GREAT WOMEN: VIEWS OF RUSSIAN ARTISTS
From Catherine the Great to Anna Akhmatova, the State Russian Museum has mounted a blockbuster exhibition at the Mikhailovsky Palace, featuring portraits of outstanding Russian women painted by Russian artists. The exhibition, "Great. Images of Women in Russian Art," features over 300 works by Ilya Repin, Karl Bryullov, Valentin Serov, Ivan Kramskoy, Nikolai Ge, Boris Kustodiev, Dmitry Levitsky, Alexei Venetsianov, Konstantin Makovsky, and many other renowned artists of the 18th to early 20th centuries.
The exhibition's heroines are women who have made their mark on the country's history. The palace's 11 state rooms feature portraits of empresses, grand duchesses, aristocrats, members of famous and influential families, as well as members of the Russian intelligentsia — writers, patrons of the arts, actresses and ballerinas, artists, and the wives who inspired famous painters. Among them are Empresses Catherine II, Maria Alexandrovna, and Maria Feodorovna; Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna; Princess Zinaida Yusupova; Princess and philanthropist Maria Tenisheva; ballerinas Tamara Karsavina and Anna Pavlova; actress and dancer Ida Rubinstein; artist Anna Ostroumova-Lebedeva; actress Maria Yermolova; poet Anna Akhmatova; and many others. The exhibition's epigraph is "Russian Mona Lisa" — the only unnamed heroine in the exhibition, Ivan Kramskoy's "Unknown Woman" (1883), from the Tretyakov Gallery collection.
"Every Great Woman is not necessarily an empress. The halls of this exhibition feature empresses, grand duchesses, representatives of the most influential aristocratic families, scientists, the most famous Smolensk girls in history, who received the gold medal of the highest degree from a personal acquaintance of Catherine II. As well as the most outstanding actresses, ballerinas, and muses of great artists," noted Alla Manilova, General Director of the Russian Museum.
The exhibition is structured thematically. The section titles reveal the curators' concept: "The Stranger," "The Great," "The Mistress of the Grand Palace," "The Fruits of Enlightenment," "The Grand Duchesses," "Women of the World," "The Magic of Watercolor," "The Great Actresses," "The Muses," "Stars of the Silver Age," and "The Great Missions."
The exhibition draws heavily on the collection of the Russian Museum. It also includes selected works from leading Russian museums, including the Tretyakov Gallery, the State Hermitage Museum, the State Historical Museum, the Tsarskoye Selo Museum-Reserve, the Pavlovsk Museum-Reserve, the Museum of Theatre and Music, and many others.
The exhibition will run until January 11, 2027.
The exhibition's heroines are women who have made their mark on the country's history. The palace's 11 state rooms feature portraits of empresses, grand duchesses, aristocrats, members of famous and influential families, as well as members of the Russian intelligentsia — writers, patrons of the arts, actresses and ballerinas, artists, and the wives who inspired famous painters. Among them are Empresses Catherine II, Maria Alexandrovna, and Maria Feodorovna; Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna; Princess Zinaida Yusupova; Princess and philanthropist Maria Tenisheva; ballerinas Tamara Karsavina and Anna Pavlova; actress and dancer Ida Rubinstein; artist Anna Ostroumova-Lebedeva; actress Maria Yermolova; poet Anna Akhmatova; and many others. The exhibition's epigraph is "Russian Mona Lisa" — the only unnamed heroine in the exhibition, Ivan Kramskoy's "Unknown Woman" (1883), from the Tretyakov Gallery collection.
"Every Great Woman is not necessarily an empress. The halls of this exhibition feature empresses, grand duchesses, representatives of the most influential aristocratic families, scientists, the most famous Smolensk girls in history, who received the gold medal of the highest degree from a personal acquaintance of Catherine II. As well as the most outstanding actresses, ballerinas, and muses of great artists," noted Alla Manilova, General Director of the Russian Museum.
The exhibition is structured thematically. The section titles reveal the curators' concept: "The Stranger," "The Great," "The Mistress of the Grand Palace," "The Fruits of Enlightenment," "The Grand Duchesses," "Women of the World," "The Magic of Watercolor," "The Great Actresses," "The Muses," "Stars of the Silver Age," and "The Great Missions."
The exhibition draws heavily on the collection of the Russian Museum. It also includes selected works from leading Russian museums, including the Tretyakov Gallery, the State Hermitage Museum, the State Historical Museum, the Tsarskoye Selo Museum-Reserve, the Pavlovsk Museum-Reserve, the Museum of Theatre and Music, and many others.
The exhibition will run until January 11, 2027.
