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| The Pushkin Museum |
I have been busy this week researching the history of the Pushkin Museum in Moscow.
Gainsborough’s House in Sudbury will close at the end of October to embark on its £8 million capital project.
While it is closed some of its artworks will be travelling to Moscow to feature in an exhibition at the Pushkin Museum.
I am giving a talk at Gainsborough’s House next week, and thought it would be a good idea to give the audience some information about where the pictures are headed.
The Pushkin Museum is the largest showcase for Western art in the Russian Capital. Its name is misleading since the museum has little to do with the great early 19th Century Russian poet. It was renamed in 1937 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Pushkin’s death.
The museum, which was built between 1898 and 1912 was originally conceived as a part of Moscow University. It was the creation of the father of the poet Marina Tsvetaeva, Ivan Tsvetaev who was a Professor at the University and an expert in ancient classical art.
The museum holds over 700,000 separate articles and has extensive collections of paintings, sculptures and other artifacts dating from centuries BCE to the present day.
Nick and I, along with some other intrepid travelers, will be visiting the museum in December to see the Gainsborough’s House pictures in a totally new context!
I hope to post more about the experience on this site in due course.
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| The imperial family at the opening of the Pushkin Museum in 1912 |