The history of russian art from icon painting to the canvasas of soviet painters - development of russian pictorial art spread out before you. Very impressive huge canvases by Aivazovskiy is just something one must see at least once..I would define the magnifisent collection as the richest heritage of russian art - dont forget to put this museum to your list of places to see in St Petersburg.
The State Russian Museum is definitely worth a visit if you can while in St. Petersburg. It's right next to the Church on the Spilled Blood. The building itself of the State Russian Museum is a beautiful Neoclassical former palace of one of the Romanov grand dukes. The exhibits in this museum are first rate and some of the opulent rooms are fascinating as well. The crowds are also less than in the more famous Hermitage. The park in the back of the museum provides a quiet oasis and is pleasant to visit. Expect to spend at least two hours for your visit to get an appreciation of the museum and its collection.
Collection of Russian art from old Russion icon painters ( Rublev, Ushakov) to Avangard (Malevich) 20 th century. Russian painting, sculpture, the graphic, decorative and folk arts from the 10-th century to the present day. To understand all the historical events in this pictures and to be admired you need 3 days and more. But a few hours are also enough to have the imagination about the first national museum in Russia, opened its doors in 1889 year.
the wonderful thing about this as well as other galleries in Russia is one proximity to the art. I was looking forward to the Soviet art but unhappily that masterpiece of Stalin addressing in party congress was not on display when I visited. Maybe Putin has had it put back by now.
Museums own a lot of famous pictures by most significant Russian artists. What is more there is great collection of ivory and wooden carvings.
Large paintings, portraits, and lots of gold on the frames. Not so different from most museums, well the old ladies who sit in each room are always there in all old Soviet countries. In Bulgaria, they waited until you walked in to the exhibit room to turn on the lights, and would then turn them off as soon as you left. My father would have approved.Don't try to look at everything on the walls,( overload),but do look AT the walls and ceilings this was, after all, a palace in its former life.
This was a wonderful experience. We spent hours here looking at paintings by artists we'd never seen before. The building itself is of course fabulous and not as overwhelming as the Hermitage however it is the art that is the star here. For us in particular the late 19th and 20th century art represented by people such as Vrubel. It is a must along with the Hermitage and easier to take in!
The State Museum is grossly under-rated and deserves more attention when you put together your St Petersburg itinerary.You will find that while the Hermitage focuses on artwork from outside Russia, the State Museum has some amazing pieces. Must see pieces include Aivozovsky's Ninth Wave and The Wave, Repin's Barge Haulers, Polenov, Makovsky, Myasoyedov, and my favourite the brilliant Shishkin.Some very bleak subjects but typical of the art of the times in Russia.Apart from the great art, the museum is normally far-less crowded than many other venues in St Petersburg. We had a nice stroll across a snowy park filled with snowmen on the way to the museum.Visited February 2013.
Some wonderful architecture yet all the exhibits were displayed without English explanation! What is absolutely amazing, is the sheer number of items, gold, diamonds, sapphire, paintings throughout time.