And in the Steppe: The Wind Rages...

Project Creators

Founder of AZ/ART Center for Contemporary Art / Natalia Opaleva
Curators / Sergei Alexandrov, Natalya Volkova, Valery Silaev
Production Designer / Gennady Sinev


On November 27, 2024, the exhibition "And in the Steppe: The Wind Rages..." opened at the AZ/ART Center for Contemporary Art on Maroseyka, dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the birth of artist Vladimir Yakovlev (1934–1998).

The exhibition features 70 works from the collections of AZ Museum, the State Tretyakov Gallery, the collections of Sergei Alexandrov, Nikolai Kotrelev, Mikhail Alshibaya, the artist's family, and others. The project presents the main directions in Yakovlev's work: abstractions, flowers, and portraits, created in the 1950s–1970s.

The project curators are the chief curator of AZ Museum Natalya Volkova, collector Sergei Alexandrov, and head of department at the Tretyakov Gallery Valery Silaev.

Several works are being shown to the public for the first time, including pieces from private collections and three paintings from the Tretyakov Gallery collection: "Composition. Rain, Sun" (1959), "Non-Objective Composition" (1958–1959), as well as the 1950s masterpiece "Head" — which will be shown for the first time after restoration carried out by one of the project's curators, Valery Silaev.

Natalia Opaleva, Director General of AZ Museum and AZ/ART Center:

"Vladimir Yakovlev is one of the most important artists not only in our collection but in all of Moscow's unofficial art of the second half of the 20th century. Even during his lifetime, he was highly valued by his fellow artists; some called him a genius. In the year of Vladimir Yakovlev's 90th birthday, we are opening a museum exhibition of his works on Maroseyka, selected by curators according to a specific principle: flowers and faces. Both in Yakovlev's work bear the mark of tragedy and hope for the better simultaneously. His depictions of flowers are far from traditional — they are, in the full sense, 'portraits of flowers.' On the faces of people in his paintings, one can see the cross that each of them bears."

The exhibition title is a fragment from one of Vladimir Yakovlev's short unrhymed poems: "And in the steppe: the wind rages, / The wind chases the storm, / And my abstract paintings / Are all hung up..." These lines reflect the artist's special worldview and the main motifs of his work — throughout his life, he created abstract "portraits of the wind," "portraits of flowers," sad, laconic depictions of faces in which the viewer discovers another reality visible only to its creator. The exhibition is conceived as a bright poetic image, where the space of the 17th-century white-stone chambers emphasizes the philosophical depth and integrity of Vladimir Yakovlev's artistic world.

Vladimir Yakovlev appeared on the art scene in the late 1950s, when contemporary art was shown in Moscow during the "Thaw." After exhibitions of European and American painting held between 1957 and 1961, Yakovlev developed his unique creative method, moving from Tachist abstraction through "portraits of the wind" to flowers and faces. In the early 1980s, after losing his parents, the artist's health deteriorated, but he remained true to art. He painted pure, bright works and continued working until the end of his life.

Today, Yakovlev's works are held in major museum and private collections around the world.

In collaboration with the Nikolai Karetnikov Foundation, a concert program is planned for the exhibition that juxtaposes Vladimir Yakovlev's inner world, artistic language, subjects, and themes with chamber works by composers of the last two centuries. The concerts, conceived by musicologist and music curator Sergei Terentyev — "Unearthly Flowers," "Among Stones and Thorns," "Portrait of the Wind," "In Croce," "Distant Light" — explore the artist's work in a musical dimension and echo the tragic facts of his biography. Leading ensembles specializing in new academic music will participate in the chamber evenings: the Studio for New Music ensemble of soloists, the Moscow Contemporary Music Ensemble (MCME), Île Thélème Ensemble, the Terminus vocal ensemble, and soloists of the Okolobakha chamber orchestra. The project also includes guided tours, thematic meetings, and original children's programs.

The exhibition will run until February 16, 2025. Admission is charged; the full ticket price is 400 rubles. The reduced ticket price is 200 rubles.
On Mondays, admission to the museum is free for all visitors.

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