle Helsinki.

Glazunov’s original style does not fit into the norms of orthodox
Socialist Realism. The influences of religious icons and the iconography
of the Russian Old Believers are clearly visible in his portraits.
Besides Kekkonen, he has also immortalised several other national
leaders, including India’s Indira Gandhi (1973), Chile’s Salvador
Allende (1973) and H.M. King Carl XVI Gustav of Sweden (1974).

The 30 portraits from private Finnish collections on display at the
Kiasma exhibition date mainly from the 1970s, and many are now shown in
public for the first time. Through one phenomenon this exhibition
showcases the public debate on art that is occasionally sparked off by
media interest
in the personality of an artist or in some “controversial work”.

Besides paintings and drawings, some documentary materials are also on
display, including photographs and TV shows providing background on the
works and the cultural climate of Finland in the 1970s. The
architectural design of the exhibition space is the work of Ralf
Forsström, and the curator of the exhibition is former Kiasma Museum
Director Berndt Arell, who is currently Director of the Swedish Cultural
Foundation in Finland. The exhibition will move to the Kuntsi Museum of
Modern Art in Vaasa in the autumn.

The exhibition catalogue is available at the Kiasma online shop at
www.kiasma.fi and at the Kiasma Store at a price of 18 euro.
The documentary film Ilya Glazunov the Artist, directed by Pavel
Rusanov, will be shown at the Kiasma Theatre on Saturday 22 May at 1 pm.
This 40-minute film depicting the USSR of the 1970s was first shown in
Finland in 1977. It will be presented with Finnish commentary.

Additional information
Jari-Pekka Vanhala, +358 9 1733 6517, jari-pekka.vanhala@kiasma.fi 

Kiasma communications
Merja Kukkonen, merja.kukkonen@kiasma.fi, +358 9 1733 6507, +358 40
1637 352

Press photos www.kiasma.fi/press