From Russia: French and Russian Master Paintings 1870-1925 from Moscow and St. Petersburg brings together modern masterpieces by French and Russian artists active from 1870 to 1925. The show has been made possible by the sponsorship of E-ON, one of the UK's leading power and gas companies. All of the paintings on loan to London's Royal Academy of Arts are from the State Hermitage Museum and the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg, the State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts and Moscow's State Tretyakov Gallery.

The exhibition has been organised by the Royal Academy of Arts in conjunction with the Museum Kunst Palast, Dusseldorf, Germany. It explores the development of modern art from Realism and Impressionism to Suprematism and Constructivism. This is the first time that paintings from these collections have been displayed together.