The exhibition of works by the renowned Soviet photographer Andrey Knyazev opens at the branch of the Yeltsin Center in Moscow.
The exhibition “Andrey Knyazev. Selected Works”, organized by the Lumiere Gallery in collaboration with the B.N. Yeltsin Presidential Center, marks the inaugural project of the new exhibition space at 12 Malaya Nikitskaya Street, building 1. It will be open from October 23, 2024, to January 20, 2025, daily from 12:00 PM to 8:00 PM (entry through the “Piotrovsky” bookstore, 2nd floor). Admission is free.
Andrey Knyazev (1932–2003) was a master of genre photography, capturing unique moments of life, art, and culture of the late Soviet era. His contributions to Russian photography are closely tied to the humanistic and innovative trends of the “Thaw” period. He actively collaborated with Literaturnaya Gazeta, Sovetskaya Kultura, Smena magazine, Sovetsky Ekran, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, and Izvestia. From 1966 to 1989, he served as a photojournalist for Moskovskiye Novosti.
For the past 15 years, the Lumiere Gallery has been working with the archives of the Andrey Knyazev Foundation, which include more than 350 prints and 15,000 negatives. In 2022, a portion of the archives was made widely accessible: now, over 200 acclaimed masterpieces, which have been featured in exhibitions over the years and published in books, as well as lesser-known images discovered during research, can be viewed on the Foundation’s website.
The exhibition on Malaya Nikitskaya will showcase 36 photographs from this collection, covering the period from the 1960s to the 1990s. It is organized around two thematic sections that highlight Knyazev’s key creative directions during these three prolific decades—genre photo essays and his work with the film industry. The works displayed demonstrate the variety of themes and genre approaches characteristic of Knyazev. He paid special attention to conveying the authentic emotional nature of his subjects, whether depicting the simple and sincere heroes of everyday life or the vibrant stars of Soviet cinema.
The project includes both well-known, iconic works—such as Winter Evening with Music (1968), In Class (1970s), and After the Concert (1970s)—and lesser-known images that reflect the lives of cultural figures and events of a bygone era.
The monograph-photo album Andrey Knyazev 1960-1990 was published in honor of the 90th anniversary of the photographer’s birth and continued the unique series of books dedicated to the classics of Soviet photography of the 20th century, becoming the fourth publication in the joint program of the Lumiere Gallery and the Still Art Foundation. The book includes 169 works by Andrey Knyazev, who devoted his artistic vision to cinema, fashion, and the image of the Soviet woman in the 1960s-1990s. The first section, “None More Beautiful,” contains poetic genre scenes that, in the format of a visual diary, reveal the photographer’s admiration for his subjects, his keen talent as an observer, and his lyrical and optimistic perspective on the era.
The second section, “Star Ticket,” includes photographs of Lyudmila Gurchenko, Andrei Tarkovsky, Oleg Tabakov, Inna Churikova, Mikhail Ulyanov, Lyudmila Savelyeva, Oleg Yefremov, Tatyana Samoilova, Sophia Loren, Federico Fellini, and many other renowned actors and directors, often featured on the covers of Sovetsky Ekran. Working with the magazine allowed Andrey Knyazev to gain access behind the scenes of the film industry and to cover the Moscow International Film Festival over various years. Knyazev aimed to emulate the techniques of great cinematographers, showcasing how beloved public figures behaved in everyday life.
Exhibition “Andrey Knyazev. Selected Works”
October 23, 2024 – January 20, 2025
Moscow, 12 Malaya Nikitskaya Street, building 1
Hours: daily, 12:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Age restriction: 16+
Exhibition Curator:
Valeriia Shishkanova
Organizers:
Lumiere Gallery
B.N. Yeltsin Presidential Center
Publishing Program Partner:
Still Art Foundation
Press Contact for the B.N. Yeltsin Presidential Center:
press@ycenter.ru