Exhibitions of Art Works from Private Collections of Kazan in the Second Half of 19th — Beginning of 20th Century

Abstract

The article uses the example of Kazan to reveal the process of organizing and holding exhibitions of artworks from private collections in the Russian pre-revolutionary province. Addressing this topic, which has not been sufficiently studied in the history of Russian art, is relevant because it expands the understanding of the phenomenon of exhibition activity, which is one of the most important aspects of artistic life in Russia. The source base of the present study is the catalogues of four exhibitions of paintings from private collections held from 1873 to 1916, as well as publications in the Kazan press of this period. The peculiarities of the organizational process, selection and exposition of works, and the owners of the works are revealed. It is established that the exhibitions were of charitable nature: their proceeds were directed either in favour of the starving or poor, or in favour of Russian soldiers. The main collectors of art works in Kazan in the second half of the 19th century were predominantly landed gentry and university professors (who came from the families of personal nobles and officials). By the early 20th century, representatives of individual merchant families also had significant art collections. The exhibited works represented the whole variety of genres, but they were dominated by landscapes and portraits, primarily family portraits, suitable for decorating mansions. Catalogues allow us to conclude that local collectors of the second half of the 19th century were primarily interested in foreign art (masters of the Italian, Flemish, Dutch, Belgian, German and French schools, mainly of the 17—18 centuries), as well as (to a lesser extent) Russian academic painting (from V.L. Borovikovsky and D.G. Levitsky to D. Zakharov) and itinerant painters (I.I. Shishkin, N.A. Yaroshenko). By the end of the 19th century, the vector of collectors’ preferences shifted towards contemporary Russian art (works by Makovskys, I.E. Repin, etc. were collected), and collecting works by local artists (K.V. Bardou, L.D. Kryukov, R.A. Stupin, N.I. Zeblov, etc.) began to develop as a special direction.