Museum of Applied Arts
The Museum of Applied Arts of the St. Petersburg State Academy of Arts and Industry named after A. L. Stieglitz is one of the most interesting and very original monuments of Russian culture. It is an integral part of the academy, which produces artists in various fields of monumental, decorative, applied art and design, and its cultural, educational, training and exhibition center.
Address:
St. Petersburg, Solyanoy per., 13-15
Telephone:
(812) 273-32-58
The history of the museum is inextricably linked with the creation in St. Petersburg in January 1876, at the expense of a major financier, industrialist and philanthropist Alexander Ludwigovich Stieglitz (1814 - 1884), of the Central School of Technical Drawing.
A prominent statesman, son-in-law of Baron Stieglitz, Alexander Alexandrovich Polovtsov (1832 - 1909), played a major role in the formation of this educational institution. The famous St. Petersburg architect Maximilian Egorovich Mesmacher (1842 - 1906) was invited to the post of director. Established on May 27 (May 15, old style), 1878, the museum was initially located in a school building built in 1878 - 1881 according to the design of A.I.
Krakau and R.A. Goedicke. In 1885, according to the project of M.E.
Messmacher begins the construction of a special museum building. At international auctions, from famous foreign and Russian antique dealers and collectors with the active participation of A.A. Polovtsov acquired collections of applied art objects. A unique museum collection is gradually taking shape, distinguished by the diversity and high artistic level of its monuments from Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance, and including works of Western European, Eastern and Russian applied art of the 17th and 18th centuries. On May 12 (April 30, old style), 1896, the grand opening of the museum building took place in the presence of the imperial family and a large public.
Amazingly beautiful samples of porcelain, bronze, fabrics, enamel and jewelry, placed in specially made display cases, as well as French tapestries and Flemish tapestries, appeared before the gaze of an admiring public. The magazine “Builder” wrote: “Entering through the main entrance into the spacious Lobby, the visitor, accustomed to the barracks architecture of most of our museums, immediately feels here in an unusual environment: polished granite, marble, bronze, painting - all this wealth in artistic combinations amazes and blinds." The museum building is a unique architectural monument of the historicist period.
In its appearance one can discern the features of some famous works of Italian architecture of the 16th century: the creations of the Venetian architect Jacopo Sansavino - the Palazzo Corner della Ca Grande and the Library of San Marco, as well as the Basilica and Palazzo Thiene in Vicenza, built according to the designs of Andrea Palladio. Messmacher not only borrowed individual compositional techniques and decorative elements of these famous buildings, but creatively rethought their forms, filling them with new content and creating a kind of generalized image of Italian Renaissance architecture. The artistic decoration of the thirty-two halls of the museum reflects almost all historical eras and styles: antiquity, Byzantine, Romanesque and Gothic art, the Renaissance, Viennese, Flemish, French and Italian baroque.
The compositional dominant feature of the building is the Great Exhibition Hall, reminiscent of the courtyard of an Italian palazzo.
It is covered with a grandiose glass dome, which is one of the notable achievements of Russian construction technology of the late 19th century. M.E. Messmacher's appeal to the heights of European culture was determined not only by the trends of the times, but also by the main task of the museum - to introduce future artists to the treasures of world art.
Students and graduates of the school took an active part in the decoration of the halls. It was a genuine school of professional excellence, where students could put into practice the knowledge acquired in the classroom. Since its opening, the museum has found itself at the center of the cultural life of St. Petersburg.
Its Great Hall hosted brilliant exhibitions of the association “World of Art” (1898), “Historical Exhibition of Objects of Art” (1904), “Exhibition of Church Antiquities” (1915) and many others. The museum becomes one of the most important elements of the aesthetic education of future artists. Here, students first became acquainted with the creations of world-famous artists and anonymous masters; in the silence of the museum halls, they learned the secrets of artistic creativity. In this sublime atmosphere, permeated with the spirit of beauty and harmony, the mystery of the birth of new talents took place. Students of the Stieglitz School worked fruitfully in various areas of the art industry: at the Imperial porcelain and glass factories, in the jewelry company of Carl Faberge, and in the workshops of the Imperial theaters.
Their skill and inspired work created true masterpieces that brought glory to Russian applied art of the Silver Age. The fate of the school and its museum is complex and dramatic.
It reflected the tragic time of historical cataclysms, wars and political upheavals. After the October Revolution, as a result of the reform of art education, the school was closed, and the museum in 1923 came under the jurisdiction of the Hermitage, becoming its First Branch. After the creation in February 1945 of the Leningrad Art and Industrial School (from 1953 named after V.I. Mukhina) on the basis of the Stieglitz School, only a small part of its collection was returned to the museum from the Hermitage, which was later replenished with exhibits from other museums in the country. Today, the museum's holdings include more than thirty-five thousand objects of applied art from Antiquity to the present day.
