The exhibition consists of two
independent parts that sufficiently fully present the gatherings of Mikhail
Botkin (1839-1914) and Sergey Botkin (1859-1910) who were the greatest
collectors of art works in Russia in the second half of the 19th -
beginning of the 20th century.
The collection of Mikhail
Botkin, who was the representative of the old merchant family, on the border of
the 19th and 20th centuries was regarded as the best one
in Europe. The greatest part of his gathering that
was received by the Russian
Museum in 1917 is
exhibited for the first time. The exposition shows the most significant
examples of this collection - over 350 monuments of the Old Russian art
(exhibits from the hidden treasures of the pre-Mongolian period, unique
encolpion crosses, holy pictures, articles of the church and secular mode of
life and the others), and the monuments of the foreign culture that were found
on the territory of Russia (the examples of the prehistory time art, the
adornments of the epoch of the Great transmigration of peoples and Byzantine time,
jewelry works from Volga Bulgaria,
Turkey, Bulgaria, North and Western Europe). This section includes also the
paintings by Mikhail Botkin and the archive materials connected with his
biography and gathering activity.
The drawings by the Russian
artists were the object of gathering of the famous doctor-therapeutist Sergey
Botkin. The exposition includes about 150 best examples of his collection - the
works by the artists of the first half of the 19th century devoted to
St. Petersburg
and its suburbs, the unique sketches of the artist's models by K.Brullov,
A.Egorov, O.Kiprensky and the water color portraits that are the most valuable
part of Sergey Botkin's collection. P.Fedotov, I.Shishkin, F.Vasiliev, I.Repin,
V.Surikov together with the greatest artists of the beginning of the 20th
century (V.Serov, M.Vrubel, A.Benois, K.Somov, L.Bakst and the others) are
presented by the most significant examples of their graphic art heritage. The
exposition is supplemented with the engravings with the views of St. Petersburg together
with paintings and sculptures from the famous Museum-House of Sergey Botkin.
The
exhibition is organized with the financial support of OJSC Mobile TeleSystems, Sistema Finance Investments
