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ARTSTORY Gallery Moses Feigin "Fierce Orpheus"

Zhanna Staritsyna


The ARTSTORY gallery has commenced a large retrospective exhibition of Moses Feigin, an artist who literally became the last bearer of the traditions of the Russian avant-garde - the maestro died in 2008 at the age of one hundred and three. By timing the exhibition to coincide with the artist's anniversary, the organizers tried to convey Feigin's creative biography in its full - from early avant-garde works and sketches to works of the post-Soviet period, many of which are exhibited for the first time.

Moses Feigin decided on his vocation in the first year of the studying Biology at the Moscow State University, where he entered at the insistence of his parents - in the evening of the very first day of studies, he showed his father several sketches depicting the teacher's face, but he could not remember the content of the lectures at all. "Well, since you want to live all your life without a penny to your name," his father responded, "go ahead and enter VKHUTEMAS." (Higher Art and Technical Studios). In the process, Feigin becomes the very last member of the Jack of Diamonds group under Osmerkin and Popova, sees the work of the leading masters of the association, Lentulov, Mashkov, Konchalovsky, and becomes fond of abstraction.

Alongside the early abstract experiments, the exhibition also displays the realism works. At the next stage, in such works as "Anechka", "Liza and Grishenka", "The Artist at Work" and "Morning", Feigin conveys the most comfortable moments of human existence. Later on, the artist develops in the direction of constant expansion and assertion of plastic freedom - the works "The Driver with a Black Elephant with a Red Blanket" or "White Moon" are distinguished by artistic expression, the energy of the strokes and the incredible density of texture.

Moses Feigin’s grandson Leonid recalls that when the artist was working on an abstract piece or painted something not from nature, he used dice. Each number corresponded to a certain color, and if there was free space in the picture, the author rolled the dice, offering fate to choose a suitable color scheme for him: “Of course, he often cheated and rolled the dice again, but he needed an external source that would set its own reality".

The corridor between the main halls of the gallery is occupied by graphic series dedicated to Charlie Chaplin. Along with the images of harlequins, circus performers, as well as the immortal Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, the image of Charlie Chaplin was one of the favorites in Feigin's work - among the many sketches quickly made in ink on paper, there is not a single repetitive movement or pose.

"Afisha": The exhibition "Moses Feigin. Furious Orpheus" opened in Moscow.



The works of Moses Feigin are incredibly energetic - whether it is a large canvas or a modest sketch, they all have an inner strength, vigor, impulse. And this mood is maintained by the exhibition - the exposition is rich, dynamic and concentrated, it is imbued with the spirit of the artist's powerful creative personality.


The works of Moses Feigin are incredibly energetic - each one, be it a large canvas or a modest sketch, has an inner strength, pressure, impulse. This mood is supported by the exhibition - the exposition is rich, dynamic and concentrated, it is imbued with the spirit of the artist's powerful creative personality.
Exhibitions M.Feigin
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