The extensive collection includes Western European porcelain and Eastern ceramics, interesting examples of furniture from the 16th – 19th centuries, a unique collection of Russian tiled stoves from the 18th century, artistic metal and fabrics, as well as the best student works of the second half of the 20th century. The exhibition, located in fourteen halls and galleries on the first floor of the historical museum building, presents about 2,000 exhibits. In the Antechamber,
A prominent statesman, son-in-law of Baron Stieglitz, Alexander Alexandrovich Polovtsov (1832 - 1909), played a major role in the formation of this educational institution. The famous St. Petersburg architect Maximilian Egorovich Mesmacher (1842 - 1906) was invited to the post of director. Established on May 27 (May 15, old style), 1878, the museum was initially located in a school building built in 1878 - 1881 according to the design of A.I.
Krakau and R.A. Goedicke. In 1885, according to the project of M.E.
Messmacher begins the construction of a special museum building. At international auctions, from famous foreign and Russian antique dealers and collectors with the active participation of A.A. Polovtsov acquired collections of applied art objects. A unique museum collection is gradually taking shape, distinguished by the diversity and high artistic level of its monuments from Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance, and including works of Western European, Eastern and Russian applied art of the 17th and 18th centuries. On May 12 (April 30, old style), 1896, the grand opening of the museum building took place in the presence of the imperial family and a large public.
Amazingly beautiful samples of porcelain, bronze, fabrics, enamel and jewelry, placed in specially made display cases, as well as French tapestries and Flemish tapestries, appeared before the gaze of an admiring public. The magazine “Builder” wrote: “Entering through the main entrance into the spacious Lobby, the visitor, accustomed to the barracks architecture of most of our museums, immediately feels here in an unusual environment: polished granite, marble, bronze, painting - all this wealth in artistic combinations amazes and blinds." The museum building is a unique architectural monument of the historicist period.
In its appearance one can discern the features of some famous works of Italian architecture of the 16th century: the creations of the Venetian architect Jacopo Sansavino - the Palazzo Corner della Ca Grande and the Library of San Marco, as well as the Basilica and Palazzo Thiene in Vicenza, built according to the designs of Andrea Palladio. Messmacher not only borrowed individual compositional techniques and decorative elements of these famous buildings, but creatively rethought their forms, filling them with new content and creating a kind of generalized image of Italian Renaissance architecture. The artistic decoration of the thirty-two halls of the museum reflects almost all historical eras and styles: antiquity, Byzantine, Romanesque and Gothic art, the Renaissance, Viennese, Flemish, French and Italian baroque.
The compositional dominant feature of the building is the Great Exhibition Hall, reminiscent of the courtyard of an Italian palazzo.
It is covered with a grandiose glass dome, which is one of the notable achievements of Russian construction technology of the late 19th century. M.E. Messmacher's appeal to the heights of European culture was determined not only by the trends of the times, but also by the main task of the museum - to introduce future artists to the treasures of world art.
Students and graduates of the school took an active part in the decoration of the halls. It was a genuine school of professional excellence, where students could put into practice the knowledge acquired in the classroom. Since its opening, the museum has found itself at the center of the cultural life of St. Petersburg.
Its Great Hall hosted brilliant exhibitions of the association “World of Art” (1898), “Historical Exhibition of Objects of Art” (1904), “Exhibition of Church Antiquities” (1915) and many others. The museum becomes one of the most important elements of the aesthetic education of future artists. Here, students first became acquainted with the creations of world-famous artists and anonymous masters; in the silence of the museum halls, they learned the secrets of artistic creativity. In this sublime atmosphere, permeated with the spirit of beauty and harmony, the mystery of the birth of new talents took place. Students of the Stieglitz School worked fruitfully in various areas of the art industry: at the Imperial porcelain and glass factories, in the jewelry company of Carl Faberge, and in the workshops of the Imperial theaters.
Their skill and inspired work created true masterpieces that brought glory to Russian applied art of the Silver Age. The fate of the school and its museum is complex and dramatic.
It reflected the tragic time of historical cataclysms, wars and political upheavals. After the October Revolution, as a result of the reform of art education, the school was closed, and the museum in 1923 came under the jurisdiction of the Hermitage, becoming its First Branch. After the creation in February 1945 of the Leningrad Art and Industrial School (from 1953 named after V.I. Mukhina) on the basis of the Stieglitz School, only a small part of its collection was returned to the museum from the Hermitage, which was later replenished with exhibits from other museums in the country. Today, the museum's holdings include more than thirty-five thousand objects of applied art from Antiquity to the present day.
The extensive collection includes Western European porcelain and Eastern ceramics, interesting examples of furniture from the 16th – 19th centuries, a unique collection of Russian tiled stoves from the 18th century, artistic metal and fabrics, as well as the best student works of the second half of the 20th century. The exhibition, located in fourteen halls and galleries on the first floor of the historical museum building, presents about 2,000 exhibits. In the Antechamber,
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Telephone:
(812) 273-32-58
Working hours:
Every day from 11.00 to 17.00 cash desk until 16.30 Sunday and Monday are days off.
Address:
St. Petersburg, Solyanoy per., 13-15
