What Pictures are Pictures at an Exhibition based on?
In 1874 Modest Mussorgsky composed his famous Pictures at an Exhibition, based on ten drawings and watercolors produced by his recently deceased friend, the architect and artist Victor Hartmann. Most of the works that inspired the composer are lost, either yet undiscovered or, sadly, destroyed by time and neglect.
What was Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition inspired by?
Mussorgsky wrote his Pictures at an Exhibition in honour of a friend – a painter called Vladimir Hartmann who had died at the peak of his career, aged just 39. The loss of not just a close friend but also an artistic inspiration had a profound effect on the composer and the wider artistic community in Moscow.

What does Modest Mussorgsky have to do with Pictures at an Exhibition?
Pictures at an Exhibition, musical work in 10 movements by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky that was inspired by a visit to an art exhibition. Each of the movements represents one of the drawings or artworks on display.
What are the paintings in Pictures at an Exhibition?
Below are images and information about the six remaining pieces.
- Chicks in Shell.
- Catacombs.
- The Great Gate of Kiev.
- The Hut on Fowl’s Legs.
- Two Polish Jews.
What is the meaning of Pictures at an Exhibition?

Pictures at an Exhibition describes someone walking round the exhibition and looking at the pictures. The ten pictures he describes in music were drawings and watercolours.
What was the name of the architect artist for whom Mussorgsky wrote his famous work Pictures at an Exhibition?
The composition is based on pictures by the artist, architect, and designer Viktor Hartmann. It was probably in 1868 that Mussorgsky first met Hartmann, not long after the latter’s return to Russia from abroad.
Who orchestrated Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition?
Maurice Ravel
THE BACKSTORY In 1922 the French composer Maurice Ravel told the Russian conductor Serge Koussevitzky about this set of fascinating piano pieces. Koussevitzky, his enthusiasm fired, asked Ravel to orchestrate them.
Which art rock band is known for taking classical pieces like Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition and orchestrating them for a rock band?
E.L.P. had reached the Top Ten, in both Britain and America, with a live album based on its bombastic rendition of Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition.” Bangs wanted to believe that the band members thought of themselves as vandals, gleefully desecrating the classics.