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

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

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

Art · Observations · Reportage · Society Pages

I hurried to the opening of blazar, the young contemporary art fair, and share the works that can be bought today, even instantly, by following the QR code beside each description: Nina Stadnik's unicorn-leopard, Alisa's ceramics…

Black-and-white photo of two people seated on a wooden staircase, one wearing leather shoes strapped onto thick wooden platforms.

NB! · Cinema · Observations · Pop Culture · Humour

Humphrey Bogart wore platform shoes on the set of “Casablanca” to match Ingrid Bergman’s height

Humphrey Bogart wore platforms like these on the set of "Casablanca" to match Ingrid Bergman, who was 3 cm taller than he was. I think Prada creepers would have suited him too

The East · Art · Books · Observations · Mores

Miyoko Ihara's photobook about her grandmother Misao and the white cat Fukumaru

Eighteen years ago, Miyoko Ihara, a graduate of the Nippon Institute of Photography, began photographing her grandmother Misao, who was grieving the death of her husband together with her extraordinary white cat named Fukumaru, and a whole photobook came out of it. The project ended 8 years ago, and what

Archive · Art · Observations · Society · Humour

Suslov and the Party Leadership's Displeasure with Vladimir Semenov's Collection

Vladimir Semyonovich Semyonov's collection is customarily spoken of as outstanding, and the man himself is revered not only as a politician, diplomat and scholar but as a great Soviet patron of the arts. Only in its day his collection drew no small amount of reproach and displeasure from

Architecture · Moscow · Observations · Heritage · Education

Memorial plaque to Iosif Kobzon appears on the Shuvalova House of the Gnessin Institute

A memorial plaque to Iosif Kobzon has appeared on one of the buildings of the Gnessin Institute of Music and Pedagogy. I pass the music salon of the Shuvalova house, which is now the correct name for this building, almost every day, and yet I am seeing the commemorative plaque