Memorable dates of Russia: Exhibition "Fyodor Dostoevsky in the Fine Arts from the State Russian Museum Collection. On the 200th Anniversary of the Writer’s Birth" to open in St. Petersburg

On October 14, 2021, St. Michael's Castle (State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg) will host the opening of the exhibition "Fyodor Dostoevsky in the Fine Arts from the State Russian Museum Collection. On the 200th Anniversary of the Writer’s Birth".

The exhibition marks the 200th anniversary of one of the most famous and frequently cited Russian writers - Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (1821-1881). His training at the Engineering School (in the 1840s), located in St. Michael's (Engineering) Castle (now a branch of the State Russian Museum), is an excellent occasion for the State Russian Museum to pay tribute to the memory of one of the authors of the Petersburg myth by presenting an exposition of works from the museum collection in honour of this anniversary.

The significance of Dostoevsky as a writer for Russian culture is exceptionally great, which could not but leave a noticeable trace in Russian fine arts of the last century and a half. The Russian Museum possesses a large number of paintings, graphic and sculptural works connected with the name of Dostoevsky.

It features a varied and vivid material: the images of the writer himself - from the well-known engraved portraits of the late XIX century and classical monumental sculptural works to vivid psychological interpretations in painting and graphics (L. Bernshtam, S. Konenkov, G. Korzhev, G. Nemenova, V. Favorsky, etc.); whole series of illustrations to the works of Dostoevsky, interpreting his complex, multifaceted texts in different ways (M. Dobuzhinsky, N. Alekseev, A. Goncharov, A. Korsakova-Rudovich, M. Churakova, V. Goryaev, etc.); sketches of costumes and scenery for theatrical performances based on the works by Dostoevsky, made in the first third of the XX century (M. Dobuzhinsky, A. Benois, K. Petrov-Vodkin), etc.

The exhibition is a complex fusion of works with a wide variety of stylistic features and revealing a whole spectrum of creative aspirations of artists who decided to appeal to the image of the great Russian writer and his literary heritage.

The exhibition will run until November 15, 2021.