About museum
The Museum of St. Petersburg Art (20th–21st centuries) is a depository of a unique collection representing productions of the artists of Russia’s Cultural Capital. The museum was established formally in January 2016 as a branch of the Manège Central Exhibition Hall, but de facto its origin is simultaneous with that of its collection. It began to be formed in 1990, at the decision of the Session of the Main Department for Culture of the Executive Committee of Leningrad Council of Deputies, with the prospect to become, later on, the core of the Museum of Modern Art to be created in the city. In view of this, the Department of Modern Art was organized at the Manège; its responsibilities included acquiring, cataloguing and exhibiting works of art.
At present, the collection has ca. 3,000 items, covering the entire Petrograd-Leningrad-St. Petersburg period in the history of arts. It includes works of different styles and trends, created in the city in the course of two centuries, viz. the Avant-Garde of the 1920s, post-WW-II Socialist Realism, the ‘left wing’ of the Artists’ Union and the Underground of the 1960s–70s, and up to the post-Perestoika period and nowadays.
The Museum building requires renovation. The individual structures in the territory are to be rebuilt and united, by an inner court, to form a single architectural complex.
Nowadays, the Museum does not have a permanent exhibition, but temporary exhibitions are being constantly organized in the three rooms of the Main Building, viz.
- The Smaller Room of the Ground Floor,
- The Printing Workshop of the First Floor, and
- The Great Room of the Second Floor.
In summer, the Inner Court is used a space for exhibitions and other cultural projects.
In cooperation with different cultural institutions, the Museum organizes exhibitions both in Russia and abroad.
The Educational Department of the Museum offers various programs, including lectures and lecture courses, drawing classes, workshops and seminars.
The educational programs, exhibitions and research devoted to the collection become reflected in the Museum’s publications.
The Museum is conveniently located in the very heart of Dostoyevsky’s St. Petersburg described in his Crime and Punishment, just a few minutes walk from Theatre Square with the famous Mariinsky Theater, St. Nicholas Cathedral, Prince Yusupov’s Palace and other places of interest.
103 Griboyedov Canal Emb.
St. Petersburg
Russia