Translate the following expressions from Russian into English.

Быть основанным, выдающийся художник, расширить коллекцию, попечитель галереи, хранилище картин, национализировать частную коллекцию, закрыть на реконструкцию, великолепная коллекция икон, передвижники, посвятить всю жизнь, благородные чувства, великие полотна.

Speak about the Gallery, focusing on what you think is very important for the Russian people.

Discuss in groups which paintings may be included in the list of 10 top canvases.

7. Answer the questions:

I. Do you remember?

1. Who was the founder of the first gallery of Russian paintings in Moscow?

2. What is the date of its foundation?

3. How many paintings were there in the collection of Pavel Tretyakov by the 1870s?

4. When was the Tretyakov collection opened for the public?

5. When did Pavel Tretyakov present his collection to the city of Moscow?

6. Who was the first trustee of the Tretyakov Gallery?

II. Recalling the facts.

1. When and how was the Tretyakov collection greatly enlarged?

2. When was the Tretyakov Gallery closed for reconstruction?

3. What buildings were added to the gallery?

4. What can you say about the Tretyakov Gallery after the reconstruction?

III. Thinking about the main idea.

1. Explain why we consider the year 1856 to be the date of the foundation of the Tretyakov Gallery.

2. Explain why the gallery was called after Pavel Tretyakov?

3. Explain why it was necessary to reconstruct the gallery in the 1980s.

4. Enumerate the famous painters whose works are displayed in the Tretyakov Gallery.

IV. Are the following statements true or false?

1. In 1863 fourteen painters — students of the Academy of Arts — refused to paint pictures on religious themes.

2. In 1870 they joined the artists from Moscow to form "The Travelling Exhibition Society".

3. Ilya Repin was the leader of this group.

4. Ivan Kramskoy was a talented landscape painter.

5. Alexei Savrasov was a famous portrait painter.

6. Valentin Serov was famous for his splendid gala portraits.

7. Victor Vasnetsov painted The Warriors" specially for the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg.

 

8. Using the vocabulary from the text write the essay “What contribution did Russian art make to the world art?”

Read, translate and role play the dialogue.

At the Tretykov Gallery

A:	Ah! I see you are interested in Repin's portraits
B:	Yes, I like this one of Pirogov very much
A:	What I like about Repin's portraits is the expression of the eyes. Did you notice Pirogov's eyes in his portrait?
B:	Yes, the eyes of a thinker and at the same time of a very human person.
A:	But you know that is noticeable also in Repin's other canvases. Take for example his "Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan". The tsar's eyes, which shine against the dark background, really reflect his soul: his horror because he has killed his son and also his love for the Russian state, which made him commit- that crime.
B:	I think you are right! The expression of the eyes is also very characteristic in such canvases as "The Arrest of the Propagandist"; strong will and readiness to die for his cause in the eyes of the man who is arrested, surprise, fear and hatred of the gendarmes in the eyes of some other people in the room.
A:	And what about 'The Volga Boatmen'?
B:	I think their eyes show suffering, and at the same time their will to fight and to live.
A:	I agree with you. And I think that we can see in Repin's own eyes, in his self-portrait, the soul of a man who sees all of life, who understands his comrades and sees the good and bad in them. All that is necessary to paint such famous canvases.

Complete the sentences with the words from the box.

a. was housed	b. is situated	c. was born	d. is enriched
e. was trained	f. is occupied	g. are shown

 

1. Tretyakov Gallery … constantly … by works of Russian and Soviet painters, sculptors, graphic artisis.

2. It … in a small but very Russian looking building in the centre of Moscow.

3. A.S. Stepanov … at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture by Sorokin and Pryanishnikov.

4. A predominant place in Stepanov’s work … by autumn and winter landscape remarkable for their plain-air effects.

5. Surikov … in Krasnoyarsk in the family of a Cossack.

6. The Hermitage … in St. Petersburg and its art exhibitions … around Russia.