Have you ever visited the Museum of Fine Arts. Pushkin in Moscow If you have never been there, it is a pity, because. this is one of the most interesting places in the capital! Today, the expositions of the Pushkin Museum are on a par with the collections of such titans of world cultural heritage as the Louvre or the Hermitage.
A bit of history
And it all began in 1898, on August 17th. Museum of Fine Arts. Pushkin was founded on that distant summer day. It was intended primarily to disseminate and popularize knowledge in the field of art among the general Russian public, as well as for students studying sculpture. It must be said that the most educated people of that time worked on the museum project. The money for the construction (most of it) was donated by the well-known Russian philanthropist Yu. S. Nechaev-M altsev. The project of the building itself was developed by the talented architect R. I. Klein. Before embarking on a responsible task, Klein studied the museums of Egypt for a long time andGreece, as well as the European experience.
When the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts was being built, Klein was assisted by engineers Vladimir Shukhov and Ivan Rerberg. The first was the author of the original translucent ceilings of the main museum building, and the second was the deputy project manager. For the construction of the complex, Klein was awarded the high title of Academician of Architecture.
Amazing architectural style
Take a close look at the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, the photo of which is presented below, and you can see that it looks very much like an ancient temple (Greek) from antiquity, towering among dense trees. Like ancient religious buildings, the building stands on a high stone podium and is surrounded by majestic Ionic columns.
This colonnade reproduces the exact proportions of the columns of the portico of the Erechtheion temple on the Greek Acropolis. However, the architectural style of the Museum of Fine Arts. Pushkin is close to classicism. But that's just outside. Entering inside, visitors find themselves in spacious rooms filled with light, access to which is provided by a glass dome. Such an unusual ceiling already testifies to neoclassicism. By the way, when the museum was being built, electric lighting was not provided for in the project at all. It was believed that the sculptural compositions are best seen in natural light.
Collections
An interesting fact is that the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts before the October Revolution that hit Russia in1917, was exclusively a museum of sculpture. Skillfully made copies of ancient mosaics and statues were exhibited here. At that time, the originals were represented only by exhibits from the collections of the Egyptologist Golenishchev.
But after the October Revolution, museum expositions were replenished with paintings confiscated from private collections of the Russian aristocracy and nationalized by the Bolsheviks. So, for example, the famous paintings "Girl on a Ball" (Picasso Pablo) and "Red Vineyards in Arles" (Dutch Van Gogh) ended up in the Pushkin Museum from the collections of the merchant Morozov.
Today the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts proudly presents its visitors with the richest collection of French Impressionism and Post-Impressionism. Here we can enjoy the paintings of Camille Pizarro, Arnie Matisse, Auguste Renoir, Pablo Picasso, Paul Cezanne, Sisley, Edgar Degas, Toulouse Lautrec, as well as the unique Van Gogh and other great painters.
Also in the Pushkin Museum you can see Italian paintings of the 18th-20th centuries, Japanese and British engravings, copies of masterpieces of ancient art, including a huge sculpture of David by Michelangelo, and much more. Total Museum of Fine Arts. Pushkin Museum stores 700,000 exhibits, and almost one and a half million people visit it every year.
Events and events held within the walls of the museum
On Thursdays in the evening and on Fridays in the afternoon, interesting classes are held for everyone in the museum called"Conversations about Art". Lectures are devoted to all the main sections of the exposition, as well as various seasonal exhibitions regularly held in this cultural center.
Since 2012, the Pushkin Museum annually takes part in the All-Russian cultural action "Night of Museums". The exquisite musical Evenings of Svyatoslav Richter, an international music festival held under the arches of the Pushkin Museum every year in December, have also become a tradition.
Note to tourists
If you are planning to visit the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts for the first time in your life, do not confuse it with another Moscow museum named after the great Russian poet, which is located on Prechistenka. The main building of the Pushkin Museum is located on Volkhonka at number 12.
Tourists need to know that in the Pushkin Museum it is not allowed to smoke, use cellular communications (this is bad manners), touch museum exhibits, take pictures with flash, bring flowers into the halls, eat outside the cafe area. Bags and large umbrellas should be left in the luggage room.
