The three-part exhibition project ‘Labelled by Vasari’ at the Arsenal in 2021–2024 juxtaposes works from The Pushkin Museum with contemporary art.

The project references Giorgio Vasari, an Italian painter, architect, and theorist who first proposed dividing the history of European art into three major periods: the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and Mannerism. "Named by Vasari: Mannerism" follows the two previous parts of the project — Gothic and Renaissance. The exhibition features works by European masters of the 16th to early 17th centuries and works by contemporary Russian artists inspired by Mannerist art.

Mannerism is a fascinating phenomenon in the cultural history of the 16th century, which some researchers consider part of the Renaissance, while others see it as an independent period. The term comes from the Italian word "maniera" ("manner", "style"), which Vasari popularised in his "Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects." He characterised the art of his time as "maniera moderna," meaning "modern style."

The exhibition, like the previous two parts of the trilogy, brings together a variety of works from the collection of the State Museum of Fine Arts named after A.S. Pushkin, including paintings, sculptures, graphics, and decorative arts. The halls feature engravings by Agostino Veneziano, Antonio Tempesta, and graphic works based on compositions by Jacopo Pontormo, Rosso Fiorentino, Agostino Carracci, Giorgio Vasari, and Giulio Romano.

Alongside museum exhibits are works by contemporary Russian artists that resonate with the drama and emotionality of Mannerism, its interest in metaphors and self-reflection, and its fascination with the bizarre and strange. The exhibition includes works by 20th-21st century artists such as Olya Avstreyh, Konstantin Batynkov, Evgenia Voynar, Ekaterina Gerasimenko, Petr Dyakov, Angelina Ermachkova, Sveta Isaeva, Egor Koshelev, Vlad Kulkov, Boris Makarov, Daria Neretina, Masha Obukhova, Vitaly Pushnitsky, Artur Samofalov, Ivan Yazykov, and Kirill Garshin.

Olya Avstreyh

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LABELLED BY VASARI. MANNERISM