Igor Makarevich was one of the leading representatives of the Moscow Conceptualist School and in the late 1970s, he joined the group “Collective Action” that was the central organization of that artistic movement. Art experts often describe Makarevich as one of the most enigmatic Moscow conceptualists.

The museum’s collection houses a monumental work by Makarevich — the 1981 “Portrait of Ivan Chuikov”. The painting depicts artist Ivan Chuikov who also belonged to the Moscow Conceptualist School.

The Moscow conceptualism is a movement in the Soviet underground art that began in the early 1970s. This conceptual art was based not on material objects themselves but rather on ideas that could be expressed through such objects.

By portraying the face of Chuikov on a wooden window frame, Makarevich imparted two hidden meanings to his painting. The window itself is an allusion to the art of Chuikov who created many of his paintings on window frames, and also a symbol of a border between the inside and outside worlds.

Ivan Chuikov was born in Moscow in 1935. His parents were also painters.

Chuikov studied at the Surikov Art Institute in Moscow and after graduation, he became a teacher at an art school. In the 1960s, the artist burned down almost all of his classical works and joined the conceptualists.

A window was an important element of Chuikov’s art throughout his life. As the artist himself reminisced, the idea of using a window was quite spontaneous: he saw old window frames that someone had left on the stairs.

In the 1960s, Chuikov believed that the window itself was more important than the image depicted on it. Later, the window frames became less important, and the artist started paying more attention to the subject matter of the painting, using not only the glass but the frame itself. Chuikov explained,