In the last twenty years before the 1917 revolution was a period of drastic change in the Tsardom. A bourgeois elite spread a wave of enlightenment throughout the still conservative society. And painting played a vital role in this cultural explosion.
'The missing link'
Unfortunately, this fascinating period is not well known in the West. The standard idea of a sleepy art world that was shaken awake by the Impressionists, for examplem must be revised. There were innovative art scenes in St. Petersburg and Moscow long before the time of the 'modern revolution' of artists like Malevich and Kandinsky. In this tumult, there was no single overriding concept, but rather an incredibly lively debate on many different aspects. thanks to the cooperation of leading Russian museums like the Tretyakov Museum in Moscow and the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg, you can now experience the versatile powers of this period. You may not be familiar with names like Ilya Mashkov, Vasili Denisov or Natalia Goncharova, but that will make it even more exciting to mae acquaintance with their work.

By presenting this exhibition of over 80 paintings, many of which have never been seen outside Russia before, the Bonnefanten aims to show a missing link between tradition and innovation. The Big Change forms an essential link in the series of exhibitions presented in the Netherlands as part of Russia Year 2013.