A traveling exhibit featuring the work of Russian immigrant artists opened Saturday at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, 555 Elm Ave.

More than 200 people attended the opening of “American Artists from the Russian Empire,” an exhibit featuring 20th century art, much of which would not have been allowed in Russia at the time of its creation. Saturday’s official opening was preceded by a student opening on Wednesday that drew 600 people, a museum official said.

“Up until the 1980s, a lot of art was forbidden in Russia,” said Evgenia Petrova, curator of the exhibit and a director at the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia.

The creation of avant-garde art was halted in the ‘30s due to the dictatorial force of Josef Stalin, Petrova said through a translator. Only paintings that were grounded in realism were allowed during that period.

“American Artists from the Russian Empire” showcases a number of abstract works that Russian artists would not have been able to paint in their home country, but also landscapes, portraits and impressionistic-influenced paintings.

“It’s great because it’s so varied,” said Derrick Cartwright, executive director of the San Diego Museum of Art. “If you think you’re going to see one thing, you’re probably not going to see just that one thing.”

The opening was accompanied by a lecture and open discussion led by Cartwright and an exhibit walk-through by Petrova.

The San Diego Museum of Art will host the exhibit on the last stop of its journey. The Fred Jones Jr. Museum is the only other museum in the country to feature the art.

“It’s a very unique situation here in Norman,” Cartwright said.

Despite lacking the large population of a city like San Diego, Norman was selected to host the exhibit in part because of the Russian works that already call the Fred Jones Jr. Museum home, he said.

Art aficionados and the uninitiated alike browsed the walls of “Russian art that doesn’t look Russian,” as Petrova called it.

Laura Hawkey, secondary education junior, said it was her first time at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum and the exhibit was less overwhelming than her typical museum experiences.

“It’s really neat that OU can bring [this] here,” she said.

In the historical context, many of the artists featured have been forgotten or become less fashionable, but the exhibit aims to change that, Petrova said.

“Presenting them in this context renews interest in these artists,” she said.

The exhibit represents an important period in American art history as well, Cartwright said.

“Many of these artists ended up being teachers of great American artists,” he said. “There’s a real new contribution to knowledge here.”

“American Artists from the Russian Empire” will remain on display until Jan. 4, and will then travel to St. Petersburg, Moscow and San Diego.