The Morozov Brothers: The Story of a Collection (2021)

In 1917 Moscow, the wind of the Bolshevik revolution sweeps through Russian society and establishes a new order. Art does not escape this upheaval and Lenin nationalizes the great private collections, including those of the brothers Mikhaïl and Ivan Morozov. For a little over twenty years, these Moscow patrons, who went from serfdom to textile billionaires, have accumulated a fabulous collection of works of art, masterpieces signed, Monet, Renoir, Cezanne, van Gogh, Matisse, Picasso, Derain, Maurice Denis and others are exposed on their picture rails. Blending romanticism and passion, the Morozov brothers' saga is part of this exceptional moment, at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, when Russia experienced an unprecedented revival of the arts, which will be described as the Silver Age. In Moscow, one of the epicenters of this renaissance, painters, composers, poets, singers, philosophers and politicians attended the salons of the Morozovs, where a thought was elaborated that would leave a lasting mark on the evolution of the arts in Russia. This film tells the story of the fate of this family of flamboyant personalities and that of their collections which, after some incredible events, were divided between the Pushkin Museum in Moscow and the Hermitage in Leningrad. For a long time left to their fate by the Soviet power, the Morozovs are once again today one of the major actors of artistic modernity. It is to their discovery that this film invites you to discover them.