The Regional Art Museum (Samara), whose origins date back to the beginning of the 20th century, is the most easily recognizable historical memorial among the other sights of this city. The building in the form it is today is the result of a superstructure and reconstruction of the front part of the house of the Kurlins merchant family. The only thing that now reminds of that house is the remaining decoration, stylized as Art Nouveau, the main staircase, lobby and exhibition halls. The lecture hall, located on the first tier and previously a trading room, has been preserved, albeit in a modified guise.
Historic moments
In 1912, the building was acquired by the Volga-Kama Commercial Bank, on whose initiative the most significant reconstruction of the facade was carried out. And it was then that the Art Museum (Samara) acquired a number of columns with statues made in the neoclassical style.
Filling with exhibits began in 1920, when Alfred von Vacano provided his collection, collected thanks to multiple trips overborder. Also sent a collection of avant-garde art, consisting of about 80 items.
In 1925, the HMF depository provided 12 works known in the past. These were paintings by such artists as Guchkov, Brocard, Vysotsky and Botkin. In the period from 1936 to 1937, the authorship of some unidentified works became known, which became possible with the help of the work of the former secretary of the Hermitage M. Filosofov.
History of the museum from 1940 to present
During World War II, the art museum (Samara) suspended its activities, and the existing exhibits were sent to storerooms. In the post-war years, the museum acquired works by Bryullov, Lebedev, Repin, Moller, Galkin and many others. By 1959, a huge number of exhibits had arrived from the East.
As a result, as of 1989, the museum gained the opportunity to exhibit more than 1000 works, and due to the available 18,000 items of storage, the collection can continue to grow to this day.
Most popular exhibitions
Regional Art Museum (Samara) on a regular basis provides visitors with a variety of successive exhibitions, but at the same time, there is always the opportunity to see sustainable expositions on topics:
- Russian art of the period of the XVIII-XX centuries. The exhibits are mainly paintings, but porcelain items are also found. Most of the collection in this area was collected at the very beginning of the museum.
- Exhibition inArt Museum "Foreign Art", in particular Western European, Japanese and Chinese. There are a lot of paintings among the exhibits, but at the same time, engravings, household items from Asian culture, and other types of art make up a large part.
- Silver Age in the form of exclusively painting. There are works by such artists as Golovkin K. P., Alabin P. V., Wakano and others.
- The Art Museum (Samara) invites visitors to visit expositions of a general plan, with a focus on schoolchildren of the younger and middle age categories, as well as collections of exhibits on subjects from the Bible and Ancient Greek mythology.
Prospects for the development of the museum
Museum employees are trying in every possible way to develop external communication with the world. For this, agreements were concluded with educational institutions and the media. The latter were attracted for advertising. Students of higher educational institutions often visit exhibitions for educational purposes. Some teachers give live lectures directly in the museum, using the exhibits for clarity. Literary evenings and symphonic music concerts are held here.
This museum is a member of the regional, Russian and international community. This allows you to always be in the center of all events taking place in the cultural sphere.
