Музейная жизнь Москвы 1920-х годов в дневниках В. Беньямина, А. Барра и Дж. Эббота

Abstract

The article analyzes material pertaining to the museums in Moscow as described in the diaries of German philosopher Walter Benjamin (1892–1940), American art historian and the first director of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City Alfred H. Barr Jr. (1902–1981) and his associate director Jere Abbott (1897–1982). They wrote the diaries during their visits to Moscow in the second half of the 1920s. The reminiscences of the three foreign cultural figures contain important observations and interesting opinions about the workings of museums and give us an extensive picture of the life and activities of Moscow museums in the 1920s. Excerpts from Jere Abbott’s diary have been translated into Russian for the first time by the author of this article. Studying the sources and analyzing the documents from the museological perspective has helped to broaden our knowledge about the art museums in Moscow in the 1920s.