09. The State Russian Museum

The State Russian Museum has one of the best collections of Russian art in the world. This was something of a blind spot for me, as I imagine it is for many Americans - I suspect that most with a liberal arts education or who read widely can name multiple Russian authors, composers, and even possibly dancers, but few could likely name a single Russian visual artist (other than perhaps Kandinsky or Chagall - neither of whose work I recall seeing here). The galleries in the Russian Museum are arranged in chronological order, so you start your tour with medieval religious iconography and conclude with contemporary paintings. Although not as large as the Hermitage, I still spent a good four hours touring the exhibits and admiring the many beautiful rooms in the Mikhailovsky Palace. In this case, I was able to see the entire museum, including two special exhibitions. Highlights for me included 18th and 19th century marble sculptures, large-format Russian paintings from the 19th century (some of these were huge!), displays of different types of Russian folk art (carved bone, lacquer and enameled boxes), and the work of early 20th twentieth century painter Pavel Filonov.