WHITE BIG GULL | NALBANDYAN. TOURIST

About the exhibition

The Nalbandyan Museum Workshop and the Moscow Museum of Modern Art present the exhibition WHITE BIG GULL, a journey around the world by Soviet artist Dmitry Nalbandyan, whose trips abroad became an integral part of his creative practice. The exhibition features paintings and graphic works inspired by Nalbandian’s trips to Europe and Asia in the 1950s—1980s.

For a Soviet citizen, travelling abroad was an exceptional event, while for Nalbandyan it was almost a routine since he was an official artist and participated in international cultural exchanges and diplomatic missions. Over several decades, he has travelled to more than 30 countries, including France, Italy, Greece, Japan and India. His itineraries add up to a map of invisible geography, where each journey marked history.

The centre piece of the exhibition is a cruise on the Pobeda boat in 1956, the first large-scale voyage of Soviet intellectuals to European countries after a long period of isolation. It sets the tone for the whole exhibition: the white boat turns into a symbol of freedom of movement, curiosity and openness to the world. Archival materials – posters, travel notes, photographs, newspaper clippings – recreate the atmosphere of a time when art became a bridge between cultures.

The exhibition devotes a special place to a series of Indian works. After visiting India five times, Dmitry Nalbandyan captured its everyday life with particular attention and respect: the streets of Calcutta, the rhythms of Lucknow, the colours of Mumbai.

The exhibition WHITE BIG GULL is the story of a personal journey that offers a unique view of the world through the eyes of Dmitry Nalbandyan.

About the artist

Dmitry Arkadyevich Nalbandyan (September 15, 1906, Tiflis — June 30, 1993, Moscow) was a Soviet Armenian painter, People's Artist of the USSR and Hero of Socialist Labour, winner of the Lenin and two Stalin Prizes, winner of the Jawaharlal Nehru Prize. Dmitry is one of the most famous official portraitists of the Soviet era. During the artist’s lifetime, his solo exhibitions were repeatedly held not only in the USSR, but also in Hungary, the GDR, Finland, Japan, India, and France. Dmitry Nalbandyan's works are in the collections of the State Tretyakov Gallery (Moscow), the State Historical Museum (Moscow), the State Russian Museum (St. Petersburg), the Moscow Museum of Modern Art (Moscow), the State Art Gallery of Armenia (Yerevan), the Uffizi Gallery in Florence and many other museums and private collections.

The Nalbandyan Museum Workshop

The Nalbandyan Museum Workshop was founded in 1993 on the ninth floor of the residential building No. 8 on Tverskaya Street. The workshop was not only the artist’s workplace, but also a meeting place for art professionals, public and political figures, military leaders, and celebrities of the time.

Today, the collection of the museum, which is part of the Moscow Museum of Modern Art, holds more than 1,500 works: paintings, graphics, materials from the artist's private archive, photographs, books, furniture, and decorative and applied art.