Language
Версия для слабовидящих
“The Virtuoso of “Smart Choice”

The exhibition “The Virtuoso of “Smart Choice” in celebration of 200th anniversary of the noted Russian architect R.I.Kuzmin is to open December 1 at the Gatchina Palace, Main Building, 2nd floor.

The exhibition features some 200 works that are drawn from 13 cultural institutions of St Petersburg, including the State Hermitage Museum, the Russian Museum, the State Museum Reserve Peterhof, the Russian National Library, the Russian Academy of Arts, and the Russian State Historical Archives. On view are R.I.Kuzmin’s drawings, watercolours and prints showing views of the architect’s buildings and interiors, 19th century books and journals with articles on architecture, and scale models of the architect’s buildings that have not survived.

Many of the exhibits have never before been publicly seen. These include a project for the Vesta Temple, the master’s earliest drawing, a restoration project for the Trojan Forum that brought the architect the title of academician, a few large-scale sheets showing the design for the St Alexander Nevsky’s Chapel in the fencing of the Summer Garden to be erected on the site of attempted murder of Alexander II by D. Karakozov, designs for decorative festive lighting of Peterhof.

Also on view are designs for the buildings that have survived to this day to grace the streets of St Petersburg and Kronstadt. These are private mansions, tenement houses, buildings for the quartermaster service located at 52 Shpalernaya street, 2 Tchaikovskogo, 17 Konnogvardeysky Boulevard, 3-1 First Krasnoarmeyskaya, and the building of the Naval Officer Assembly in Kronstadt.

R.I.Kuzmin’s activities as an architect in Gatchina constitute a significant period in his creative career. He designed and supervised the reconstruction of the imperial palace, erected Pavlovsky Cathedral, and built three cottage houses for himself and his family. Edward Hau’s famous watercolours showing the interiors of Gatchina Palace, the architect’s designs and other documents on display make it possible for the visitors to get an idea of the architect’s enormous contribution in the reconstruction of the Gatchina Palace.

It is the first single exhibition ever held to cover such a wide range of materials about the architect R.I.Kuzmin.