Sunday February 23 was a sunny day with a high of 18C, although it cooled off in the early evening.
We had a lazy morning at the apartment and had lunch before we headed out.
Our destination was the Russian Museum of Málaga which is a branch of the Russian State Museum of St. Petersburg (Colección del Museo Ruso Málaga). It opened in 2015 and is located across the river in the western part of Málaga near another beach. It was a bit farther than our map seemed to indicate, but it was a lovely day for a long walk.
 |
| En route--- near the beach |
The Museum is located in one of the pavilions at the old Tabacalera tobacco factory. The Museum organizes a major annual exhibit of works from the Russian Museum St. Petersburg collection, and also hosts various temporary exhibitions during the year.
 |
| Entrance to the old tobacco factory |
 |
| The Russian Museum of Málaga |
There were two temporary exhibits on as well as the annual exhibit. All were excellent.
We first went to see the smallest exhibit entitled
Anna Akhmatova: Poetry and Life. [All the information was in Spanish, Russian and English]
Anna Akhmatova (1889-1965) was a great 20th century Russian poet. Already famous in the early 1910s, Akhmatova attracted wide attention, not only for her poetry but her unusual and memorable appearance and attire. She was drawn, painted and sculpted by many. Her first husband, poet and ethnographer Nikolay Gumilev (1886-1921) was executed in 1921. They had divorced in 1918. Her second husband was the poet Vladimir Shileyko (1891-1930) (married from 1918-1926 and then divorced). Shileyko died of tuberculosis. She also had an affair with composer Arthur Lourié (among others), who set many of her poems to music. He was forced to emigrate from the Soviet Union in 1922.
She had a common-law relationship with Nikolai Punin (1888-1953) from 1922-1935. He was a well known art historian and critic who was imprisoned twice and died in confinement. Her son Lev (1912-1992) (with Gumilev) was also twice imprisoned. A few years before her death, Akhmatova met and befriended the young poet Joseph Brodsky (1940-1996). He was arrested in 1963, freed in 1965, and left the USSR in 1972.
The small exhibit brought together the best portraits of Anna Akhmatova and the men who surrounded her. There were also some poetry by Akhmatova and others of her era.
 |
| Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin (1879-1939)- Portrait of Anna Akhmatova, 1922 |
 |
| Nathan Altman (1889-1970), Portrait of Anna Akhmatova, 1915 (our favourite) |
 |
Kazimir Malevich (1879-1935), Portrait of Nikolay Punin (1888-1953), 1933
Punin was in a common law relationship with Anna Akhmatova from 1922-1935.
He died in 1953 in a labour camp. |
 |
| Pyotr Miturich (1887-1956) Portrait of the Composer Arthur Lourié (1891-1966), 1915 |
 |
| Veniamin Belkin (1884-1951), Portrait of Anna Akhmatova, 1941 |
 |
| Ilya Slonim (1906-1973), Portrait of the Poetess Anna Akhmatova, 1964 |
 |
| Natalia Danko (1892-1942), Figurine of Anna Akhmatova (Poetess), 1937 |
 |
Portrait of Nikolay Gumilev (1886-1921).
Gumilev was an influential Russian poet and literary critic. He married Anna Akhmatova in April 1910 and their child Lev was born in September 1912. They divorced in 1918, as he had left her for another woman several years earlier. On August 3, 1921 he was arrested by the Cheka on an allegation of participating in a monarchist conspiracy. All 61 participants were shot on August 25. The case was officially declared as "completely fabricated" and all victims rehabilitated by Russian authorities in 1992. His execution placed a stigma on Anna and her son with Nikolay, Lev.
It was a wonderful exhibit about Akhmatova and her extraordinary life.
The second temporary exhibit was: Nicholas Roerich: In Search for Shambhala. We were not familiar with his works. Nicholas Roerich (1874-1947) was a traveller, archaeologist, writer, and philosopher who was well known internationally in the 1920s-40s. He was the author of the first document in the world concerned with the protection of cultural monuments; it has been adopted by the United Nations and UNESO and is called the Roerich Pact.
He dedicated his life to a search for proof of the close links between the history, culture and religions of different peoples. He believed in the existence of higher, non-terrestrial powers that nobody could see. Like others he called this wonder "Shambhala". He first began to paint pictures devoted to Russia's ancient history in the 1900-1910s. He also did set designs for Sergei Diaghilev, Igor Stravinsky and others. He later lived in India during the 1920s-40s and died there in 1947. In his later years, he painted hardly anything apart from mountains.
|
 |
| Park in Autumn. Early 1900s |
 |
| Ominous, 1901 |
 |
| Polovtsian Camp, 1909- Set design sketch for the production of the Polovtsian Dances from Alexander Borodin's opera Prince Igor |
 |
| The Snow Maiden Grandfather Frost, 1943. Costume sketch for the production of Alexander Ostrovsky's play at Snow Maiden. |
 |
| The Rite of Spring, 1945. |
 |
| Prince Igor's Campaign, 1942. The campaign of Igor Svyatoslavovich in 1185, which formed the basis of The Tale of Igor's Campaign, a famous work of Russian literature, was used by Roerich when painting this picture in 1942, at the height of WWII. |
 |
| Midnight Time, 1940. The painting reflects one of Roerich's ideas about Shambhala as a celestial sanctuary. |
 |
| Ilya Muromets, 1910. Based on a character from folk epics. |
 |
| The Banner of Peace-- symbolises the unity of past, present and future in the space of Eternity, as well as the synthesis of art, science and religion within the sphere of culture. Roerich suggested raising the Banner of Peace over museums and cultural institutions during times of war. The Banner of Peace, proposed by Roerich was adopted in the spring of 1935 in Washington. |
A number of his pictures of mountains reminded us of Lawren Harris's paintings from the late 1920s and early 30s.
 |
| Himalayas, Rakoposhi, 1933 |
 |
| Series of pictures mostly from the Himalayas-- 1930s and 1940s |
The third exhibit we saw entitled:
Saints, Queens and Workers: Images of Women in Russian Art. It was the annual exhibit which started in February 2019 and ends on February 29, 2020.
