When viewing the sights of the city of Samara, it is impossible to walk past a building located at the intersection of Frunze and Krasnoarmeyskaya streets. Even a cursory glance is enough to distinguish it from the surrounding buildings. It is popularly known as the Kurlina mansion, which now houses the Art Nouveau Museum.
Gift of the eminent merchant
Talking about its history, one should return to the beginning of the 20th century, or rather, in 1903, when the eminent Samara merchant Alexander Georgievich Kurlin built for his wife Alexandra Pavlovna a luxurious mansion in the then fashionable Art Nouveau style, preserved to this day and still wearing it name.
The creation of the project for future construction was entrusted to A.U. Zelenkov, a young architect who managed to create a name for himself. It is known about him that, having received his education in Moscow, he spent several years in Vienna, where, listening to lectures at one of the most prestigious educational institutions - the Higher Polytechnic School, he was inspired by interest in the modern style, which was new at that time. Returning to his homeland, he embodied the knowledge gained in the building, the order for which he received from the merchant of the first guild A.G. Kurlin.
A happy but short marriage
The thirty-three-year-old heir to one of the richest merchant dynasties on the Volga, who was also the vowel of the City Duma and the founder of many commercial as well as charitable structures, could afford to make such a gift to his beloved woman.
Their union was sealed by the sacrament of wedding in 1893 under the arches of the Assumption Church. The marriage was happy, but short-lived. Five years later, Alexander Georgievich was struck by a serious mental illness, as a result of which he had to leave all commercial affairs and hand them over to his wife, who has since become his guardian.
He died in November 1914. After the revolution, the mansion that belonged to his widow was nationalized, and his former owner, having left Samara forever, settled in Moscow, where she spent her life in an ordinary communal apartment, having died in the mid-seventies.
On the thorny paths of the XX century
During the Civil War, Samara was occupied by the Czechoslovak corps, which opposed the Bolsheviks, and the building, which now houses the Art Nouveau Museum (Samara), was occupied by its counterintelligence. During the Great Patriotic War, when the diplomatic corps were evacuated from Moscow to Kuibyshev, the mansion building was placed at the disposal of the Swedish Embassy, which occupied it from 1941 to 1943. In the seventies, he was transferred to the regional museum of local lore, and in 1995, on the personal instructions of President B.N. Yeltsin was included in the list of historical and cultural monuments of federal significance.
New life of the mansion
Before the Samara Art Nouveau Museum was created in a former merchant’s mansion, the building itself underwent a significant reconstruction, the purpose of which was to recreate its former appearance. The fact is that in the hundred years that have passed since the day of construction, it was repeatedly rebuilt in accordance with the needs of a particular period, and this was done without taking into account its original architectural originality.
The initiative in this matter was shown by the regional ministry of culture, and with his help the necessary funds were obtained for carrying out the work. I had to start with strengthening the foundation, after which the experts began to restore the building itself literally from walls to the roof. And after the completion of this stage, they began to recreate the interior of the interior.
Finishing work and the opening of the museum
It is known that at the beginning of the 20th century the mansion was not a single structure, but a complex that included a number of courtyard buildings. To restore them in their original form, a lot of work was done with archival documents that made it possible to establish their historical appearance.
For the period of restoration work, the museum, which was located in the mansion, was closed for visiting, and all of its exhibits were deposited in the regional museum of local history, and they were used to create various thematic exhibitions. Repair and restoration work lasted until the end of December 2012, after which the only Art Nouveau Museum in Samara was opened in the renovated estate, address: ul. Frunze, 159/15.
Second Life Mansion
The sights of the city of Samara were replenished with the restored in its original form mansion Kurlin, numbering twenty-two rooms, each of which has its own unique decoration and design. A unique piece of blacksmithing is the forged staircase leading to the second floor of the building. Other decorative elements made using the art of forging are also in tune with her. These are stylized lattices made in the form of butterflies. They seem weightless, despite the mass of the metal enclosed in them. This also includes the openwork weaving of the gate, and the forged dragonfly crowning the roof.
An undoubted designer find is the decoration of the building's facade with blue ceramic tiles, which successfully harmonizes with the matte base and the greenery of the textured tile inserts. The pediment is decorated with a stucco portrait of the mistress of the building, Alexandra Pavlovna, and with the same technique, images of plants placed above the corner windows. Her image in the form of a flying nymph adorns the ceiling of the boudoir.
