In large domestic cultural centers, one of the most amazing museums of the Russian hinterland is little known - the Pozhalostin Art Museum in Ryazan. The time of its occurrence is the beginning of the 20th century. And the location is one of the surprisingly quiet and harmonious corners of the country. Address of the Ryazan Art Museum: Freedom Street, 57.
History of creation
The collection of the Ryazan Art Museum began to take shape from the collection of artworks by the engraver Ivan Petrovich Pozhalostin, which was transferred to the city after his death to his daughter. The initiators and founders of the museum are urban enthusiasts, united at this moment in the "Society of the Ryazan Art and History Museum named after Professor Ivan Petrovich Pozhalostin." It was headed by A. A. Kiselev-Kamsky, V. P. Sokolov and S. A. Pyrsin. Back in 1906, they organized the first art exhibition in Ryazan, and in 1913 they had already submitted to Prince Obolensky for approval the Charter of the Society of Art Lovers. On March 30, Obolensky signed this charter, and on that day the opening of a new museum took place.
Which name is ...
Ivan Petrovich Pozhalostin was born in 1837 in the village of Egoldaevo of the Ryazan province in a poor peasant family. The real name of his ancestors is Khrapova. But for the compassionate attitude towards Ivan Petrovich’s naughty children, the nickname Pozhalostin was given, which later was assigned to all descendants as a family name.
Ivan's parents died early. The boy wandered a lot, beggared, laborers, and at the age of 13 he was brought up to education and training at the Trinity-Zotikovsky orphan school in Ryazan. There, the young man began to draw with charcoal and a pencil. The school trustee, evaluating the teenager’s talent, sent a request for the boy to enter the drawing class of the gymnasium, but Pozhalostin could not continue his studies. He was forced to get a job as a volost clerk. So he ended up in the village of Solotcha.
Later, Ivan Petrovich graduated from the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts and graduated in the status of a class artist. With admission to one of the largest educational institutions of the capital, he was helped by the Minister of State Property M.N. Muravyov.
The young artist studied in the class of F.I. Jordan - the famous draftsman and engraver - and was considered his best student. Subsequently, the portraits of Pozhalostin will be highly appreciated by contemporary masters and critics. But the most unique thing that distinguished this creator from a number of others was that he was able to create unique engravings on copper. This occupation was considered very difficult, it required special abilities: a solid hand, an accurate eye, and special professionalism.
Since 1892, I.P. Pozhalostin holds the position of professor at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts in the engraving class.
He suffered heavily the closure of the class of incisal engraving during the next reforms. In addition, Ivan Petrovich was dismissed from an institution with a very small pension, which he did not have enough to live in St. Petersburg. Pozhalostin returned to Ryazan and settled in Solotche, building himself a famous house with a mezzanine.
Historic buildings: Pozlozhostin’s house
The house museum was opened as a branch of the Ryazan Art Museum in 1992, and in 2012, to the 175th anniversary of the engraver Ivan Petrovich Pozhalostin, another permanent exhibition was opened in the room of his daughters.
In addition to the room of the daughters of I.P. Pozhalostin, a memorial exposition dedicated to the artist himself is also presented in the house-museum. She was housed in the master’s office.
And in the house with the mezzanine, an exhibition is open about the writer Konstantin Dmitrievich Paustovsky, who lived and worked in this building. In addition to the memory of Paustovsky, the history of the building contains memories associated with such a famous figure of Russian culture as Arkady Gaidar, who also visited here more than once.
The building was erected according to the project of the owner in the village of Solotcha of the Ryazan province in 1880. Now this territory is part of the overgrown Ryazan, in one of its micro-districts. After the death of Pozhalostin, his daughters lived in the house. In the second half of the 20th century, the building burned three times, but was restored.
Ryumin House
The main exposition of the museum is deployed in the historical and cultural object of Ryazan - the house of the merchant Ryumin. Gavriil Vasilievich Ryumin came from a poor bourgeois family, but managed to curry favor with the state adviser and godfather of the sovereign. It was precisely for his services to the state on the outskirts of Ryazan that he was allocated swampy and marshy places where the merchant built a summer house for himself. This place was very popular among the noble Ryazans in the last years of Ryumin's life, as he tried in every possible way to contribute to their entertainment. The merchant was a philanthropist and did a lot for the good of the city.
The estate was built on the remains of old buildings that already existed here. Gavriil Vasilievich personally monitored how work was progressing.
The building of the estate was built in the style of classicism, but was subsequently rebuilt several times subsequently. There was a time when a noble boarding house was located in it, then secular institutions of various orientations. The internal layout of the Ryumin era in the building was not preserved. For secular institutions, all rooms were converted into small office rooms.
In 1980, the house passed into the possession of the Ryazan Art Museum, was restored, reconstructed and its internal layout.
Exposure Features
The museum’s exposition is unusual first of all because it harmoniously combines the collection of Russian painting and handicrafts preserved after the local history component was separated from the single museum.
From the point of view of the list of authors of paintings and historical eras presented in the exposition, which covers the presented painting, the Ryazan Art Museum is sometimes called a miniature of the Russian Museum or the Tretyakov Gallery. Presented here are works of fine art and European masters.
The collection of Russian and European art includes not only paintings by famous artists (Borovikovsky, Aivazovsky, Savrasov, Levitan, Shishkin, Van Ostade, Paynas, Vue, Crozato and Guardi), but also furniture, porcelain, glass.
The main collections were composed of exhibits nationalized during the Soviet era, donated by collectors, transferred from the State Museum Fund and the Ministry of Culture, brought from expeditions purchased by the administration of the institution. Now the museum has about 12 thousand exhibits.
Updated Museum
Exhibitions in the Ryazan Art Museum are updated every year, and Ryazanians are happy to visit this amazing place in which the past and future are joined together.
The regional government promised in 2012 that the museum would be re-exposed in accordance with current trends in the formation of a museum space equipped with unique multimedia capabilities. The grand undertaking was to be financed from the regional budget.
Opening hours of the Art Museum in Ryazan: daily from 11.00 to 19.00, except Monday.