Published: 26 August, 2007, 14:42
Edited: 26 August, 2007, 14:42
A small town on the Moscow – St. Petersburg railway is an unusual place for a collection of paintings, known the world over. A local pensioner is dreaming to give his town a new image by creating a gallery of classical art.
In Russian the word “chudo” means miracle. A small town on the Moscow – St. Petersburg railway shares this word, it is called Chudovo, which means something like “miraculous”
The town is home to one of the world's least-known private art collections. Konstantin Ekshibarov, its owner, first fell in love with art as a doctor during WW2.
When Koenigsberg fell as the Red Army advanced against the Nazis, Konstantin Ekshibarov found an old abandoned painting and decided that beautiful art must be rescued and shown to people.
Since then he has painted over 400 copies of original paintings.
“It would be nice to show these masterpieces to the whole town. I have lived in this town for several years now and of course I have heard about Konstantin Ekshibarov, but it is the first time I have seen his works. And I am amazed. I would like more people to see it,” says Elena Dolzhikova from the Chudovo council.
Mr Ekshibarov has spent all his pension money on his passion for painting, but he doesn’t use his talent to make money. He has not sold a single painting, nor has he accepted a commission from anyone.
He and his wife hope to turn their home into a small museum where people who cannot travel abroad -to see the originals- can come and learn about the history of art.
“One thing I don't want is for my collection to be taken away piece by piece and exhibited in saunas and houses. I want it to be preserved,” Konstantin notes.
Mr Ekshibarov dreams that one day the director of Russia's most famous art gallery, the hermitage in St. Petersburg, will visit his humble museum.