Soviet Realism Exhibition

Last night I attended the opening of a new exhibition at the NB Gallery, a wonderfully informal place were Soviet-style art is sold in pleasantly Soviet-style surroundings. By that I mean that the gallery is on the first floor of a block of flats, without any sign on the street, and no way of getting past the entry-phone unless you know the code. The paintings are usually be interesting artists and are sold be people who take care about what they sell. This is one aspect of Russia at its nicest.

The current exhibition is of paintings of the Far North, done in the 1970s-90s by Emilia Goncharova, who was on hand last night to talk to the guests. To my mind the most striking canvases were those done in native style of the natives of the north, especially three which were collectively entitled "Birds care for us", one being subtitled "Sun of Taimyr" (1987).