For true connoisseurs of art, the Nesterov Museum in Ufa (address: Gogol St., 27) is a golden treasury where all the best that man has created over the centuries is located. It is here that you can see the masterpieces of painting, icon painting, unique creations of sculpture and graphics. The Nesterov Museum is also a place where exhibitions of works by contemporary artists are regularly organized. Canvases from various parts of Russia are brought here to the audience court. And those who prefer the classics can personally enjoy the works brought from the Russian Museum and the Tretyakov Gallery. Of course, in this eminent temple of art the best collections of Bashkir folk and fine art are presented.
A brief digression into the past
Naturally, the Nesterov Museum has its own history. It is located in a mansion, which in 1913 was built by a wealthy merchant Laptev. When the power in the country passed into the hands of the Bolsheviks, the “Reds” killed the owner of the mansion.
Soon, the Communists organized the headquarters of the Red Guard in the mansion. Only in 1919 did the local revolutionary committee manage to convince that Laptev’s home ownership was not the most ideal place for headquarters. After some time, a cultural institution - the Nesterov Museum - was already located here. And even then it was what to show the people. The fact is that in 1913 a famous artist presented his hometown of Ufa several dozen paintings by eminent painters of Russia: Levitan, Shishkin, Arkhipov, Polenov, Korovin. It was their paintings that became the foundation of the first collection of the museum. Moreover, the works of the painters were originally located in Moscow, and transporting them to the Bashkir capital proved to be quite complicated and troublesome. The Nesterov Museum first opened its doors to visitors in January 1920.
Creations of the maestro
On the vast exposition area, of course, are paintings by Mikhail Nesterov himself.
More than a hundred works of the famous artist, including graphics and painting - this is a huge layer in the museum's collection. Of particular interest to the viewer are creations that were created before 1917. It was in them that the artist most vividly and maximally embodied the ideas of searching for a spiritual ideal, the harmony of nature and man.
Old Russian painting of the XV-XIX century
The exposition includes more than one hundred works. Visiting the Nesterov Museum, you can see unique creations of icon painting (“Evangelists”, “Annunciation”, “Descent into Hell”, etc.). Their authors comprehended the basics of drawing in icon-painting schools of Veliky Novgorod, Moscow and the Russian North.
Among other things, the exhibition presents rare wood, metal products that relate to church utensils.
Russian fine art (XVIII-XIX centuries)
The works of such eminent brush masters as V. Borovikovsky, D. Levitsky are stored here. Also, the exhibition includes works by serf artists.
The main trend in the work of portrait painters at the end of the 18th century was a gradual transition from medieval canons to new trends.
As for the works of Russian painters who worked in the 18th-19th centuries, the M. Nesterov Museum can offer the most unique creations. In particular, we are talking about the paintings of Leo Lagorio ("Italian Mountain Landscape") and Sylvester Shchedrin ("Harbor in Sorrento"), as well as I. Aivazovsky ("Moonlit Night in Venice). Shishkin, Savrasov, Stefanovsky, Repin - their colorful works are also regularly exhibited.
Russian graphics
Fans of this genre will have something to see if they one day come to the M.V. Nesterov Art Museum. The maestro himself presented the collection. It included such works as “Stasov and Artists” (P. Shcherbova), “On the Edge” (E. Polenova), “Portrait of a Girl” (S. Malyutin), “Sentimental Walk” (A. Benois).
Bashkir painting and graphics
The above collections originate from the moment the museum was founded. At the moment, it presents more than three thousand paintings by Bashkir artists.
Among them are P. Salmazov, B. Domashnikov, A. Lezhnev, T. Nechaev, A. Sitdikova and others. Watercolors and drawings by K. Devletkildeev, a true master of the art of drawing, are especially admired by visitors.
It should be noted that a retrospective collection of Bashkir painting has long been created in the Nesterov Museum, in which all the stages of its formation and development are recorded. In the first quarter of the 19th century, the Ufa art circle was formed, whose members held the first exhibitions of painting, which laid the foundation for the national perception of fine art.
Western Europe Collection
Its formation began in the 20s of the last century. Most of the works were delivered from the State Museum Fund, and only selected works were acquired by collectors. The paintings are painted by artists from Holland, Germany, France, Italy, Denmark, Belgium.
The museum has a small part of the sculptural works made by Western European masters. In particular, the sculpture “Sleeping Boy”, made of marble by an unknown Italian, is of particular interest. The French sculpture of Claude-Louis Michel, who made unique figurines of satyrs and fauns in bronze in the 18th century, is truly admired. At the exhibition you can also get acquainted with the sculptural creations of Bashkir masters.
These are the tremendous riches of the museum of the artist Nesterov. Everyone who considers himself a true connoisseur of art is obliged to look at them. The facility is open to visitors from Tuesday to Sunday (closed Monday). Opening hours: from 10.30 to 18.30. (except Thursday - from 12.00 to 20.30.).