Probably the name of Sergei Ivanovich Shchukin won’t tell you much now. Shchukin was a Russian businessman, a textile merchant who lived at the turn of the 19th and 20th. Why should we care about him, though?
![Xan Krohn, Portrait of Sergei Shchukin, 1915, The State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersbourg](https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/art_norway_15_01.jpg)
Sergei Shchukin owned one of the most marvelous art collection in history. He amassed 258 works of impressionist, post-impressionist, fauvist and cubist masterpieces, which decorated the walls of his palace-like home in Moscow. Including 50 Picassos, 38 works by Matisse, 13 Monets, eight Cezannes, seven Rousseaus, three Renoirs, four Van Goghs. 16 Gauguins of the Tahitian period hung in his dining room in the manner of an orthodox iconostasis. In 1909, Shchukin opened his home on Sundays for public viewings, introducing French avant-garde painting to the Moscovites. He also was a friend of Henri Matisse and commissioned two of his most famous masterpieces – “Dance” and “Music”.
![Sergei Shchukin’s study in Moscow, 1913](https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/collection1_0.jpg)
However, in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution in October 1917, Shchukin’s collection was expropriated by the state, broken up, and distributed among museums in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Stalin called his collection “bourgeois and cosmopolitan”. Shchukin himself had to flew to Paris, where he died in 1936.
It was difficult to see all the Shchukin collection in one place, as it has been split to The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts and the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg.
Until now, when 120 paintings from the collection can be seen on the exhibition at Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris. The exhibition takes place until February 20th, 2017. Below we present a short snapshot of the paintings you can see there:
Vincent van Gogh, Portrait of Doctor Ray, 1889
![Vincent van Gogh, Portrait of Doctor Ray, 1889, Pushkin Museum, Moscow](https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/vincent-van-gogh-portrait-of-dr-fc3a9lix-rey-january-1889-the-state-pushkin-museum-of-fine-arts-moscow.jpg)
Pablo Picasso, The Meeting (The Embrace), 1900
![Pablo Picasso, The Meeting (The Embrace), 1900, Pushkin Museum, Moscow](https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/embrace-1900.jpg)
Paul Cézanne, Self-Portrait, 1882
![Paul Cézanne, Self-Portrait, 1882, Pushkin Museum, Moscow](https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/P-CEZANNE-AUTORITRATTO-1882.jpg)
Henri Rousseau, View of the Pont Sèvres and the Hills of Clamart, Saint Cloud, and Bellevue with Biplane, Balloon, and Dirigible, 1908
![Henri Rousseau, View of the Pont Sèvres and the Hills of Clamart, Saint Cloud, and Bellevue with Biplane, Balloon, and Dirigible, 1908, Pushkin Museum, Moscow](https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Henri_Rousseau_-_Vue_de_pont_de_Sèvres.jpg)
Claude Monet, Woman in the Garden, Sainte-Adresse, 1867
![Claude Monet, Woman in the Garden, Sainte-Adresse, 1867, Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg](https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Monet_Claude_-_Woman_in_the_Garden._Sainte-Adresse.jpg)
Claude Monet, Luncheon on the Grass, 1866
![Claude Monet, Luncheon on the Grass, 1866, Pushkin Museum, Moscow Shchukin collection](https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/BxDTacjCYAAjnM2.jpg)
Claude Monet, Seagulls, River Thames in London, Houses of Parliament, 1904
![Claude Monet, Seagulls, River Thames in London, Houses of Parliament, 1904, Pushkin Museum, Moscow](https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Seagulls_the_Thames__Houses_of_Parliament_by_Claude_Monet_Pushkin_Museum.jpg)
Paul Gauguin, Aha oé feii? (What, Are You Jealous?”), 1892
![Paul Gauguin, Aha oé feii? (What, Are You Jealous?"), 1892, Pushkin Museum, Moscow Shchukin collection](https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/paul-gauguin-aha-oe-feii-what-are-you-jealous-1892-pushkin-state-museum-of-fine-arts-moscow.jpg)
Paul Gauguin, Vairaumati téi oa (Her Name was Vairaumati), 1892
![Paul Gauguin, Vairaumati téi oa (Her Name was Vairaumati), 1892, Pushkin Museum, Moscow Shchukin collection](https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Gauguin_-_Ihr_Name_ist_Vairaumati_-_1892.jpg)
Pablo Picasso, Absinthe Drinker, 1901
![Pablo Picasso, Absinthe Drinker, 1901, Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg Shchukin collection](https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Pablo_Picasso_1901-02_Femme_au_café_Absinthe_Drinker_oil_on_canvas_73_x_54_cm_Hermitage_Museum_Saint_Petersburg_Russia.jpg)
Henri Matisse, Still-life with a Blue Tablecloth, 1906
![Henri Matisse, Still-life with a Blue Tablecloth, 1906, Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg](https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Still-Life-with-Blue-Tablecloth.jpg)
Henri Matisse, Red Room (Harmony in Red), 1908
![Henri Matisse, The Dessert (Harmony in Red), 1908, The Hermitage Museum Shchukin collection](https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/henri_matisse_-_the_dessert_harmony_in_red_-_the_red_room_1908_oil_on_canvas_180_5x221cm_the_heritage_museum.jpg)
Henri Matisse, Goldfish, 1912
![Henri Matisse, Goldfish, 1912, Pushkin Museum, Moscow](https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/goldfish-1911.jpgLarge.jpg)
Paul Cézanne, Fruits, 1879-80
![Paul Cézanne, Fruits, 1879-80, Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg](https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/WOA_IMAGE_1.jpg)
Pablo Picasso, Table in a Café (Bottle of Pernod), 1912
![Pablo Picasso, Table in a Café (Bottle of Pernod), 1912, Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg Shchukin collection](https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/table-in-a-cafe-bottle-of-pernod-1912.jpgLarge.jpg)
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