The official opening date of the Ulyanovsk Regional Art Museum is July 25, 1920, but the exposition was formed and was available to the general public in Simbirsk back in the 19th century. Today it consists of a collection of unique paintings and works of applied art housed in the memorial house of Goncharov, occupying the entire second floor of the mansion. The collections of two museums - art and local history, collected in the historical center, attract many tourists and are the center of the city's culture.
Simbirsk initiatives
Ulyanovsk Regional Art Museum is one of the oldest in the Volga region. The issue of creating a gallery became relevant in 1887 after the city received Karamzinsky capital. The local zemstvo was offered a project for the construction of a public museum, but it was rejected, and the funds received were allocated to establish a social facility - a colony for the mentally ill.
Like most of the first museums in Russia, the Simbirsk Art Museum appeared thanks to private initiative and volunteer work. The foundations of the exhibition were laid by the opening of the Historical and Archaeological Museum. Inspection of the exhibition has been available since 1895, and the official opening took place a year later.
In the early years of the formation of the funds, the commission accepted any valuable exhibits - archaeological finds, antiquities and household items, including artworks were welcomed. Most of the paintings were donated by V.I. Polivanov, several works of Russian artists were donated by the Academy of Arts.
By the time of the revolution, all the collections of the historical and archaeological museum of Simbirsk were on one site. After the events of 1917, the question of the formation of a separate museum for art values arose sharply. The number of works has increased several times, this was due to the massive nationalization of collections and private property. The first room for the exhibition was the mansion of E. Percy-French.
First art
Initially, the premises of the Percy French house were used only for storing valuables. The streamlining of the activities of cultural institutions began in 1918, at the same time the Art Commission, which collected abandoned valuables in devastated estates and mansions, received broad powers. All items found were taken to the house on Moskovskaya.
In 1925, the first Art Museum of Simbirsk opened in the Yermolovs mansion, and the artist A. Ostrogradsky became the director. The house had 22 rooms, and 18 of them were allocated for the exposition. Many canvases and objects were brought to the museum in a deplorable state, often with severe damage and the complete absence of any notes about the author and the name of the painting. A. Ostrogradsky had the appropriate education received at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, he was also one of the talented students of I. Repin. Realizing the value of the treasures he received, he did a great job of organizing a disparate collection.
In 1922, the museum funds received 1, 500 works of art, all of which previously belonged to collector Zhirkevich. The most valuable canvases were the works of K. Bryullov, I. Repin. The resulting meeting had a deplorable appearance — restoration was required. The director of the museum held it almost personally. The building where the museum was located became cramped and required the expansion of space, the arrangement of a storage facility with proper conditions. In addition, the Yermolov mansion gradually began to decay.
In the Goncharovs mansion
In 1930, the government formed the basic requirement for museum expositions, now they had to reflect the tasks of class confrontations, to glorify the construction of socialism. There was no longer any talk of a new building for an art museum. In 1932, the Ermolovs mansion was transferred as a dormitory for workers of the Plant Protection Plant, and the canvases and fund storage of the art museum were transferred to the Goncharov mansion, which already housed the museum of local lore.
Today, the neighborhood continues. Experts say that visitors see only a fraction of what is in the storerooms of the museum. It has long been necessary to allocate a separate building for the Ulyanovsk Regional Art Museum, where it will be possible to create a larger exhibition and make available to visitors a significant part of the unique works.
Description
The Ulyanovsk Regional Art Museum is located on the second floor of the house of I. Goncharov, which is an architectural monument of the early 20th century. The building was originally conceived as a public project, where the library was to be located on the ground floor and the museum on the second. The gallery has at its disposal 530 m 2 of exhibition space, and the storage facility occupies 53 m 2.
The Ulyanovsk Regional Art Museum is visited by about 78.5 thousand people a year, 42 employees provide the gallery. The funds store almost 12 thousand items.
The most valuable collections are:
- Collection of Russian drawings of the 18-19th centuries.
- 327 items from porcelain, made in Germany and France (18-19 centuries).
- Collections of prints (368 units) of Russian and Western European masters of the 16-19th centuries.
- A unique collection of paintings by Western European artists of the 16-19th centuries. The collection consists of 162 items.
- Russian painting, including church items, provincial portraits, ancient Russian art. A collection of 540 items dating back to the 18th century.
- Art bronze casting and watches of the period of the 18-19th centuries (64 units).
Museum Departments
The art museum of Ulyanovsk is working in many areas of enlightenment, training, publishing. All aspects of the activity are carried out in the departments:
- Educational programs, public relations and PR. The main tasks are scientific and educational work, pedagogical activity, sociocultural design, providing PR support for museum events, etc.
- The scientific and exposition department is responsible for organizing and improving the permanent exhibition, plans, selects exhibits and develops the concept of temporary exhibitions, holds celebrations for the opening of exhibitions, etc.
- Storage. Employees of the department systematize, catalog, study and preserve art objects collected for more than 110 years. Also in this department funds are formed for visiting, exchange exhibitions.
