Museum Favorites: Russia

I spent a good chunk of our time in St. Petersburg dragging Jimmy through 2 museums.

One morning was spent at the massive Hermitage, and one was spent in the Russian Museum. The Hermitage is packed with millions of works by world famous artists from every corner of the globe. The Russian Museum houses works only by Russian artists, or artists who lived and practiced in Russia for an extended period or time, from Orthodox icons, through modern 21st century works.

I really don't love taking photos of art in museums; it seems to defeat the purpose of actually visiting a museum. So I didn't take photos til towards the end of each museum- therfor missing some major works- mostly after I had warmed up to the place and was too tired to tell myself not to. And really, some if it was too awesome not to share.

Here are some of my favorites:

Rembrant's Prodigal Son, one of my parents' favorites. Having seen this image so many times growing up, I was sruprised to see how big it was. I would guess at 7ft tall.

Original Lautrecs, one of my favorite French Belle Epoch artists. The start of great advertising.

Rodin Sculptures

Looks like my cousin....

I loved the constant political themes in Russian art

Do not pass go....

Teddy and Tommy

I loved how jaunty feeling this is. Fun use of colors. Plus an adorable dog.

One of the massive salons

One of the most fascinating things to me about art and architecture is it inevitable intersection with politic. If you are familiar with history, you can easily see it manifested in art and architecture. As Russia has such a complex and unique history, it was very fascinating to see how it was reflected in art throughout the decades.