Portrait of Liudmila Mamontova - Valentin Serov 1894

Russian business woman Marina Mamontova has opened an exhibition space in downtown Moscow for early twentieth century Russian art. According to Bloomberg news, the gallery, “will also function as a full-fledged cultural center that will organize art history lectures, exhibits of contemporary artists, publish art books, and sponsor concerts of early 20th century Russian music,” Bloomberg interviewed Mamontova in December:

“Russian art of the first half of the 20th century is still not well known, and the works sold at auction tend to disappear into private collections and are never seen again,” said Mamontova, “I want the public to have a chance to see these works, and to better appreciate this period of art.”

The current exhibition includes pre-soviet work by artists Valentin Serov and Mikhail Vrubel, and work by Soviet era artists Yevgeny Lanceray, Alexander Deineka, and Petr Konchalovsky among others.

Click here to see the full story on the opening at Bloomberg News.

Update 1/31

You can find a gallery of images from the opening of the gallery here.