Museum of Russian Impressionism

Museum of Russian Impressionism Opens in Moscow

The idea behind the Museum of Russian Impressionism belongs to entrepreneur and arts patron Boris Mints.

According to the well-known arts collector, the idea of a private museum first came to him in 2012.

The museum opened its doors at the end of May 2016 on the former territory of the Bolshevik confectionary factory.

Moscow is a world leader in the quantity of museums amongst the capitals of the world.

Last year, more than 11 million people visited the city’s museums. In the last six years, Moscow has seen incredible growth in the popularity of its museums.

Today, there are more than 80 private museums and galleries in the Russian capital. Since 2011, 26 new museums have been opened.

Despite the massive quantity of state museums, work is underway on the reconstruction of old and the building of new private and state exhibits withiin the city.

It’s enough to recall that “Moscow Museum Night” became the largest event of its kind not only in Russia, but in Europe as well. Annually, over 300 state and private museums take part in the event.

In 2016, more than half a million people were in attendance. The address chosen for the new impressionist museum was Leningradsky Avenue, House 15, located on the former territory of the Bolshevik confectionary factory.

The provisions warehouse buildings, built 1964 and found in the center of the factory courtyard, were a perfect fit for the project. The historic building, preserved to the best extent possible, meets all the requirements necessary to store and display museum pieces.

The area of this late 19th century era building, after reconstruction, totaled 3000 , of which 1000 will be used as exhibition space. Aesthetically, the building resembles a futuristic metal box.

The reconstruction project was designed by John McAslan + Partners, an architectural bureau based in Great Britain.

The English company has much experience working in various capitals around the world. One notorious example is Kings Cross Station in London.

The collection consists of 100 paintings from the personal collection of the founder of the museum, Boris Mints.

The unique collection of paintings was painstakingly gathered over the course of 10 years.

Most of the works were purchased by the arts patron from private collections from outside of Russia.

Returned to Russia were the unique works of masters: Igor Grabar, Valentina Serova, Boris Kustodiev, Nikolay Dubovskoy, Konstantin Korovin, Pyotr Konchalovsky, and many others.

By the design of Mr. Mints, the museum will become a cultural center, a unifying exhibition, and space for scientific, editorial, and educational activities.

Along with the permanent collection, the museum plans to hold temporary exhibits at least 4 times a year.

The first exhibit will dedicated to Russian impressionist, Arnold Lakhovsky.

“Once a year, we plan to host global exhibitions that will take up the entirety of the museum.

On September 8th, we will host the works of Valery Koshlyakov which will take up all 1000 .

This is a very distinguished artist that kindly lent us his work. I’m sure that this will be a very interesting project.” said, entrepreneur and patron of the arts, Boris Mints.

Mr. Mints informed the Mayor of Moscow that the building will be equipped with the most current climatic and temperature controlling systems.

This will ensure optimal conditions for the works displayed there. Sergey Sobyanin, the Mayor of Moscow, said about the work of Boris Mints, “Thank you for bringing Russian masterpieces home and making them available to all who wish to see them”.

The Museum of Russian Impressionism is open daily from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

On Wednesday’s from 12 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Admission is free for children under 18 years of age and for students.