The exhibition "Return of the Stolen Vrubel" dedicated to Mikhail Vrubel’s "Demon and the Angel with Tamaraґs Soul" exceptional creation and its return opened at the Museum of Russian Art (Professor Abrahamyanґs collection).

The exposition, for which a special hall was set, presents the picture in its historical context while telling the mysterious story of its theft and careful restoration.

The significance of the exhibition was highlighted with an entire series of events, among which is the premier of "Lermontov — Rubinstein — Vrubel" performance that took place at the National Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet after A. Spendiaryan.

The performance was directed by the artistic director of the National Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet Constantine Orbelyan and an artist of declamation Anna Mikayelyan. Mikhail Lermontov’s "Demon", the opera of Anton Rubinstein and the artworks of Mikhail Vrubel — the combination of these three genres of art provided a new range of emotions to the attendees by revealing each art form much deeper.

According to the director of the Museum of Russian Art Marine Mkrtchyan, Mikhail Vrubel’s creation "Demon and the Angel with Tamara’s Soul" is unique in the museum’s collection due to its exceptional artistic significance as well as the history of creation and appearance in the Museum of Russian Art. "A fateful role in the history of this picture was played by such people as Savva Mamontov, prima ballerina Yekaterina Geltser, Professor Aram Abrahamyan and many others. An important element of the successful accomplishment of the exhibition as of today was ARARAT Speakers Night event, the first speaker of which Zelfira Tregulova, the director of the Tretyakov Gallery deeply supported the idea of exhibiting the picture in a proper way", says Marine Mkrtchyan.

"The partnership of ARARAT Museum with a museum that has wonderful collections such as the Museum of Russian Art is another format of cross-museum cooperation, which hopefully will be successfully put into practice for many times in the future. It’s very important and inspiring for us to see how different activations of ARARAT Museum bring to a systematic and consistent results," added Karine Madelrieu, director of Sales and Marketing of the Yerevan Brandy Company.

The masterpiece "Demon and the Angel with Tamara’s Soul" was stolen from the museum in 1995. In 2017, after a long 22-year international search, the work was found by Russia’s Special Forces and after a careful restoration in the State Tretyakov Gallery, on November 15th of the same year, the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin handed the work to the President of the Republic of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan in Moscow within the frames of the Days of Armenian Culture in Russia.

The exhibition will work until November 20th.