NB! · Architecture · Moscow · Heritage
A splendid cast-iron post of the mid-nineteenth century in Bryusov Lane, all that remains of the old estate that once stood on this spot. Only recently the post was carefully restored by the lads from “Vspomnit Vse”, for which they have our gratitude and respect
Moscow · Observations · Society · Nature
Some time ago I fought, without success, the wretched municipal services over the mixed-herb lawn beneath my windows, home to birds and insects, but in the end it was mown, dug up, stripped of its fertile topsoil and covered with that belch of anthropogenic bad taste: turf in rolls.
Books · Moscow · Museums · Mores · Humour
When you hear of a ‘new’ format of portable smoking systems, remember this German smoking pipe of the mid-19th century, made of porcelain, wood, metal and textile. The piece is from the collection of the Tsaritsyno Museum-Reserve. Something of the kind may well have been puffed by the
Coming Up · Art · Moscow · Museums
From 1 July to 23 August, the Museum of Russian Impressionism is holding an exhibition, "Yury Annenkov. Revolution at the Door". It is a rare chance to see in one place paintings from the Tretyakov Gallery, the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, the Bakhrushin Theatre Museum, the
Architecture · Moscow · Observations · Heritage
A fairy-tale terem on the Prechistenskaya Embankment, the Pertsova tenement house for gifted artists, is now in the use of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. As you can see, one of the landmark buildings of early twentieth-century Moscow is not in the best of states: tiles keep dropping
Coming Up · Art · Moscow · Museums · Observations · Ethnography
Since such fairy-tale goings-on are afoot, a reminder that from today you can visit the exhibition "The Russian Fairy Tale" at the Tretyakov Gallery on Krymsky Val. The display brings together classic works on fairy-tale subjects, contemporary art, sculpture and media: a veritable journey through
Archive · Moscow · Mores · Nature
Asparagus was loved and cultivated in Russia, even in Moscow, from the seventeenth century at the latest. The German Olearius recalls: “There are also kitchen vegetables of every kind, especially asparagus as thick as a finger, such as I myself ate at the house of a certain Dutch merchant, a
NB! · Moscow · Museums · Observations · Humour
Meanwhile, on the First Channel: a sumptuous concert for the 180th anniversary of the Pushkin Museum. They are showing an excerpt from Kirill Serebrennikov's ballet "Nureyev". I too should like Renata Litvinova at my birthday (And preferably without Shvydkoy
Architecture · Moscow
Flat-fronted houses in Moscow owe their existence to the way building plots were cut and the price of land. With an irregularly shaped plot, the landowner faced a choice: lose floor area or find an ingenious solution by means of a cunning layout. The houses on Taganskaya Street (1/
NB! · Archive · Moscow · Observations · Pop Culture · Humour
The handsome Ivan Yankovsky backs the "I Want RGADA Remotely" campaign. Ah, Vanya, we all want things remotely just now, and not merely the State Archive of Early Acts. But it is a good and noble cause, and I support it wholeheartedly.
Books · Moscow · Education
Sergey Aksakov studied at university for two years and received a certificate. Nikolay Stankevich, by contrast, studied for four, having had to sit the same course twice on account of a cholera epidemic.
NB! · Moscow · Observations · Mores