The director of the Odessa Fine Arts Museum (OFAM) Aleksandr Roytburd announced that Asya Mezhberg, the widow of the legendary Odessa artist of the sixties Lev Mezhberg, donated 50 of his works to OFAM.

I talked with Asya on the phone and expressed the idea that the name of Mezhberg should be returned not only to Odessa, but also to the general Ukrainian context. As a result, another 50 works by Lev Mezhberg were donated to the National Art Museum of Ukraine.

Aleksandr Roytburd, Director of OFAM

According to him, some of the received works will replenish the new exposition of the second floor of the museum "From the twenties to the twenties." Also, the museum plans to hold a separate exhibition of Mezhberg's paintings.

Two years ago, the first work of Lev Mezhberg - his late painting "Beach in Sicily" - got into the OFAM collection thanks to the gallery owner and collector Igor Meteltsin.

Lev Mezhberg, born in Odessa in April 15, 1933, was a figurative painter. His paintings are autobiographical, filled with symbols and enigmas relating to his own existence. In the Soviet Union, He participated in more than forty single and group exhibitions, winning prizes at two All-Union Art Exhibitions for Best Painting (1965, 1967). Mezhberg worked in Darien (Connecticut) and New York City from the years of 1973 to 2001. In 2001 he moved to Carrara (Italy) where he lived until his death on July 17, 2007. Under Soviet rule, his name was banned in Odessa for many years.

Several more works of the artist are in the Museum of Modern Art in Odessa and in private collections. Two of them were shown at the OFAM at the "Harsh and Stylish" exhibition.

Source and pictures: Dumskaya.net