Society and Culture: Collections of Russian patrons of arts Mikhail and Sergei Botkin go on show at Russian State Museum in St. Petersburg

On December 1st 2011 the Russian State Museum in St. Petersburg is staging a new exhibition “Collections of Mikhail and Sergei Botkin”.

The exhibition consists of two independent sections which rather fully reflect the gatherings of Mikhail Botkin (1839-1914) and Sergei Botkin (1859-1910), who became Russia’s major collectors of artworks in 2nd half of 19th century – early 20th century.

The collection of a professional artist Mikhail Botkin, a descendant of an old merchant family, at the turn of the 19th – 20th cc. was considered to be the best one in Europe. The most part of his collection, which was donated to the State Russian Museum in 1917, has been put on display for the first time. The exposition showcases the highlights of the collection – over 350 examples of the Old Russian art (artefacts from treasure troves of the pre-Mongolian period, encolpion crosses, icons, various items of the secular and church life etc.), and monuments of the foreign culture discovered in Russia (examples of pre-historic art, adornments dated to the epoch of the Migration period and Byzantine era, jewelry originating from Volga Bulgaria, Turkey, Bulgaria, Northern and Western Europe). This section also includes paintings by Mikhail Botkin and archival materials related to his biography and collecting habit.

The drawings made by Russian artists were the object of collecting practice of the eminent physician Sergei Botkin. This exposition contains over 150 best examples of his collection: works of artists of the 1st half of 19th century devoted to St. Petersburg and its suburbs. The exposition also includes prints with views of St. Petersburg, and also paintings and sculptures which used to decorate the famous House-Museum of Sergei Botkin.