by I had a tiny bit of pause about the visiting the Museum of Russian Art given the current political situation, but the banner running across their website removed all doubt: “The Museum of Russian Art stands with the people of Ukraine and urges Russia to cease hostilities immediately and withdraw.”
The museum, located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is ”the only major institution in North America devoted entirely to Russian art and culture from the entire scope of Russia’s history.” It was founded in 2002 by Raymond and Susan Johnson, who had the a very large collection of Russian Realist paintings.
In addition to their permanent collection, they host exhibitions, and were installing two new ones during our visit. We got some sneak previews of the works being installed and were a little sad that we couldn’t visit them properly!
The museum hosts 8-10 exhibitions per year, and have a very active events schedule, from lectures to concerts to theatrical readings.
The museum is located in the former Mayflower Church, which was acquired in 2004 and subsequently remodeled. The building style is Spanish Colonial-Revival, with elements resembling the Alamo and Mission San Jose y San Miguel de Aguayo. An interesting choice for a Russian art museum!
We don’t have any particular interest in Russian art, but thought “here’s something different, why not.” It went about the same as most museums, with me forming instant judgments of like or dislike as I went quickly, and Doug being more thoughtful and appreciative.
Doug was impressed by a number of the works and wondered if many of these artists might be better known today if they hadn’t been working behind the Iron Curtain.
They had a huge gift shop, so we were able to try a genuine Kvass (a fermented low-alcohol drink typically made from rye bread) and some Russian candies. Yum!
The cover photo is Nesting Doll with Samovar, 1965.
