The exhibition of works by the participants of “Art Plein Air – 2017” dedicated to the 125th anniversary of O.O.Osmerkin is an art project of O.O.Osmerkin Art-Memorial Museum and the gallery “Elisavetgrad” (Kropyvnytskyi) presented within cultural, art, and educational event “A Visit to the Museum” dedicated to the jubilee of the outstanding painter and pedagogue.
    M.M.Tsukanov, the owner of the gallery, a known in Kirovohrad (the historical name is Elisavetgrad) and far beyond worshiper of fine art promotes the gem of the steppe land, its history, culture, and of course modern artists. On his initiative,the plein airs have been held for several years with the participation of local painters and artists from other cities. Mykola Mykolaiiovych suggested to dedicate this year plein air to the jubilee of an outstanding painter and pedagogue O.O.Osmerkin and to present the exhibition of the works made at the plein air at O.O.Osmerkin Art-Memorial Museum. He invited to Kropyvnytskyi famous artists from Kyiv, Odessa, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, among whom were People’s Artist of Ukraine Anatolii Horbenko, Merited Artists of Ukraine Anatolii Kravchenko and Leonid Zaborovskyi, members of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine Svitlana Anoshkina, Olena Al-Khadzh, Tetiana Didenko, Serhii Duplii, Lenur Veliliaiev, as well as Yurii Platonov from Belarus and Jian Liu from China who is a Ph.D. student in South Ukrainian National Pedagogical University named after K.D.Ushynskyi. Artists from Kropyvnytskyi also joined the plein air, among them – members of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine Borys Vintenko, Anatolii Shapovalov, and Valerii Davydov.
    The artists have been creating for 10 days on the streets of the town, in the Open-Air Museum of I.K.Karpenko-Kary “Khutir Nadiia”, and other picturesque corners of the Kirovohrad region. They created more than one hundred paintings and graphic works; part of these works was displayed at the exhibition in O.O.Osmerkin Art-Memorial Museum. Previously, the artists also organized the plein air in the museum.
Pictorial landscapes that reflect the architecture of the historical center of our town, lyric spring scenery of the steppe land, and colorful floral still lifes that create an optimistic spring mood shaped the exposition of the exhibition.