Moscow Museum of Modern Art presents an exhibition of two artists belonging to the Moscow tradition of painting – Grigory Sretensky and Nina Stenshinskaya, disciples of the leading masters of “The Jack of Diamonds”, Piotr Konchalovsky and Ilya Mashkov. So it happened that the works by Sretensky and Stenshinskaya were less popular and recognized than the ones by their renowned mentors. The first big exhibition of Grigory Sretensky was organized only in 1962, the one of Nina Stenshinskaya – in 1982. However, the demonstration of Sretensky’s paintings in London drew attention of the wide public and many pieces were bought for private collections in Europe and the USA. That’s why it is so important today to hold a large-scale museum exhibition in Moscow, the city with which the artists’ lives were so closely connected. It is not surprising that the Moscow Museum of Modern art was chosen as a venue for this project, for the core of our collection are chef-d’oeuvres of Russian avant-garde, including the works by members of “The Jack of Diamonds”.

Grigory Sretensky and Nina Stenshinskaya started their creative career in the 1920s. Sretensky was one of the founders of “Bytie” (“Existence”) artistic community, founded in 1922 by the graduates and students of the VKHUTEMAS, and Nina Stenshinskaya joined the group in 1925. During the years of its activity, the community has organized 8 exhibitions; one of them also presented the works by masters of the elder generation, such as Piotr Konchalovsky, Alexander Kuprin, Alexander Osmerkin. After the collapse of the community, its members followed their own paths, but still Sretensky and Stenshinskaya remained devoted followers of the Moscow artistic tradition.

Landscape and still-life became main genres in the oeuvre of Sretensky and Stenshinskaya; they allowed the artists to express their particular perception of the phenomenon of being. And although the masters also started to create genre pieces, their main interest was still painting from life, with many preparatory sketches. The art of Sretensky and Stenshinskaya is intimate but spectacular, based first and foremost on the emotional expression of colour. There is no complicated symbolism or allegory, no intricate names; these works are kingdom of pure visuality, where even the most ordinary motif can transmit a universal significance of the world.

All the paintings by Sretensky and Stenshinskaya done in the 1920s-1930s, were destroyed during the years of the Second World War. We can imagine what they were like, judging by some black-and-white reproductions, as well as press coverage and archive protocols fixing the discussion of exhibitions of that time. The works of the following, postwar period survived thanks to the efforts of the artists’ relatives and private collectors. These pieces are a convincing evidence of the fact that, during all their lives, Sretensky and Stenshinskaya were devoted to the artistic idea that appeared at the beginning of the 20th century within “The Jack of Diamonds” group.