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Moscow, capital of the Russian Federation, is a city in transition. Old, and new, mixed, in a rapid evolution of a repressed society. At the heart of an ancient country, a remote culture, long a place of mystery and forboding, it sits on the Moskva river, at the division between east and west. A center of great learning and historical significance, it is also at the heart of dynamic changes. Here Western values have struck hard and penetrated a century of isolationism, stark Stalinism. Color, commercialism and organized crime compete with art galleries of fine paintings of the Russian Schools, museums with rich, rare icons and religious revival. It is a veritable melting pot of tumultuous transition: young people exploring new dimensions, old folks clinging to more traditional values.
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Cathedral of Christ the Saviour
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The original Moscow cathedral was blown up by Stalin and is now being rebuilt
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Christ Appears to the People
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The Appearance of Christ to the People, 1837-57 by Alexander Ivanov (1806-1858)
This painting is the life work of Ivanov, considered one of the greatest of Russian painters. It took over 20 years to finish. In the picture, the central figure, John the Baptist, while baptising the people in the waters of the Jordan, sees Christ approaching, and denouncing evil and injustice, proclaims him the savior. The painter, Ivanov, embraces the theme of slavory, both spiritual and physical, and exalts spiritual rebirth.
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Here you will find new churches, old churches in restoration; young and old worshipping, freely exploring traditional values.
It is the old Moscow that a foreigner will find most fascinating. The paintings, the art, here in the center of Moscow it is overwhelming in its abundance, its grandeur, its 'Russian' quality. The magnificent Tretyakov Gallery with its new buildings houses over 60,000 items, mainly paintings spanning centuries of Russian History. It is rich in the paintings of the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries: paintings by Ivanov, Repin, Surikov, Vrubel and Serov. The artwork is superb, grandiose and memorable.
Among the most important paintings are those of Alexander Ivanov (1806-1858). The largest painting and most magnificent is his 'Christ Appears to the People.'
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The detail of Ivanov's painting is astounding.
Ivanov never completed The Appearance and in the last years of his life hardly touched the painting. The work became one of the most remarkable monuments in Russian culture to the spiritual quest and artistic perfection. |
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Christ Appears to the People
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The Appearance of Christ to the People, 1837-57 by Alexander Ivanov (1806-1858)
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The beautiful painting "The Girl with Peaches, portrait of Vera Mamontova, 1887" by Valentin Serov is probably the most widely known painting in Russia.
Serov produced this masterpiece at the age of 22 or 23. He did numerous preliminary studies. The work is strongly impressionistic and seeks out the beauty inherent in even the most mundane objects.
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The Girl with Peaches by Valentin Serov
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Russian architecture of this century is very striking and different, a testimony to isolation and Stalinism. The most impressive construction of all is below ground: The Moscow Metro. A vaste complex of underground stations built like palaces, long 'ceremonial' hallways with ornate chandeliers, concourses decorated with beautiful mosaics depicting heroes, heroines and
folk costumes. It is richly adorned with fine marbles, precious metals, rich colored mosaic pictures, gilt and glass.
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Above ground there are a series of seven huge skyscrapers, built in the Stalinist Neo-Classical Style in the 1950s. These so called 'Wedding Cake' structures are the dominant buildings on the Moscow skyline, scattered throughout the central part of the city. The most important of these is the Lomonosov Unversity, or Moscow State University. The Main Building, situated in the Sparrow Hills, a southern suburb of the city, is nearly 800 feet in height.
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Lomonosov University
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Hotel Ukraina
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A similar structure is the Hotel Ukraina, a Gothic skyscraper with 1600 rooms, situated on the bank of the Moskva river directly across from the Russian White House. When it was built in the early 1950s it was one of the largest hotels in the world. |
More than anything else these amazing structures give you an insight into the minds of the Communist bosses at this juncture in Russian History. The stark symbolism, purity of lines, massive scale ...they speak legends about ambitions and visions. They lack fundamental humanity. In grandeur they rival the Egyptian pyramids.
