The Lumiere Brothers Photogallery
The Lumiere Brothers Photogallery, created in 2001 in Moscow, is the first private Russian gallery for fine art photography. Its collection comprises photographers whose contribution to photographic art is incontestable in view of their contribution to the common development of documentary photography. It has two sites: one at the Central House of Artists (CHA), where a number of prominent Moscow art events are held, including Art Moscow and the Russian Antique Salons; and the second on the “island” of ex-chocolate factory "Red October".
The collection consists of around 1 500 works including Russian, European and American photographs. One of its strengths is the fine art photography of the Soviet period from the 1930s to the 1970s. It includes original prints of such photographers as Naum Granovsky, Boris Ignatovitch, Yakov Khalip, and Vadim Gushchin. The west is represented by Steve Schapiro, Greg Gorman, Martin Schreiber, and William Klein. In special place is the Lithuanian school, showing Antanas Sutkus and Aleksandras Macijauskas.
History
The idea of creating the first private photo gallery was that of Natalia Grigorieva, Eduard Litvinsky, and another partner, Mark Patlis. The photogallery first opened its doors at the Central House of Artists (CHA). From 2001 to 2010 it initiated lots of solo and group exhibitions of noted artists, such as Lev Borodulin, Vladimir Lagrange, Naum Granovsky, Boris Ignatovitch, and Eduard Leven. The photogallery launched publishing companies supporting one or another show. Four books that have been published are The Moscow Photographic Collections, Moscow of Naum Granovsky, The Soviet Era of Markov-Grinberg, and The Moscow Stories.
In 2005 the photogallery began the promotion of a second, western direction. The collection acquired work by William Klein and Ruth Orkin, and later Greg Gorman, Steve Schapiro, Martin Schreiber, and Wendy Paton. It has continued to make acquisitions.
In 2009 the photogallery started collaborating with renowned Lithuanian photographers like Antanas Sutkus, Aleksandras Macijauskas, Algimantas Kuncius, and Vitalijus Butyrin.
In 2010 the partners decided to open the Center for Photography. The colossal heritage of photography needed to be represented in Moscow at a relevant court. Such projects were conceived by the owners as difficult but necessary for both photographs and viewers. So started the history of the Center and the second photogallery, the ex-chocolate factory "Red October". It was opened to the public on March 2, 2010. From that time the Red October Photo Gallery has emphasized foreign photography, while the Photogallery emphasizes Soviet fine art photography.
References
Kirillova, Elena (2011-12-26). "The Lumiere Brothers Photogallery collection. Anniversary exhibition". Moscow News. Retrieved 2012-01-10.