Art and Sport project, dedicated to international Olympic movement, launched in Moscow

A new artistic project, Art and Sport, is launched in Moscow 1.5 years before the next 2004 summer Olympic Games in Greece, the land of the Olympics. A large-scale Art and Sport exhibition, opening at the New Manege hall on Monday, will be the first stage of the project.

The exposition features 400 works of art, including paintings and engravings, drawings and sculptures by Russian artists of the 1920s-1980s.

Sport events and records are reflected in photographs and applied arts - from sports awards to children's toys. However, 74 works by Alexander Rodchenko, El (Lazar) Lisitsky, Alexander Deineka, Yuri Pimenov, Alexander Samokhvalov and other outstanding artists of the 20th century from the collection of the Tretyakov Gallery make the foundation of the exhibition. Most visitors have never seen sport bills of the 1900s-1950s. The exposition features 100 rarity bills from the collection of the Russian State Library. Sport relics form a special section of the exhibition.

The Art and Sport project, dedicated to the international Olympic movement, will include three exhibitions to take place in Moscow in 2003-2004 and an exposition in Athens during the 2004 summer Olympic Games.