Ukraine welcomes masterpieces

On Oct. 5, Kyiv will host the Great Antiquary Salon that will feature an unmatched collection of the world sculpture masterpieces by August Rodin (The Thinker, The Burghers of Calais, Adam will be exhibited in their original seize), Georges Braque (21 items), a founder of Cubism on par with Pablo Picasso, works by Salvador Dali, Pierre-August Renoir, as well as Francois Pompon, Edgar Degas, Amedeo Modigliani, Paul Gauguin, Ossip Zadkine, Henri Matisse, and Guiseppe Armani.

Besides, the collection will include two sculpture works by the Ukrainian avant-garde star Oleksandra Ekster, about which the world knows practically nothing. Ukrainians will for the first time have an opportunity to see so many legendary artworks within a single exhibit. All these treasures will be brought to Ukraine at the invitation of the Ukrainian Home by the famous Valsuani Foundry, where practically all the abovementioned artists modeled their works. The studio’s collection is truly unique, and its director Leonardo Benatov is an offspring to the Russian aristocratic family of Argutinskiys-Dolgorukiys, takes a rightful pride of the fact that the Valsuani Foundry in the 20th century has become the place where so many men of genius meet and communicate. Stories, told by his father, Leonardo Benatov, too, which he heard while a child are his spiritual wealth and at the same time one of the reasons why he became a sculptor. Besides, he was personally acquainted with the most extravagant artist of the 20th century, Salvador Dali, and stayed friends with him for many years.