THE END OF RUSSIA!

Sunday afternoon I finished viewing the Russia! exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum. It only took me three visits to see it all, it was so big. (See my previous article.)

It was the weekend, in particular the last one before the exhibition closes, and the lines were humongous--there was even a short line outside for members, just to get in to the line inside for the members' desk. There was also a line to get an Audioguide, because there were none on hand. As soon as someone turned one in, it went right out again. All of the lines moved fairly quickly, though, so it wasn't that bad. Curiously, there was no line at the coat check--which explains why I kept getting brushed by the coats people were carrying when I got up to the exhibition.

I found the stairs and got a little exercise going up to level five, where I had left off the last time. As I figured, things weren't quite in chronological order, as the annex where I had seen the early Soviet works preceded the turn of the century pieces. There were various examples of works clearly influenced by western styles, and some that were trying to get away from western styles, particularly those employing a sort of primitivism. The former I thought were just pale imitations, and the latter more remarkable for the attempt than the execution.

But here and there I did find I few I did like--none of which seemed to be of any particular style I could identify. For instance, Mikhail Vrubel's 1898 Portrait of Nadezhda Zabela-Vrubel, the Artist's Wife, in an Empire Dress, with its big blotches of color, really stood out.

There was also Piotr Miturich's 1915 Portrait of Arthur Lourié. This was tucked away behind a pillar, and from what I can gather it is not a particularly important work in art history. Regardless, I think it was my favorite of this visit. It seemed to portray the man and the mood perfectly, with a minimum of fuss and bother.

There was one painting from the Soviet era that stood out. Even the control exerted by the Soviets over art, with its mandatory "Social Realism," could not totally stop other styles. I really liked the stark figure of a Russian peasant in Kazimir Malevich's Complex Premonition (Torso in a Yellow Shirt), which he did in about 1930. So simple, yet so powerful. It was one of his very late works, after he gave up abstract painting.

The more recent works did little for me. I eventually got to the end, and turned around. Then I walked down the spiral ramp, revisiting all of my favorites. It was getting toward closing time, and the crowd was thinning out, especially at the lower levels, so I could get a good, undisturbed view of almost everything. It was almost peaceful.