In the collection of European art of the National Art Museum of the Republic of Belarus the works of masters of the French school, the chronological framework of which covers the period from the 17th to the 20th century, constitute one of the most significant parts in terms of both quality and quantity of exhibits.
For many centuries, the French school was the most prominent art school in Europe. France’s gift to the world was the Gothic art style, as well as the work of the renowned masters of the Northern Renaissance; French artists of the 17th century, along with their Italian counterparts, became major representatives of the Baroque style, and styles and movements such as classicism and empire, rococo and the art of the Enlightenment are considered to be purely the achievements of French art.
The collection of French art of the National Art Museum of the Republic of Belarus includes many attention-worthy exhibits – mainly paintings and graphic works, using the example of which one can fully and consistently demonstrate the development of French fine art and its influence on other European schools.
The museum's collection contains a number of original masterpieces created by such renowned masters of the French school as Jean-François de Troy (1674–1752), Alexis Grimou (1678–1733), Claude-Joseph Vernet (1714–1789), Hubert Robert (1733–1808), Jean-Baptiste Regnault (1754–1829), Élisabeth Louise Vigée-Lebrun (1755–1842), François Gérard (1770–1837), as well as many others. No less significant is the collection of French engravings, mainly dating back to the 18th century, as well as an assortment of French book illustrations of the late 19th – early 20th century.
The exhibition “French Fine Art from the Collection of the National Art Museum of the Republic of Belarus” continues the series of thematic exhibitions presenting the fine art of individual European art schools based on the works from the museum’s collection. The exhibition will feature more than 160 paintings, graphic works and sculptures, allowing the viewer to become more profoundly acquainted with the collection of the National Art Museum of the Republic of Belarus.
The exhibits provide an excellent insight into one of the largest art schools in the world, the French school, and invite the viewer to follow the evolution and development of art in this country throughout the 17th – early 20th century.
Some of the works presented at the exhibition are being exhibited for the very first time.
Exhibition curator is Sviatlana Prakopyeva, head of the Department of Foreign Art of the National Art Museum of the Republic of Belarus, tel. + 375 /17/ 358 27 99.
