MUSEUMS OF RUSSIA

Eleonora Paston
“I am in Abramtsevo Once More..."

#3 2021 (72)

Mikhail Vrubel’s creative fascination with ceramics began in 1890, soon after his arrival in Moscow in autumn 1889. There, thanks to his old friends Valentin Serov and Konstantin Korovin, he became close with Savva Mamontov, a vivid and multifaceted character, someone who was possessed of a special sensitivity to new trends in art along with an ability to recognise talented people and understand the essence of their gift. A major entrepreneur and patron of the arts, in the 1870s and 1890s, he collected a circle of artists, later known as the Abramtsevo Circle, which spanned the generations: Ilya Repin, Vasily Polenov, Viktor Vasnetsov and the sculptor Mark Antokolsky from the older generation; Valentin Serov, Konstantin Korovin, Yelena Polenova, Apollinary Vasnetsov, Mikhail Vrubel, Mikhail Nesterov and Ilya Ostroukhov, among others, from the younger generation.

Marina Zinoveeva
Moscow State Stroganov Academy of Design and Applied Arts Museum

#2 2020 (67)

The Stroganov Academy Museum is one of the most fascinating and unique museums in Russia. Founded in 1864, during Viktor Butovsky’s tenure as director of the Stroganov School of Technical Drawing (later to be renamed “academy”), the museum served to “advance the development of original creative talent and skills among the working classes.” The museum, located in a separate building at 24 Myasnitskaya Ulitsa, opened its doors on April 171868 and became Russia’s first museum to focus on the history of decorative and applied arts throughout the world, from antiquity to modern times. Still, the museum’s primary goal was to collect the works of Russian decorative art, in line with the Stroganov Academy’s original purpose to preserve and advance Russia’s rich artistic tradition.

Angelika Myshkina, Yelena Prasolova
Arkhip Kuindzhi in St. Petersburg and Mariupol. HISTORICAL LOCATIONS RELATING TO THE ARTIST

#3 2018 (60)

The character of the Russian landscape painter Arkhip Ivanovich Kuindzhi has been shrouded in legend for more than a century. The artist rose from poverty to become, in the second half of his life, a millionaire owner of apartment buildings in St. Petersburg, but was not accustomed to talking about himself, or his childhood or family. He left no diaries or notes after his death, and the artist’s private correspondence focused mainly on business matters and reveals little about him. Kuindzhi’s first biographers, gathering material for their 1913 monograph about the artist, were challenged by such a lack of basic information.

Irina Lobasheva
Russian Art in Kazan. THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS OF THE REPUBLIC OF TATARSTAN

#2 2018 (59)

Encompassing the period from the 15th to the early 20th century, the collection of Russian art is the oldest and most important part of the Museum of Fine Arts of the Republic of Tatarstan. It was formed over the course of a century on the basis of the private collection of Andrei Lykhachev, which was later enriched through donations and acquisitions from eminent citizens of Kazan and art connoisseurs, such as Olga Alexandrova-Heinz, Sergei Bakhrushin, Pyotr Dulsky, Yevgeny Myasnikov and others.

 

Tatyana Gaiduk
AIVAZOVSKY’S HOUSE AND GUESTS

#1 2017 (54)

“My address - Feodosia, always.” That was how Ivan Aivazovsky would refer to his permanent home, the centre of both his life and work. Wherever the artist travelled, to St. Petersburg, Moscow, Paris, Venice, Constantinople or New York, he always returned to his native town. To this day the artist’s house attracts guests - art-lovers, specialists, connoisseurs and those are simply drawn to Aivazovsky’s work. Within its walls, music is still played and artists still work, and the house continues to capture the hearts and souls of new admirers of the talents of its famous resident.

 

Vladimir Kruglov
The Art of Alexander Golovin in the Russian Museum

#3 2014 (44)

ALONGSIDE ITS LARGE COLLECTIONS OF ALEXANDRE BENOIS, KONSTANTIN SOMOV, MSTISLAV DOBUZHINSKY AND BORIS KUSTODIEV, THE RUSSIAN MUSEUM HAS AN IMPRESSIVE RANGE OF THE WORK OF ALEXANDER GOLOVIN. AMASSED BY SEVERAL GENERATIONS OF TH E MUSEUM'S STAFF, IT REFLECTS THE ARTIST'S VARIED TALENTS AND THE DIVERSITY OF HIS CREATIVE ACHIEVEMENTS.

 

Veronica Bogdan
The Academy of Fine Arts in the 1920s and early 1930s

#2 2013 (39)

IN 2012 A ROOM DEVOTED TO THE MOST DIFFICULT PERIOD IN THE HISTORY OF THE RUSSIAN ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS (RAFA) WAS OPENED AT THE INSTITUTION'S ACADEMIC RESEARCH MUSEUM. INTEGRATED WITHIN THE PERMANENT DISPLAY TITLED "ACADEMIC MUSEUM", IT CAN ALSO BE VIEWED AS AN AUTONOMOUS SECTION. ALTHOUGH THE SURVIVING VISUAL EVIDENCE DOES NOT AMOUNT TO A COMPREHENSIVE ACCOUNT OF THE SINGULAR AND DIVERSE LIFE AT THE ACADEMY IN THE 1920S, WHEN THAT INSTITUTION WAS HOME TO DIFFERENT AND SOMETIMES MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE TRENDS, IT NEVERTHELESS WIDENS OUR KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THIS PERIOD.

