Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
marshes, birch stands, muddy village streets, the conquest of Siberia, firelit scenes in fam-
ily huts, and Repin's portrait of Tolstoy standing barefoot in the woods.
The museum is comparatively uncrowded, and it is especially meaningful as it adds
depth to the experience you have as a visitor to St. Petersburg—the artists saw the same
rooftops, churches, and street scenes as you do. The artworks bring you in touch with the
country's turbulent political history and capture the small-town wooden architecture and
forest landscapes that you won't see on a visit to this big city.
The museum occupies the Mikhailovsky Palace, built for Grand Duke Mikhail
Pavlovich (a grandson of Catherine the Great) in the 1820s. Though the interiors aren't as
impressive as those at the Hermitage, original decorations in a few rooms give you a taste
of how the Russian nobility lived.
Cost and Hours:
350 R, photo permit-250 R, English audioguide-350 R, Wed-Sun
10:00-18:00, Mon 10:00-17:00, closed Tue, last entry one hour before closing. The mu-
seum is at Inzhenernaya Ulitsa 4, two blocks north of Nevsky Prospekt along Griboyedova
Canal, close to the Church on Spilled Blood. Tel. 595-4248,
www.rusmuseum.ru
.
Entering the Museum:
The entrance is at basement level in the right-hand corner as
you enter the main courtyard. Purchase your tickets (and a photo permit, if you want), pick
up a photocopied map (listing room numbers), and go through the security checkpoint.
Staying on the basement level, you'll find cloakrooms, a bookstore, toilets, a small cafe
(Wed-Sun 10:00-17:00, Mon 10:00-16:00, closed Tue). For later, notice the back exit,
which gives you the option of leaving through the gardens on the north side of the museum
(from here, you can bear left through the park to reach the Church on Spilled Blood). To
reach the exhibits, take the stairs up one flight and show your ticket; here, at the base of
the grand staircase, you can rent the good audioguide, which interprets three hundred of the
museum's best works; or, for a quick visit, just use the self-guided tour, below.
Layout:
The museum has 109 numbered rooms (find numbers over doorways), which
lend themselves to a route in more or less numerical order. When this topic went to press,
rooms 23-29 were closed for renovation; when they reopen, some painting locations may
change.
Self-Guided Tour
The museum's most exciting works cover the period from roughly 1870 to 1940. Russia
was in ferment during these years—first with the end of serfdom and agitation for social
change and equality; later with World War I, industrialization, and the beginnings of com-
munism; and throughout with artistic currents such as Impressionism, Art Nouveau, and
Modernism that came in from the West. After you see these highlights, consider spending
some time on the museum's earlier collections and special exhibits.
• Start in the late 19th century, near the audioguide desks and the bottom of the grand
staircase. Reaching the top of the stairs, turn right and pass through room 38 into room
37.
19th- and Early 20th-Century Painting
Vasily Surikov:
One of Russia's foremost historical painters, Surikov grew up in Siberia
but later moved to European Russia. In room 37, the painting with the rowboat commem-