In addition to the main departments, the functioning of all resources and their mass availability is provided by the museum information support department. Section employees communicate with the media, advertising agencies, develop projects that contribute to the recognition of the museum, form its image on external resources. One of the visited resources of the art museum is the library.
Plast Museums
The Ulyanovsk Regional Art Museum unites several branches:
- Museum-estate of the artist Alexander Plastov in the village of Prislonikha. The exposition contains personal belongings of the artist, his works in the genre of portraiture, landscape, illustration. Temporary exhibitions are regularly held, where genuine canvases are exhibited. In addition to the personal exhibition, materials on the history of the Prislonikhinskaya church are displayed on the stands, a collection of miraculously surviving fragments of murals, a gold-embroidered shroud from the temple, and crosses of the 18th century are collected. Today the church has been restored, and its carved iconostasis, and all the wooden carved elements of the interior design, were made by the artist Alexander Plastov.
- Museum of Arkady Plastov. The exposition is arranged in a building built at the beginning of the 20th century. Before the revolution, it housed the highest primary school, where Arkady Alexandrovich Plastov learned the basics of fine art. The museum has a collection dedicated to the Simbirsk stage of the artist’s life.
Contemporary art
The museum on 51 Tolstoy Street was opened in 1970 at the H. Stempel mansion. The gallery exposition was dedicated to the famous fellow countryman - V.I. Lenin, the leader of the world proletariat and the inspirer of the October Revolution of 1917. The exposition lasted until 1992, after which a branch of the Ulyanovsk Regional Art Museum dedicated to contemporary art was opened in the halls.
The basis of the permanent exhibition was the paintings of Russian artists of the early 20th century in various styles such as avant-garde, modern. Works of art of the Soviet period are also presented, a separate exposition is occupied by the works of Arkady Plastov. A traditional series of exhibitions and concerts is held annually. Close attention was paid to the Summer Assemblies and Plast Seasons.
About paintings by Russian artists, you can listen to a lecture or visit one of the excursions:
- Sightseeing tour of the halls.
- "Russian art at the beginning of the 20th century."
- "Soviet art from 1930 to 1960."
- "Genres, types of fine art."
- Russian Modern.
- "Painting by Arkady Plastov."
- "How to understand the paintings."
- "Tours of temporary exhibitions."
Visiting and exchange exhibitions
In addition to constant activities within the framework of the art museum of Ulyanovsk, OGBUK employees provide a well-formed fund for outdoor events or exchange of exhibits with other museums. Exhibitions of the Ulyanovsk Regional Art Museum are of undoubted value and are welcomed in many museums in Russia and the world.
In particular, the following expositions exist:
- “Western European, Russian engraving of the 18-21st centuries” - the collection contains prints demonstrating the techniques of this art form - on wood, metal. Materials are presented in the form of originals and reproductions.
- Russian Lubok - the collection includes more than 60 works received from a private collection. The works were created in the mid-19th century and reflect the capabilities of the printing masters of their time.
- "Folk art." The exposition presents the main handicrafts of Russia from centers such as Gzhel, Fedoskino, Mstera, Gorodets, Palekh, Dymkovo, etc. In total, the collection contains more than 150 items.
- “Art of India” - the collection contains more than 200 items of textiles, metal and wood, created by masters of India from 1940 to 1950.
- “Pablo Picasso Pottery” - exhibits for the collection were received in 1970. The total number is 16 units.
- “Pottery of Gargippia” - the collection contains copies of 19 works from ceramics of the period of antiquity. The originals are kept in the Anapa Archaeological Museum.
- “Western European Art” - in the funds of this exhibition are 60 photographic reproductions on canvas with artwork in oil.
Reviews
About the Ulyanovsk Regional Art Museum reviews are few. It is difficult to single out visitor reviews written about excursions to the gallery with art canvases for one reason - two museums share Goncharov’s house. The neighborhood gives tourists a reason to see art and local history expositions, but both cultural sites lose significantly in opportunities. It is known that most of the exhibits are in the storage facilities, both museums do not have enough space for exhibitions.
Most visitors liked the art museum. Experts say that the collection of paintings by Russian artists is one of the best in Russia. Tourists say that a complete description of each subject and picture is given. Competently and informatively composed texts for the audio guide, and if you prefer a tour accompanied by a specialist in the museum, the quantity and quality of information improves significantly.
Tourists believe that the building itself is a landmark of Ulyanovsk, which for many becomes an excuse to get inside. You can visit the exposition any day. Residents of the city consider it necessary to bring here relatives and friends who first arrived in Ulyanovsk.
The cost of excursions for adults is -120 rubles, excursion services for the group - from 40 rubles per participant, prices for beneficiaries are significantly reduced, and students under 16 visit the museum for free.
There are no negative reviews about the art museum. Many people think that it is important for the city to have an exposition with paintings by artists on a much larger scale. One floor of an old mansion is very small. Temporary and permanent exhibitions do not give a complete picture of those cultural treasures that have not been shown to the public for a long time. The townspeople have long advocated the transfer of the local history museum to another building and believe that the whole Goncharov’s house should be given over to an art museum.
