Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Rooms 1 through 7 display paintings and sculpture from the 18th century, including many
portraits and commissioned paintings. Things get more interesting in rooms 8 through 15,
which display landscapes, character paintings and portraits from the 19th century. The real
gems of the collection, however, start with room 16. In the 1870s daring artists started to ad-
dress social issues, thus founding the
Peredvizhniki
(Wanderers) movement.
Room 17 is dedicated to
Vasily Perov
, one of the founders of the movement. Look for his
portrait of Dostoevsky and the moving painting
Troika,
with its stark depiction of child la-
bour.
Ivan Kramskoi
(room 20) was another of the original Wanderers, and
Ivan Shishkin
(room 25) was a landscape painter closely associated with the movement.
Viktor Vasnetsov
(room 26) paints fantastical depictions of fairy tales and historical fig-
ures. His painting
Bogatyry
(Heroes) is perhaps the best example from the revivalist
movement, although
A Knight at the Crossroads
is more dramatic. By contrast,
Vasily
Vereshchagin
(room 27) is known for his harsh realism, especially in battle scenes.
The
Apotheosis of War,
for example, is not subtle.
Vasily Surikov
(room 28) excels at large-scale historical scenes.
Boyarina Morozova
captures the history of the schism in the Orthodox Church and how it tragically played out
for one family.
Ilya Repin
(rooms 29 and 30) is perhaps the most beloved Russian realist painter.
Ivan
the Terrible and his Son Ivan
is downright chilling. Room 31 has a few masterpieces by
Nicholas Ge
, another founder of the Peredvizhniki movement.
Mikhail Vrubel
(rooms 32 to 34) was a symbolist-era artist who defies classification.
One entire wall is covered with his fantastic art-nouveau mural
The Princess of the
Dream
. More famous though is the melancholy
Demon Seated
, inspired by Mikhail Ler-
montov's poem.
