Translation. Region: Russian Federation –
Source: Moscow Government – Moscow Government –
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This year, the V.A. Tropinin Museum and the Moscow artists of his time, subordinate to the capital’s Department of Culture, is turning 55. To celebrate its birthday, the "Following My Dream" festival will be held at the institution's premises from February 11th to 15th. The program includes overview and thematic excursions, dedicated to the history of the building and the museum itself, the collection and current exhibitions, as well as lectures, master classes in the watercolor painting studio and a lottery. Entry bypre-registration.
The museum, which opened in 1971 thanks to the efforts of Moscow collector and art historian Felix Vishnevsky (1903–1978), was initially a branch of the Ostankino Palace Museum of Serf Art, but after 1991 it began to function as an independent organization.
Over more than half a century, the collections have expanded significantly: while in the 1970s they contained approximately 300 items, by 2025 their number exceeded 3,500.
The museum is often called a "small Tretyakov Gallery" due to the artistic value of its collection. Among the collection's masterpieces are Vasily Tropinin's "Self-Portrait with Brushes and Palette Against a Window Overlooking the Kremlin," "The Lacemaker," "Girl with a Pot of Roses," "Girl with a Dog," portraits of the merchant couple the Kiselevs, Sergei Kushnikov, Sergei Golitsyn, and other works, as well as works by Ivan Argunov, Fyodor Rokotov, Dmitry Levitsky, Vladimir Borovikovsky, Sylvester Shchedrin, Orest Kiprensky, Louis Caravaca, and Pietro Rotari.
The collection also features works by famous artists of the second half of the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries: Ivan Aivazovsky, Boris Kustodiev, Vasily Polenov, Pyotr Konchalovsky, Pavel Kuznetsov, Lev Bakst, Natalia Goncharova, and other masters.
The museum also conducts active educational activities and collaborates closely with the Moscow collector community, which regularly participates in exhibitions. This provides an opportunity to introduce residents and visitors to the capital to unique items from private collections. Furthermore, inter-museum projects—travelling exhibitions—are implemented with great success in cities across Russia.
Every year, the museum becomes increasingly popular with residents and visitors to the capital. The museum offers lectures and hosts meetings with cultural figures. A family art workshop is open for parents with children, offering master classes, quests, and tours.
Felix Vishnevsky was born into a Moscow family of hereditary merchants and Russian-Polish nobles. His father, Yevgeny Vishnevsky, was an architect, collector, and the last chairman of the Moscow Art Society. Under his guidance, Felix began collecting. In 1918, he participated in the organization of the First Proletarian Museum in Moscow. From 1925 to 1928, he worked as a junior research fellow at the State Historical Museum while simultaneously studying at the Faculty of Fine Arts at Lomonosov Moscow State University.
From 1958 to 1969, Felix Vishnevsky worked as a senior researcher at the State A.S. Pushkin Museum. In 1964, he became the first private collector in the USSR to secure state registration of the most valuable portion of his collection, which at that time numbered 132 works.
Until the end of his life, Felix Vishnevsky worked as the museum's chief curator and lived in the mezzanine of the manor house. As a philanthropist, he supported many Russian museums, enriching their collections with art.
Speaking about the V.A. Tropinin Museum and the Moscow artists of his time, the collector noted that he "collects an era," not just paintings and graphic works. Therefore, the collection is rich in decorative and applied art, furniture, interior accessories, and clothing. Felix Vishnevsky also curated a large collection of antique frames, which, like the furniture, he often restored himself.
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