Exhibitions: Works of art from the collections of V. A. Kokorev presented at the State Russian Museum

The State Russian Museum (St. Petersburg) opened the exhibition "The Collection of V. A. Kokorev".

The exhibition is devoted to the bright and significant events in the history of Russian culture - the collection of Vasily Aleksandrovich Kokorev (1817-1889), a merchant of the 1st guild, commerce adviser, believer. An ardent patriot, talented and enterprising man with a broad kind, Kokorev quite justified his nickname "Russian nugget". His remarkable collection is amazing in its integrity and high level. Kokorev Gallery, which was opened in Moscow in January 1862, lasted only until the mid 1860s, when financial difficulties forced the owner to start negotiations on the sale of the collection. However, having decided to leave the gallery, Kokorev sought to preserve the integrity of the collection. In March 1870 his 156 works of Russian school of painting were acquired for the collection of Tsarevich Alexander Alexandrovich. In 1897, the organization of the Russian Museum of Emperor Alexander III, in his collection was transferred to 106 first-class works of art that once adorned the gallery of Kokorev. Subsequently, in the exposition were other works from his collection, not purchased in time for the Crown Prince Alexander Alexandrovich. In the 1920-1930s many of these works have been issued for permanent storage in different museums of the USSR, but the core of the collection of Kokorev left in the Russian Museum.

The exhibition will explore the direction of collecting activities of V. A. Kokorev and, in particular, true masterpieces of his collection. The exhibition includes paintings by Karl Briullov and made ​​them sketches for monumental church songs, works of Fyodor Alexeyev, Peter Basin, Alexander Warnecke, Alexei Venetsianov, Gregory Myasoedov Alexander Orlovsky, Basil Tropinin, Nicanor and Gregory Chernetsovy, Sylvester Shchedrin and other national artists of the XIX century.