Oriental themes were prominent in the works of many artists working at the start of the twentieth century. The works of Pavel Kuznetsov (1878–1960) — still-lifes, portraits in landscapes and romantic oriental scenes — are close in tone to those of Borisov-Musatov. In the early 1910s, following trips to the Russian steppe and Bukhara, Kuznetsov produced a series of pictures based on the primal and harmonious world of the east (Evening in the Steppe, 1912). The genre motifs permeating the Kyrgyzstan suite never step beyond the level of concreteness which turns a motif into a subject. People, animals and objects are depicted on a level footing in this canvas, reflecting the artist’s own unique world.
The works of the other members of the Blue Rose group such as Nikolai Milioti (Birth of Venus, 1912), Nikolai Sapunov (Flowers and Porcelaine, 1912), Martiros Sarian (Hyenas, 1909) are displayed in the room.
