Art · Museums · Observations

While, on the unenlightened fringes of the art world, voices are heard insisting that photography is not art because it can be produced in any edition size, major galleries and established artists are turning in their work to…

While, on the unenlightened fringes of the art world, voices are heard insisting that photography is not art because it can be produced in any edition size, major galleries and established artists are turning in their work to editioned techniques, without in the least diminishing the value of works of

Museums · Observations · Saint Petersburg · Ethnography

1980s notice on the door of the Kunstkamera saying the museum shows no monsters

The essence of Peter's cabinet of curiosities in a few sentences. "Our museum is about the culture and way of life of the peoples of the world, and therefore it does not display the freaks, dwarfs, giants and other monsters who amused the grandees of the eighteenth

NB! · Society · Humour

Andryukha, we have a falsification of history, possibly the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact!

Andryukha, we have a falsification of history, possibly the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact! To horse!

Archive · Mores · Nature

Tomatoes as a curiosity in Russia and Europe in the 18th and early 19th centuries

As you can see, in the first half of the 19th century tomatoes were still a curiosity in Russia, and an explanation was needed not only of how they were grown, but of how they were to be eaten. At that time tomatoes went by the name of “love apples”

Aristocracy · The East · Mores · People

General Yermolov's temporary wives and the fate of his illegitimate children

The marital history of General Yermolov and his so-called kebin wives, that is, temporary wives, in effect concubines drawn from the local population of the Caucasian territories occupied by the Russian army, deserves a tale of its own. Yermolov's first-born was borne to him by a

Two narrow museum wall labels in Russian and English with the biography of painter Petr Zakharov (1816–1846), details of the Yermolov portrait and a text by Aslan Goisum.

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Museum label on Petr Zakharov and his Portrait of General Yermolov, 1843

The East · Art · Museums · Observations

Portrait of General Yermolov by Pyotr Zakharov in a hall of an art project about memory

I should like to draw attention to the portrait of General Yermolov in the secret hall. The work is of interest because it is from the brush of Pyotr Zakharov, carried off as a child from a village destroyed by the war, baptised and adopted by the general's

Art · Moscow · Museums · Observations · Society Pages

Second Triennial of Russian Contemporary Art Opens at Garage

Yesterday saw the opening at Garage of what is arguably the main event in the art world: the Second Triennial of Russian Contemporary Art. I am sure that colleagues on other channels will say more about the format: this time the artists were chosen on the personal recommendations of participants

A dark-haired young man in a tweed suit and tie reads an open book, head bowed, one hand behind his head. Bookshelves and a wooden ladder stand behind him.

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Young man in a tweed suit reading a book in a library

NB! · Cinema · Observations · People · Pop Culture · Humour

Hugh Grant turned 60 today, and, incidentally, he went into acting after a failed attempt to obtain a doctorate in the history of art

Hugh Grant turned 60 today, and, incidentally, he went into acting after a failed attempt to obtain a doctorate in the history of art. It must be admitted that humanity has lost a very handsome scholar

NB! · Observations · People · Humour

Profile portraits by Yan Tamkovich-Friske on sheets hung on a grid

Jan Tamkovich-Friske. This is the Snub-Nosed One. And I think I recognise her.

A hand holds a white fabric bag with blue lettering in front of a table with ceramic vases and a plate.

NB! · Art · Observations · Humour

The author bought art and says that doing so has become easy

I have already done my shopping, and I wish the same for you. Buying art has never been so easy

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