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[THE STATE RUSSIAN MUSEUM] Soobshcheniya Gosudarstvennogo Russkogo muzeya: [sbornik]. № 10 [i.e. Reports of the State Russian Museum: [Collection]]. #10 [issue #10 of 11]

Item #2555

Moscow: Izobrazitel'noye iskusstvo, 1974. 116, [4] pp.: ill. 25,7x20,3 cm. In original publisher’s illustrated wrappers. Light soiling of the wrappers, the title page, and the last page, tear of the spine, but otherwise in a very good condition.

Scarce. First edition. Text in Russian. Edited by V. Morgulis.
An early scholarly collection of articles prepared by the staff of the Russian State Museum, reflecting on the activities and holdings of one of Russia’s most important museums as of 1974.
This issue is the penultimate volume in a series of eleven publications released between 1941 and 1976, devoted to the research, preservation, and study of the collections of the State Russian Museum in Leningrad. The volume brings together contributions from twenty-three art historians, ethnographers, and museum specialists, among them the museum’s then-director Vasily Pushkarev, Elena Selizarova, Evgeny Kovtun, Marina Shumova, and Irina Boguslavskaya. The articles cover a wide range of subjects within Soviet and early Russian art, including Petrov-Vodkin’s portrayals of Lenin, landscapes by Sergei Gerasimov, Léon Bakst’s Ancient Horror, and 1920s textiles in the museum’s collection, as well as studies of two notable examples of medieval Russian wood carving. Especially interesting is Pushkarev’s essay, where he recounts the discovery of long-lost lifetime portraits of Lenin by the Russian painter Filipp Malyavin. According to him, the four works had been preserved in the collection of Malyavin’s son-in-law, who subsequently donated them to the museum. The edition closes with chronological lists of exhibitions and scientific conferences held in the museum from 1969 to 1971.
The issue includes ca. 65 black and white illustrations, documenting the collections of the State Russian Museum.
The Russian State Museum, founded in 1895 by Emperor Alexander III and officially opened to the public in 1898, is the largest repository of Russian fine art in the world. Located in the Mikhailovsky Palace in St. Petersburg, it was established to preserve and showcase the national artistic heritage. Over the 20th century, its collections expanded significantly, encompassing works from ancient Russian icons to avant-garde and Soviet art. As of 2023, the Russian State Museum’s collection comprises approximately 444,705 items - of which 423,061 belong to the main collection and 21,644 to the auxiliary academic collection.

Overall, an interesting insight into the early holdings of the State Russian Museum.

No copies found in Worldcat.

Price: $350.00