Decembrist Memorabilia from the Collection of the State Hermitage
20 January 2004 - 4 April 2004

This exhibition, which has opened in the context of the Hermitage in Siberia program, familiarizes the visitor with a small part of the Hermitage's Decembrist collection, which is one of the most remarkable in Russia as seen from historical, artistic, and iconographic perspectives. The collection has portraits of the Decembrists, their wives and relatives, scenes of Petersburg and Siberia relating to the uprising, the investigation of the participants and the ensuing forced labor, exile and service in the Caucasus.

The pictorial materials of the collection are numerous and diverse in terms of subject matter as well as the artist's technique. There are paintings on canvas, graphics on paper, and also a great number of photographs which constitute one of the most significant sections of the collection.

Photographs from the Decembrist collection of the Hermitage are exhibited very rarely and partially, which is why the decision was taken to allow Irkutsk to display 39 of the most interesting works that bear the stamp of a photo studio. The Decembrists were photographed upon their return from Siberia in the various cities where they took residence and also abroad. However, most of the photographs were made in Moscow studios: see the portraits of A.N. Muraviev, I.I. Pushchin, M.I. Muraviev-Apostol, I.A. Annenkov, E.P. Obolensky and others. A number of portraits were made in Petersburg in the well-known studio of the photographer and artist S. L. Levitsky; alternatively by him in Paris: see the portrait of M.A. Bestuzhev and the last portrait of S.P. Trubetskoi done in 1860, the year of his death.

The works of N.A. Bestuzhev (1791-1855) occupy a special place in the collection. They form an integral part of Russian art history so that it is difficult to imagine the history of this period without them. Twenty-four of his water colors are to be found in the Hermitage collection: 9 are landscapes and 10 are portraits, of which four are displayed in the exhibition in Irkutsk. One is especially interesting for the citizens of Irkutsk, since it portrays the owner of S.G. Volkonsky's estate house.

Among the works by professional artists showing the Decembrists in Siberia there are drawings by the Swede K.P. Mazer, who lived in Russia and traveled widely in the country. He spent three years in Siberia. K. Mazer's close acquaintance with the Decembrists evidently came about in Irkutsk, which is likely where all the portraits being shown in Irkutsk now were done.

This small exhibition by the Hermitage in Irkutsk has unique display items. It was organized by the State Hermitage, the V.P. Sukachev Arts Museum of the Irkutsk Oblast, and the Irkutsk Oblast History and Memorial Museum of the Decembrists with sponsorship support from the JTI Company. The exhibition pays tribute to the memory of Russia's best people of their age.

On the occasion of the exhibition Decembrist Memorabilia, the Slavia Publishing House has issued an illustrated scholarly catalogue. The author of the introductory article is a leading scholar from the Department of the History of Russian Culture, Galina A. Printseva.