Ivanovsky Hall in the History of the Rumyantsev Museum and the Russian State Library

Abstract

The legacy of the artist A.A. Ivanov, especially his famous painting “Apparition of Christ to the people”, was one of the most valuable components of the Art gallery, which was part of the Rumyantsev Museum, and had held an important place in the exposition throughout the entire period of existence of the Museum. The collection of Russian and Western European paintings of the Rumyantsev Museum, same as the other departments, was formed mainly through donations and gifts that allowed the Museum to become one of the largest multidisciplinary cultural institutions in the country. The collection of paintings was originally placed in the Pashkov House; Ivanovsky Hall was firstly allocated in there in 1900. With the growth of the collections of the Museum, there arose the question on the necessity of construction of new premises to house the collections. In 1915, there was opened the building of the Art gallery of the Moscow Public and Rumyantsev Museum, designed by N.L. Shevyakov, and was the second one in Moscow after the State Tretyakov gallery, built especially for exhibiting paintings and art objects. This building was constructed as temporary location for the art gallery; and in future, after construction of the other buildings and transfer to them the departments of the Museum, it was planned to be used for exhibitions. Ivanovsky Hall did never occupied a separate building, but herewith it was playing a key role in the expanded exhibition, consisting of several hundred paintings. With the liquidation of the Moscow Public and Rumyantsev Museum in 1924, the building of the Art gallery was handed over to the exposition of the Museum of Book. However, the painting of A. Ivanov remained within its premises until 1932. Subsequently, because of the construction of new building for the V.I. Lenin State Library of the USSR, the Art gallery was demolished. In 2016 in a former building of the Art gallery there was opened the new Exhibition complex of the Russian State Library — the Ivanovsky Hall.