Museum Collection, Stepan Erzia International Art Foundation and antique Salon "On Patriarchs" present new thematic exhibition "In Dialogue with Chaco"*.

The exposition is dedicated to one of the most distinctive sculptors of the 20^th century – the unrivalled artisan Stepan Erzia (Nefyodov).
Creative work of Stepan Erzia holds a special place in the history of Modernism. The trajectory of his professional journey is unprecedented and resembles a space rocket rapid take-off. Born into a family of Erzian peasants (Mordovian ethnic group) in the village of Baevo, Simbirsk province (contemporary Republic of Mordovia), the future sculptor studied at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture under the best mentors of that time – Sergei Volnukhin and Paolo Troubetzkoy in 1902–1907. From 1907 to 1914, Erzia lived and worked in Italy and France, where he enjoyed incredible popularity, and after the Revolution of 1917, he participated in the Lenin's utopian avant-garde plan of "monumental propaganda" in the Urals and the Caucasus. The brightest page in the life of Erzia began in 1927, when he came to Argentina. The sculptor spent the next 23 years in Argentina and it was there that his mature individual style took shape.

In 1929, the first monographic exhibition of Stepan Erzia was held in Buenos Aires. Wooden sculptures presented at the exhibition, as if blown by the Volga wind and memories of distant Russia, made an indelible impression on the Argentinean public. Erzia was called "the new Michelangelo" and "the successor of Auguste Rodin". He became a permanent participant of prestigious exhibitions not only in the capital, but also in Resistencia, Mendoza, Mar del Plata and Rosario. The sculptor was invited to the United States and Great Britain. His works were bought by the widest range of customers.

The exhibition "In Dialogue with Chaco" brings together 12 hypnotising works of the sculptor – originals and casts of the Argentine period sculptures from the collection of the International Art Foundation named after Stepan Erzia, museum Collection and Antique salon "On the Patriarchs".

The dialog with Chaco, which had lasted for almost a quarter of a century, turned out to be one of the most important dialogs in his life.

Author of the idea:
Svetlana Churaeva, art director of the museum Сollection
Curators:
Elena Butrova, Vice-President for Scientific Work, Curator of the Collection of the S.D. Erzia International Art Foundation
Yana Strizhevskaya, Deputy Director of the Development Department of museum Collection

* Chaco (offically the Province of Chaco) is one of the 23 provinces in Argentina. Its capital and largest city, is Resistencia.