SVETLANA IGNATENKO
Nesterov and Ufd

#1 2013 (38)

THE 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BIRTH OF MIKHAIL NESTEROV (1862-1942) WAS CELEBRATED AS A SPECIAL OCCASION IN HIS NATIVE CITY OF UFA. A MEMORIAL PLAGUE WAS UNVEILED AT THE LOCATION WHERE THE NESTEROV FAMILY HOUSE WAS ONCE SITUATED. A NATIONAL EXHIBITION "MV NESTEROV'S ART FROM RUSSIAN MUSEUMS, GALLERIES AND PRIVATE COLLECTIONS" WAS ORGANIZED WITH THE PARTICIPATION WITH 22 MUSEUMS AND TWO PRIVATE COLLECTIONS. A NATIONWIDE RESEARCH CONFERENCE "1ST NESTEROV FORUM" AND THE 1ST NESTEROV ALL-RUSSIA ART COMPETITION FOR CHILDREN TOOK PLACE. A PARK NAMED AFTER NESTEROV WAS OPENED. THIS EXTENSIVE CULTURAL PROGRAMME WAS ONLY THE BEGINNING OF A NATIONAL PROJECT TO COMMEMORATE THE GREAT ARTIST'S HERITAGE.

Veronica Bogdan
The First Fine Arts Museum in Russia

#1 2013 (38)

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS IN RUSSIA WAS AN INITIATIVE OF PETER THE GREAT. WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NATION'S NEW CAPITAL, THERE WAS AN INCREASING NEED TO LEARN ABOUT EUROPEAN SOCIAL AND CULTURAL TRADITION, AND THE MASSIVE CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS GENERATED A DEMAND FOR QUALIFIED ARCHITECTS AND PAINTERS. THE WORKFORCE OF EUROPEAN PROFESSIONALS RECRUITED FOR THE TASK SOON PROVED INSUFFICIENT IN NUMBER, AND A SCHOOL OF DRAWING, CALLED "THE ACADEMY" BY PETER, WAS SET UP UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE ST. PETERSBURG PRINTING-HOUSE. HOWEVER, THE TSAR ENVISIONED AN INSTITUTION OF LEARNING WITH A CURRICULUM INCLUDING ARTS, SCIENCES AND CRAFTS.

Yevgeny Bogatyrev
“I Yearn for Strange Lands”

#4 2010 (29)

The exhibition “From the Western Seas to the Very Gates of the East. Russia at the Time of Pushkin” – a look at the Russian Empire as it was seen by Alexander Pushkin and his contemporaries – has been one of the most memorable events of 2010 at the Pushkin Museum in Moscow.

Olga Nasedkina
Levitan Memorial Museum in Plyos -History Highlights

№3 2010 (28)

In 1960 the town of Plyos celebrated its 50th anniversary, setting the day for the festivities on August 30, which coincided with the centenary of the birth of Isaac Levitan – the illustrious landscape artist. Many artists from Moscow and the city of Ivanovo responded to Prorokov’s call to donate their paintings to Plyos. The new picture gallery, an esta-blishment operated on pro bono basis, was opened in 1961; initially it was accommodated at a Plyos agricultural college, on Sobornaya Hill, in a building which before the revolution was occupied by a governmental agency. Later, in 1962, the gallery moved to the Voskresensky church near Torgovaya Square, not far from a boat quay.

“The Levitan House of Landscape” Near Vladimir

№3 2010 (28)

A landmark event happened on August 23, 2008 in the village of Eliseikovo, Petushinsky District near Vladimir – the Levitan House of Landscape opened. The artist first visited this area in May 1891, on invitation of the historian Vassily Kluchevsky, who had a summer home by the Peksha River. A year later, Levitan returned, but not of his own free will: the authorities banished Jews from Moscow, and he had to leave the city (he had a chance to return only in December). During several months spent in the region the artist created 17 paintings (including the “Vladimirka Road”), sketches and drafts featuring the environs of Eliseikovo, Peksha and Kostervo.

Maya Mitkevich
The Legacy of the Russian North

№3 2006 (12)

The traditional culture of the North is rich and varied in its manifestations, and local museums hold numerous major works of northern art. These priceless monuments go back centuries and without them any study of the evolution of the material and spiritual culture of the Russian North would not be possible. It is no wonder that they continue to arouse interest. The Arkhangelsk Fine Arts Museum has always focused on researching the local culture, a factor due largely to the history and location of the museum.

Tatiana Koltsova
Icons of the Solovetsky Monastery

№3 2006 (12)

The Solovetsky Monastery collection of icons is one of the largest in the Russian North. Today the icon-painting legacy of the monastery is dispersed between several museum collections of the country, including Moscow’s Historical Museum, Tretyakov Gallery, the “Moscow Kremlin” Historical and Cultural Complex, St. Petersburg’s Russian Museum, and the Kolomenskoe Museum Reserve, the Museum of History of Religion, the Regional Museum of the Arkhangelsk Region, the Solovetsky Museum Reserve and the Arkhangelsk Fine Arts Museum. The literature on the subject of the Solovetsky iconpainting legacy is considerable indeed, including catalogues, monographs and articles. Icons from the museums of the Arkhangelsk region, however, have never really been researched and very rarely displayed. Thus, the public has little knowledge of them.

Tamara Shubina
The Gorki Estate and Its Collection

№3 2006 (12)

One of the oldest estates in the environs of Moscow, Gorki is first mentioned in a 16th-century source. The estate’s history is long and varied, comprising periods of flourishing growth as well as decline and stagnation. Some years saw the erection of new and beautiful buildings and the appearance of leafy parks, whilst others witnessed the house falling into disrepair, weeds smothering the lawns and the grounds being sold off to holiday-makers. Originally the Spasitelev family estate, Gorki later boasted a whole string of wealthy owners from families such as the Naumovs, Beloselskys, Buturlins, Beketovs, Durasovs and Lopukhins.

 

 

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