Visiting the Moscow Tretyakov Museum - Saturday, October 14, 2017

On Saturday, October 14, 2017, we were so excited to spend the day with another of our son, Kyle's, employees here in Moscow.  Her name is Lily, and she was so excited to take us to the most famous art museum which has all Russian art--The Tretyakov Museum.  I don't know how excited George was, but by the end of the day, we both had learned so much Russian history and about Russian art.  We both LOVED the experience!

The gallery is named after its founder, the great Moscow industrialist and patron Pavel Tretyakov.  The museum lies on the site of an estate built in the 17th and 18th centuries.  Tretyakov bought it in 1852 and moved his collection of art here.  His art acquisitions had taken him more than thirty years to put together, and he presented it to the City of Moscow in 1892.  

 The Gallery has been reconstructed and added on to several times to what it is today, with over 100,000 works of art.  This was the perfect place to go on a drizzling, rainy day!

 One of the earliest paintings of Red Square, the Kremlin, and St. Basil's.

 I loved how George walked around learning about the paintings and was so fascinated!

 I don't know all of the painters' names, but I'll put what I can and some of the stories that Lily shared with me.

 The Ryder by Karl Bryullov.  I loved this because it reminded me of our granddaughter, Ella, who has a black horse named Vader.

 The Appearance of Christ Before the People - Alexander Andreyevich Ivanov, 1857

 Portrait of Nikolai Gogol by Fyodor Moller.  Gogol was a playwright and novelist from Ukraine.

 This picture of the painting does not do this painting justice--look at her dress!  It looks like you could just touch the shiny fabric--it looks so real--you can even see the stitches in the hem!  Amazing!

 From the Internet:  This painting depicts a wedding ceremony in an Orthodox church. The young, dowerless bride is marrying an old official against her will. According to one theory, the painting depicts the artist’s own romantic drama. Vasily Pukirev’s former bride-to-be served as the prototype for the image of the bride. Also, the image of the best man, shown behind the bride at the edge of the painting, with his arms across his chest, portrays the artist himself.

 From the Internet:  The theme used by Flavitsky for his impressive painting was borrowed from one of the legends connected with the name of the alleged princess Tarakanova. In 1774, she came to Rome where she declared herself as the daughter of Empress Elizabeth and her favorite A.G. Razumovsky, and made a claim to the Russian throne. The reigning Catherine the Great sent Count Alexey Orlov to Rome and he deceived the alleged princess severely to make her come to Petersburg. The imposter was imprisoned in the Alexeyevsky ravelin of the Peter and Paul Fortress where she died of consumption in 1775.  Folk legend  awarded her the title of Princess Tarakanova and stated that she had died not because of the disease, but during the notorious flood of 1777 when water flooded dungeons of the Peter and Paul Fortress, taking the lives of many prisoners.  (Notice the water rising around her bed.) 

 A young family with a casket on their sleigh.  So many thoughts go through your head as you see this painting.

Christ in Gethsemane.  George and I have been there, so this brought back many feelings we had visiting this exact spot and the importance of what happened there and all Christ had to go through for each of us.

 The hunters at the end of their hunt--notice that they had a successful day of hunting.

 Lily told us she grew up with a copy of this painting in her room. Aleksei Savrasov’s The Rooks have Returned, 1871.  It is a wonderful Russian piece depicting the coming of spring in a small Russian village, and it was said to have been the favorite of Pavel Tretyakov.  

 I believe that Lily said this painter always did ocean and water scenes, but had never actually seen the ocean himself.

 Princess Reveries, by Mikhail Vrubel.

 Morning in a Pine Forest by Ivan Shishkin and Konstantin Savitsky.  Lily told us this painting is used on boxes of chocolates.  I liked it because bears have always been a favorite in the Copeland family!

 This painting looked just like an actual snapshot of a forest.

 Alyonushka by Viktor Vasnetsov - An artist who painted fairy tales.  This one is of a young girl who grieves for her brother who drank the water and turned into a wolf.

 Bogatyrs (Knights) by Viktor Vasnetsov

 Ivan the Terrible

 A field of the dead.

From the internet:   This work was painted in 1871, and was influenced by Russia’s military operations in Turkestan, which were striking to witnesses for their brutality. The painting was initially called The Triumph of Tamerlane, after the ruler (also known as Timur) whose troops left behind pyramids of sculls. According to the story, the women of Baghdad and Damascus once complained to Tamerlane that their husbands were mired in sin and debauchery. The cruel commander ordered every soldier in his 200,000-strong army to bring him the severed head of one of these lecherous husbands. Once the order was carried out, seven pyramids were made from the heads.

The artist later decided to give broader meaning to the painting. Vereshchagin wrote “The Apotheosis of War” on the frame, and added: “Dedicated to all the great conquerors, past, present and future."

 The Morning of the Streltsy Execution by Vasily Ivanovich Surikov, painted in 1881.  It illustrates Streltsy's failed attempted uprising before the walls of the Kremlin.

From the internet:   This giant painting (10 ft. by 20 ft.) by Vasily Surikov depicts a scene from the history of the 17^th century schism of the Russian Orthodox Church. The painting is dedicated to Feodosia Prokopiyevna Morozova, an associate of archpriest Avvakum, who was a spiritual leader of the Old Believers. Around 1670 she secretly became a nun, in 1671 she was arrested, and in 1673 she was sent to the Pafnutevo-Borovski Monastery, where she was starved to death in an earthen prison.

The painting depicts an episode when the boyarynya (boyar’s wife) Morozova is transported through Moscow to the place of captivity. Next to Morozova is her sister Yevdokiya Urusova, who shared the dissenter’s fate; in the background is a pilgrim, in whose face the artist’s features can be found. Notice how some people are crying, but other people cheering.    

 Lily pointed out that the artist sketches each of the people first before putting them on the huge painting.  Now each of these sketches is famous and very valuable, too!

 This was such a upsetting painting.  Ivan the Terrible is shown with absolute devastation on his face after it is said that he killed his oldest son, Ivan, on November 16, 1581, who he considered a threat to his throne.   Artist - Ilya Repin.

 Aleksander III receiving rural district elders in the yard of Petrovsky Palace in Moscow by Ilya Repin.

 There were many school groups at the museum that day.  A large group was in front of this painting.  It is called, "They Did Not Expect Him," by Ilya Repin.   Lily told us this is a favorite painting that teachers have students write essays on--what do you or your family feel like when someone unexpected arrives?  It is fun to see the faces depicted of these people's reactions.

 Statue of Christ, after he was bound to be taken before Herod.

Christ in the Desert or the Wilderness - Ivan Kramskoi, reflecting the Fasting of Christ

 Jesus as a young boy of twelve teaching the scholars in the temple.

To the right are the Roman soldiers in dark after putting Jesus in a tomb.  To the left, an angel looking upward toward the light.

Portrait of an Unknown Woman - Ivan Kramskoi, drawn in 1883.  The model whose identity is unknown, is a woman of "quiet strength and forthright gaze."

 A Russian family.

 Girl with Peaches - Valentin Serov (one of his most famous paintings)

 You could have spent so many more hours looking through this gallery, but soon it was time to get something to eat and then get on our way home.  We walked through the rain to a wonderful little Russian restaurant that Lily showed us.

We had the typical Russian dumplings and other Russian favorites.  They were all delicious!

Our new Russian friend, Lily, who spent the day with us and taught us so much.

We then were driven back home by the Jeneusse driver, Alex.  We had spent such a wonderful day--one we will never forget!