Audio tour Russian Revival Style at the Turn of the XX Century (temporary exhibition)

You can visit this exhibition till 14 April at the Palace of Tsar Alexey Romanov. One space unites the Russian Late Middle Ages folk art and works by artists who lived at the turn of the XX century, among them Viktor Vasnetsov, Mikhail Vrubel, Nikolay Roerich, Elena Polenova (sister of painter Vasily Polenov) and many of their less famous yet no less gifted contemporaries.

In search for a new style, the Modern Age artists were inspired by living examples of the Russian rural architecture and applied art. They borrowed not only elements of wooden architecture, carving, ornamental painting or embroidery but even some of the techniques.

This large nine-section display presents ceramics by Mikhail Vrubel, drawings by Elena Polenova and furniture made according to her design, the Bogatyrs (Old Russian epic heroes) by Viktor Vasnetsov - a painting that preceded his well-known unanimous monumental canvas,  and Nikolay Roerich’s cityscape showing the church architecture of Rostov Veliky, one of the Russian Golden Ring towns. Besides you will see a display showcase of the Handicraft Museum founded by the Moscow Governorate more than a century ago – or, to be more exact, its accurate reconstruction based on original photos. For our younger visitors, we have prepared a section of bright traditional Russian toys, both single-piece and mass-market ones, some of them created by a remarkable artist Alexander Durnovo.

Step by step, the timeline display will reveal to you the origin of the Russian Revival style, show its evolution, introduce its various movements and perhaps, new personalities.

Please note that on this page, we show only part of the exhibits, belonging to our museum’s collection. On real display, you will see art objects coming from the All-Russian Decorative Art Museum, the Vasily Polenov Fine Arts Museum and National Park and the State Museum of Oriental Art.

You can learn more about the exhibition and buy tickets on the museum's web site.