The collections of famous museums such as the State Hermitage and the State Tretyakov Gallery never cease to amaze. Private Russian museums, however, have appeared in recent years, and they also offer pleasant surprises for art lovers. Here is Russia Beyond’s top 10.
Founded in 2008, Garage is the brainchild of Dasha Zhukova and her estranged husband, billionaire Roman Abramovich. The museum moved to its current location in Gorky Park in central Moscow two years ago. The building, which in Soviet times housed a restaurant, was reconstructed by Rem Koolhaas, the famous Dutch architect.
While the museum does not have a permanent art collection, it stages exhibitions of postwar and contemporary art from around the world. These include major exhibitions by Antony Gormley, Mark Rothko, Raymond Pettibon and Takashi Murakami. It also has exhibited the collection of French luxury goods billionaire, François Pinault.
Approximately $120 million is the amount spent by billionaire Viktor Vekselberg in 2004 to acquire the Malcolm Forbes's collection before it went to auction at Sotheby’s in New York City. These treasures were made for the Imperial family by court jeweler Carl Fabergé. The collection has nine Imperial Easter eggs and another 200 items that can now be seen in the magnificent rooms of the Shuvalov Palace in St. Petersburg.
The museum displays not only works by Fabergé and his
The permanent exposition includes magnificent paintings by Valentin Serov, Konstantin Korovin, Boris Kustodiev and Pyotr Konchalovsky. As for temporary exhibitions, the museum displays works by contemporary artists who curators classify in the category of "Russian impressionists;" for example, artists Arnold Lakhovsky and Valery Koshlyakov.
Since the day it opened this is Russia’s only private museum that doesn't charge for entrance. In 2016, its 10th anniversary was celebrated.
Founded by developer Mikhail Abramov, the collection numbers over 5,000 items - icons, religious
Its collection numbers about 3,000 works by Russian artists, ranging from postwar to the present day, executed in various techniques, from painting and sculpture to video art. There might be up to five temporary exhibitions simultaneously, and everyone can find something to their liking and learn about Russian contemporary art.
Among the foundation’s latest projects is an exhibition of Nikolai Khardzhiev's famous archive of the Russian avant-garde, and a special edition of The Art Newspaper devoted to his collection.
The museum is dedicated to one artist - Anatoly Zverev, the enfant terrible of Russian art of the 1960s-1980s. Collector Natalya Opaleva was brave enough to open this monographic institution.
The museum has no permanent exposition, and so temporary ones change several times a year. These include not only expressionist and abstract paintings by Zverev, but also interactive installations by contemporary artists.
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