The State Russian Museum

Last year I went to an exhibit at the Guggenheim in NYC called Russia!, which showcased for the first time since the end of the Cold War a chronological set of Russian art in the United States. Frankly, I was blown away. For those of you whose concept of Russian art is Kandinsky and Chagall (as mine was), there were many other artist to discover. Plus, the exhibition was interesting in that it divided Russian art during the Soviet period into art sanctioned and not sanctioned by the state.

This afternoon I went to the Russian Museum, indeed in search of Kandinskys and Chagalls (even though they had very few), but more to see the art that couldn't make it across the ocean. It turns out that a lot of the art, especially from the Soviet period is on exhibition elsewhere. I wasn't disappointed though, and a number of the same pictures I saw today had been at the Guggenheim exhibit too. Here's one of them.

lya Repin, Barge Haulers on the Volga, 1870–73

Just FYI, what you read from here on out comes from the humble opinion of an artist's son. I can take nice landscape pictures and draw nice stick figures, but I'm definitly not an art critic. So, just bear that in mind. Really, though, I'm not going to critique much, I just liked the art. Second, for those of you who don't care about art-- don't worry. I am going to be writing about Russian cars, Russian fashion, and more Russian food in the next couple days.

Although a lot of the art was inspired by neo-classical, romantic, realist, and then impressionist movements it was the subject matter that was slightly different. The theme of "work" or "the worker" is pervasive during all time periods, as are landscapes. I'm a sucker for landscape pictures (clouds, fields, oceans, sunsets, etc) so I found that art impressive.
On a modern note, one of the special exhibits going on right now is about Malevich's black square. An informational thing at the beginning claimed that this symbol is the second most recognizable symbol in art next to the Mona Lisa. I'm not so sure that's completely true though.

A lot of the art showed lots of sadness. I counted at least five pictures that were simply just titled "Grief" or some variation of it. The art leading up to the 1917 revolution almost entirely portrayed the life of peasants.

Boris Grigoriev, Indigenous Land, 1917-18

I'm also not a huge fan of portraiture, but I thought a lot of the way people were being portrayed was similar to Manet, with a stark background and with the subject in his/her element. I don't know who took their cue from whom, but this picture was one of my favorites.

Leon Bakst, Supper. 1902

The rest of the pictures are posted on kodakgallery and you can take a look if you'd like.

In other news, I'm happy to report I have a brand new towel that doesn't smell like it's 20 years old, although the water still smells here. It's not safe to drink because its chlorinated. I'm beginning to get a little tired of potatoes and fish (when you eat it almost twice a day that's bound to happen), although variations on the theme, like the potato latkes that I had at the student center today, were quite tasty.