Kuban is known not only for its natural diversity, but also for the we alth of cultural institutions, among which an important place is occupied by regional and local museums of various kinds. Among the most famous is the Kovalenko Art Museum, which in Soviet times was named after A. V. Lunacharsky.
The history of the founding of the Kovalenko Museum
The founder of the museum is the merchant Fyodor Akimovich Kovalenko. In addition to trading, he was engaged in collecting paintings and philanthropic activities.
In 1904, he donated to the city a collection of art works he had collected, which for the most part included paintings by famous Russian masters. It formed the basis of the permanent exhibition of the new museum, which opened in the house of Batyrbek Shardanov, a famous engineer from Yekaterinodar.
In Soviet times, the museum was donated paintings by many famous Russian artists. Such large museums as the Hermitage, the Russian Museum and the Tretyakov Gallery, etc. took part in the action.for the 100th anniversary of the museum, a complete restoration of the historic building was carried out.
Main exhibition
The exposition of the Kovalenko Museum now consists of several groups of exhibits that can be divided into types of art: painting, arts and crafts, icon painting. The collection includes works not only by Russians, but also by well-known Western European artists.
In the halls of the Kovalenko Museum there are ceremonial portraits of the 18th century, paintings of the Renaissance, paintings written in the spirit of artistic realism and postmodernism, works of the Wanderers and the beginning of the 20th century. And ancient Russian icon painting is represented by the works of Novgorod, Moscow and northern masters. There are also paintings by representatives of avant-garde cult art.
Now the museum's collection contains about 12 thousand exhibits. And the institution itself is included in the list of the ten best Russian art museums.
Modern life of the Kovalenko Museum
Modern museums are very responsive to new cultural trends in society. Most of them are actively involved in interactive and educational activities. Thus, the museum not only has a permanent exhibition and organizes temporary thematic exhibitions. The Kovalenko Museum annually holds "Library Night" in April.
This year "Library Night" took place here on April 24 from 20.00 to 00.00. Within the framework of the event, exhibitions from the private collection of the artist Alexander Novichenko "Russian Etude", an exhibition of children's drawings "Nature I breathe and live", master-classes on traditional toys "Each hut has its own rattles" and "The art of repetition", as well as an interactive media lecture "Artists of the Kuban about native nature". All events of "Biblionoch" were dedicated to the Year of Ecology in Russia and the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Krasnodar Territory. Everyone could visit the events proposed by the organizers for free.
In addition, on the second floor of the museum there is a computer class and a multimedia cinema, where classes for children and adults are held using the latest methods developed by the Russian Center for Museum Pedagogy and Children's Creativity. Visitors are introduced to the State Russian Museum: its history, exposition and exhibitions held within its walls and within the walls of its branches.
The Kovalenko Art Museum is located in Krasnodar at the address: Krasnaya Street, 13-15.
The engineer's house - the main building of the museum
Ekaterinodar railway engineer Batyrbek Shardanov built a mansion for himself on Red Street, which has become a valuable monument of local architecture of the 19th century. Shardanov himself became the author of the project, since the amount of 60 thousand rubles he put into the construction, at that time available only to rich aristocrats, ensured not only the status of the building, but also its comfort for residents, one of whom was Batyrbek himself. He knew his preferences like no other.
The house was built from the best brick in the city on a specially purchased site, on the site of a demolished dilapidated building. The identical buildings of the building were symmetrically decorated with risalits, richly decorated with stucco, bay windows, pediments and attics, as well as Gothic elements - pinnacles, openwork balustrades, a helmet-shaped dome and a weather vane. Among the motifs of the stucco decoration, one can note winged lions, the image of a star and a crescent, made in the form of a medallion, and vases. The roof of the building has a coating resembling fish scales.
The building is made in eclectic style and looks very elegant against the background of the surrounding cityscape.
The building of the Yekaterinodar bank office - an architectural monument
The place on the main street of the city for this institution was determined not by chance. The street was specially built up so that it could be erected on this site in a worthy frame. The author of the project, implemented in 1902-1903, was I. K. Malgerb. Built in the neoclassical style, the two-story building seems to take a step back from the red line.
The light blue facade is decorated with a modest snow-white decor in the form of rustication of the first floor, an attic and an entrance portal with a triangular pediment. The simple architraves of rectangular windows top the capstones. And the center of the second and third floors combines an element in the form of an antique order, but instead of columns, the entablature is supported by pilasters. The lower row of windows resembles an openwork arcade. The building is topped by a rectangular attic. The end facades at the level of the third floor are decorated with blindwindows and a central narrow risalit, the second and third floors of which are cut through by a narrow arched window.
