Perm State Art Gallery

Perm State Art Gallery
Name	Perm State Art Gallery
Native name	Пермская государственная художественная галерея
Established	1927
Location	Perm, Perm Krai, Russia
Type	Art museum
Collection size	approx. 20,000

Perm State Art Gallery is a major art institution in Perm, Perm Krai, Russia founded in 1927 and renowned for its holdings of Russian, Western European, and Avant-garde art. The gallery occupies a historic building and has developed international ties through loans and collaborations with institutions such as the Hermitage Museum, the Tretyakov Gallery, the State Russian Museum, the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts and museums across Europe and Asia. It holds works by artists connected to movements including Realism, Impressionism, Symbolism, Constructivism, Socialist Realism, and Contemporary art.

History

The gallery was founded in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution and the Russian Civil War during an era of cultural organization that included institutions like the State Institute of Artistic Culture and the People's Commissariat for Education. Early collections were formed from confiscations and transfers involving the Imperial Academy of Arts, private collections of collectors such as Sergey Shchukin and Ivan Morozov, and provincial donations associated with figures like Mikhail Vrubel and Ilya Repin. During the Great Patriotic War, the gallery's holdings were affected by wartime evacuations similar to those undertaken by the Hermitage Museum and the Tretyakov Gallery, and postwar restoration echoed efforts at institutions such as the Russian Museum and the State Tretyakov Gallery. In the late 20th century, the gallery expanded acquisitions to include works by Kazimir Malevich, Vladimir Tatlin, Natalia Goncharova, Mikhail Larionov, Marc Chagall, Pablo Picasso, Paul Cézanne, Édouard Manet, Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh, and Russian modernists like Alexander Benois and Boris Kustodiev. The 21st century brought partnerships with the British Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, the Centre Pompidou, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and exhibition exchanges with the National Gallery (London), Rijksmuseum, and Guggenheim Museum Bilbao.

Collections

The permanent collection includes Russian icons, 18th–19th-century Russian painting, and extensive 20th-century works. Notable artists in the holdings include Andrei Rublev, Theophanes the Greek, Dionisy, Ilya Repin, Ivan Aivazovsky, Isaac Levitan, Vasily Surikov, Arkady Rylov, Konstantin Korovin, Aleksandr Gerasimov, Ilya Kabakov, Ernst Neizvestny, Oskar Rabin, Ilya Mashkov, Aristarkh Lentulov, Zinaida Serebriakova, Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin, Alexander Deineka, Vladimir Serov, Aleksandr Deyneka, Nikolay Roerich, Pavel Filonov, Vladimir Tatlin, Kazimir Malevich, Natalia Goncharova, Mikhail Larionov, Lyubov Popova, Vasily Kandinsky, Marc Chagall, Pablo Picasso, Paul Cézanne, Edgar Degas, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Henri Matisse, Gustave Courbet, Paul Gauguin, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, John Singer Sargent, Winslow Homer, J. M. W. Turner, Eugène Delacroix, Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, Wassily Kandinsky, and contemporary figures like Ilya Kabakov, Dmitry Prigov, Erik Bulatov, Oleg Tselkov, Irina Nakhova, and AES+F. The gallery also preserves collections of icon painting, folk art, applied arts, graphic arts, theatrical design and works on paper including prints by Albrecht Dürer, Rembrandt van Rijn, Francisco Goya, and Honoré Daumier.

Architecture and Building

The gallery's main building is an example of 19th-century civic architecture in Perm closely linked to urban projects of the Russian Empire period and later restorations reflecting conservation practices used at the Hermitage Museum and the State Russian Museum. Architectural influences can be compared to structures by architects like Mikhail Malakhov, Vasily Stasov, and later restorations referencing approaches by Konstantin Thon and preservationists involved with the Kremlin. The facility includes historic exhibition halls, modern conservation studios, and storage solutions inspired by museum practices at the Smithsonian Institution, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the Rijksmuseum.

Exhibitions and Programs

The gallery hosts temporary exhibitions featuring retrospectives and thematic displays highlighting artists such as Ilya Repin, Ivan Aivazovsky, Marc Chagall, Kazimir Malevich, Vladimir Tatlin, Natalia Goncharova, Mikhail Larionov, Kazimir Malevich, Boris Kustodiev, Zinaida Serebriakova, Alexander Benois, Pavel Filonov, Ilya Kabakov, Erik Bulatov, and contemporary collectives like AES+F. Collaborative programs have been organized with the Tretyakov Gallery, the Hermitage Museum, the State Russian Museum, the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, the Courtauld Institute of Art, the Goethe-Institut, and cultural agencies such as the British Council and the Alliance Française. The gallery runs lecture series, curator tours, and biennales mirroring formats at the Venice Biennale, Documenta, Manifesta, and regional festivals connected to the Perm International Film Festival and local cultural events promoted by the Perm Krai Administration.

Research, Conservation, and Education

On-site laboratories follow methodologies developed at the Hermitage Conservation Center, the Getty Conservation Institute, and the Institut national du patrimoine. Research areas include provenance studies linked to collectors like Sergey Shchukin and Ivan Morozov, technical analysis paralleling work at the Courtauld Institute of Art, and archival projects comparable to those at the State Archive of the Russian Federation. Educational outreach targets schools and universities including Perm State University, St. Petersburg State Academic Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (Repin Institute), and regional art colleges, offering internships, workshops, and catalogues raisonnés that reference scholarship from the Russian Academy of Arts and international research by scholars associated with the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the National Gallery (Washington).

Administration and Recognition

The gallery is administered within frameworks similar to those governing institutions like the Tretyakov Gallery and the Hermitage Museum, and it has received awards and recognition at regional and national levels, participating in initiatives alongside the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, cultural programs of the Council of Europe, and international partnerships with the European Union cultural funding bodies. It has hosted juried competitions and collaborated with organizations such as UNESCO, the International Council of Museums, the International Committee for Conservation, and major foundations including the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Getty Foundation. The gallery continues to expand its profile through loans, publications, and participation in transnational exhibitions with partners like the Museum of Modern Art, Centre Pompidou, British Museum, National Gallery (London), and the Rijksmuseum.

Category:Museums in Perm Krai