"Losses and Acquisitions" Exhibition Opens at the Art Museum, Dedicated to the Fate of the Collection During the War

At the beginning of November, the National Art Museum of Belarus celebrated its 85th anniversary. To mark this occasion, the exhibition "Losses and Acquisitions: The Fate of Art Treasures of the State Art Gallery, 1939–1957" was unveiled. The exhibition, prepared by the museum’s researchers Nadezhda Usova and Anastasia Rubashnaya, sheds light on one of the most dramatic episodes in the history of Belarusian art—the looting of the gallery during the Great Patriotic War and its post-war restoration.

History of the Art Gallery in Minsk

The State Art Gallery, the predecessor of today’s museum, opened on November 8, 1939, in the building of the former women’s gymnasium on Karl Marx Street. By the beginning of the war, its collection had grown to include more than 3,300 works of art, featuring creations by Russian, Belarusian, and Soviet artists. Particularly valuable were paintings from the Nesvizh Castle and pieces donated by the Hermitage, the Tretyakov Gallery, and the Russian Museum. However, in the summer of 1941, the gallery was looted. Most of the collection was taken to Germany as part of the Nazi plan to establish a "Führer Museum." Other exhibits were destroyed or lost.

Recovering the Lost

After the liberation of Minsk in 1944, efforts to restore the collection began. The gallery's new director, Alena Aladova, purchased paintings from antique dealers and private individuals and organized the return of artworks from Germany. This process lasted decades, with the final piece, Alexander Shevchenko's painting "For Firewood," returned to the museum in 1998.

An Exhibition Full of Stories

The "Losses and Acquisitions" exhibition is divided into four halls, each reflecting a key phase in the gallery's history: its founding, destruction during the war, and gradual restoration. Particularly striking are the empty frames symbolizing lost masterpieces and the tragic stories of some creators of the works. Among the exhibits are pieces by graphic artists from Bialystok, the talented Vitebsk landscape painter Lev Zevin, and sculptor Abram Brazier, whose lives were cut short during the war. The exhibition has already generated great interest among visitors and will be a significant event for anyone interested in Belarusian history and art. It will remain open until January 20.