It should also be noted that the Kurlin house was a combination of all the technical achievements used then in construction. It was supplied with water from the city water supply network, and there was a sewage system in it. In winter, the house was heated using a heating system, the remains of which can still be seen in its walls. Electricity was carried into it, and the windows are equipped with shutters and equipped with decorative grilles.
Interesting facts from the past
It is curious that the house where the Art Nouveau Museum (Samara) is now located was familiar to the writer Aleksei Tolstoy and was mentioned by him in the novel “Going through the agony” as “ridiculously luxurious”. Of course, the classic of Soviet literature understood a lot about luxury, as he lived in it even in the most difficult years for the country.
One of the mysteries of the house is a room located in the basement. Its walls are riddled with traces of bullets, between which there are inscriptions left by the Red Army arrested during the Civil War by the Czechoslovak counterintelligence. It is believed that the room was used as a shooting room. However, there is another opinion, according to which, during the period of the seizure of the building by the anarchists, they arranged a shooting gallery in it.
New in the art of the turn of the XIX and XX centuries
However, let us return to the artistic direction, which has become the main theme of museum expositions. It is no coincidence that the Art Nouveau style, which conquered Europe in the last quarter of the 19th century, is assigned a significant place in art history. At the turn of the century, he acquired such a significant number of fans that for a long time he became the way of self-expression of many of the best Russian and foreign masters in various fields of art.
Replacing the eclecticism that quoted and repeated the previous artistic styles, he spoke in a new, peculiar and unknown language until then. By creatively reworking the legacy of the underlying art of Japan, which by that time had become accessible to the inhabitants of Europe, and which had also had a considerable influence on the aesthetics of ancient Egypt, European masters developed a peculiar style that, to one degree or another, has not lost its significance to this day.
Among the artists who worked in this direction, masters soon appeared whose names forever entered the history of art. This is the Englishman William Morris, who became the pioneer of a new direction in creating interiors, and his compatriot Arthur McMurdo, who used new principles in book graphics, and many other artists of that era, whose work is fully illuminated by the Museum of Art Nouveau (Samara).
Exposition in the halls of a former merchant mansion
It should be noted that among the variety of city museums it is one of the most popular and visited. Carrying out comprehensive work aimed at studying and popularizing this trend in art, the museum collects objects of that era and information about their creators.
The collected exhibits formed the basis of the exposition, which in 2013 was created by the Art Nouveau Museum. The exhibition occupied three halls on the first front floor of the building, which once housed the dining room, office and boudoir of the former mistress of the house. They show the most striking examples of painting, furniture, clothing and accessories, made by Russian and foreign masters of the early XX century.
A wide range of museum activities
It is important to note that the Art Nouveau Museum (Samara), in addition to its main excursion activities, is the organizer of a large number of events aimed at people of various ages, from schoolchildren to senior citizens. Along with lectures, concerts and walking tours of the city, the museum administration organizes various festivals and art exhibitions related to modernity to one degree or another. In the summer, the venue often becomes the garden and the courtyard of the museum.
The Art Nouveau Museum (Samara), whose director - Mikhail Savchenko - has made great efforts to establish close cooperation with leading contemporary artists in various fields of culture and art, has become one of the most famous Russian and foreign exhibition complexes. He rightfully earned a reputation as a prominent creative, cultural and educational center.
Reviews from those who visited the museum
As mentioned above, among the most visited exhibition centers of the city, one of the first places is occupied by the Art Nouveau Museum (Samara). The reviews of its many visitors, left in the guest book and on the Internet, indicate the great interest with which they familiarized themselves with the presented expositions.
High professionalism of the guides who lively and vividly talk about the exhibits of the museum, and the thoughtfulness with which the excursions are built, is especially noted. Even with a relatively small volume of museum funds, his visit, according to excursionists, is very informative and broadens the general horizons.
Excursions in the Art Nouveau Museum in Samara can be ordered both at travel agencies specializing in familiarizing city visitors with its sights, and directly at its tour desk.
Other attractions awaiting guests of the city
Guests of the city will be interested to get acquainted with other sights of Samara. In addition to the Art Nouveau Museum, which was discussed in the article, the historical and local lore museum named after P.V. Albina, the Babylon art gallery, the Art Portal exhibition hall, the Art Museum, as well as a number of other museums and galleries.
Fans of dramatic art will undoubtedly enjoy visiting such city theaters as dramatic them. Gorky, "Samara Square", "Monday" and many others, including the Samara Opera and Ballet Theater, famous throughout the country.
It will also be interesting to see monumental works adorning the streets and squares of the city, among which two monuments by Samara sculptor M. Manizer, V. Kuibyshev and Chapaev, are of the greatest interest.