The exhibit was an incredible survey of images of women in Russian Art from female saints and The Mother of God, through Empresses, artists, peasants, workers and members of the intelligentsia.
Icons:
 |
| The Mother of God of the Holy Sign- last quarter of the 16th century |
 |
| The Mother of God of Tenderness- first third of the 16th century |
Peasants:
 |
| Alexei Venetsianov, Morning of the Lady of the Manor, 1823. Picture depicts a landowner's wife giving peasant women flax for spinning in winter. The artist presented the painting to Empress Elizabeth Alexeyevna in 1824, for which he was awarded a diamond signet ring. |
 |
| Semyon Moshin, Peasant woman from Velikie Luki, 1863. (From the country's northern provinces-- costumes often were decorated with small pearls from the northern rivers). |
 |
| Fedot Sychkov, Tanya, 1932 |
 |
| Sergei Gerasimov, Old Peasant Woman, 1924 |
 |
| Ivan Kulikov, Women Farmers, 1910s. |
 |
| Nikolai Ionin, Woman in Red, 1925 |
Another room had pictures of noblewomen from the later part of the 19th century.
 |
| Nikolai Yaroshenko, Girl Student, 1880 -- a student from one of the higher institutions for women, the first of which opened in the 1870s. |
 |
| Ivan Kramskoi, Portrait of Sofya Kramskaya, 1882. The picture is of the artist's daughter who became an artist herself. |
 |
| Yury Leman, Lady Behind a Veil, 1887. In the 1880s, veils once again came into fashion. |
 |
| Alexander Golovin, Portrait of Marina Makovskaya, 1912. Wife of art critic Sergei Makovsky. |
Empresses:
 |
| Louis Caravoque, Portrait of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, Not earlier than 1743. Daughter of Peter the Great. |
 |
| Ivan Argunov, Portrait of Catherine II, 1762 |
 |
| Ivan Kramskoi, Portrait of Empress Marie Fedorovna, 1882. She was the wife of Alexander III and a former Princess of Denmark. She was a patroness of artists and the firm of Carl Fabergé. After the 1917 Revolution she was able to emigrate to Denmark where she died at the age of 80 in 1928. |
There was then a room of paintings dealing with "Women's Destiny". Women lacked the right to obtain a professional eduction and had restrictions on their participation in Russian society of the 19th and early 20th century. Many who did achieve professional training did so outside of Russia. This was a very powerful section of the exhibit.
"After the Revolution, women acquitted rights equal to mens in the sphere of education, choice of profession and participation in social life, which was immediately reflected in various expressions of culture, the visual arts among them".
 |
| Konstantin Makovsky, Young Widow, 1865. (Widows were often left penniless) |
 |
| Nikolai Petrov, Viewing the Bride, 1861 (Depicting the traditional Russian rite of the viewing of the Bride by the groom's relatives). |
 |
| Firs Zhuravlev, Before the Wedding, 1874. (Marriages of convenience were very common in Russia. Father looks perplexed as young bride cries before her wedding). |
 |
| Nikolai Kasatkin, The Poor Gathering Coal in a Worked-Out Mine, 1894. ( While their fathers and husbands are mining for Donbas anthracite underground, the women and children attempt to make ends meet by scouring the sites of an old mine for scraps of coal). This oil painting looked like a photograph- so vivid. |
 |
| Mikhail Klodt, Seamstress, 1875 |
The Artist and His Model:
 |
| Iosif Braz, Portrait of Countess Elena Tolstaya, wife of Count Dimitry Tolstoy, Director of the Hermitage, 1900 |
 |
| Grigory Bobrovsky, Portrait of Smoilova (Portrait of "Mrs Z"), 1912 |
 |
| Alexander Shevchenko, Portrait of a Woman in a Red Dress, 1913. Depicts Nadezhda Psischeva (1881-1913), artist and wife of Shevchenco. She is pictured not long before her death from tuberculosis. |
 |
| David Sterenberg, Portrait of the Artist's Wife, 1925. |
There was a room of photographs and a room with additional pictures of woman and mothers with their children.
 |
| Ksenia Nechitailo, Market in Yalta, 1970. |
 |
| Vladimir Lebedev, Portrait of Nadezhda Nadezhdina, 1927. Ballerina (1908-1979) |
 |
| Pyotr Konchalovsky, Family Portrait, 1911. Pictures his wife, daughter and son after he returned from living in Spain. |
 |
| Alexander Shevchenko, Portrait of the Artist's Wife and Daughter, 1924. |
It was a wonderful Museum. Málaga certainly lives up to its name as "City of Museums". While we have not visited St. Petersburg, it was wonderful to get this sampling of paintings from the Russian State Museum there. The building is also spectacular and the audio (no charge with the 4 euro admission) was excellent. What a treat!
We walked back along the beach. The wind had picked up a bit and the tide was in.
 |
| Another part of the beach |
 |
| Higher waves than yesterday |
 |
| Walking across the river into the city centre |
We stopped at Santa Canela for a very late coffee. The place was full at 6:00 p.m. with people having coffee and sweets.
 |
| Alano with his flat white |
We decided to see if we could catch up with the Grand Parade of the Carnival which had started at 5:30 p.m. It was already 6:30 p.m. We first passed near the Central Market and saw a street where the parade had already passed by. Lots of kids and their families wandering around in costume and a ton of confetti on the street.
 |
| So cute! |
 |
| Family photo |
 |
| Alano with confetti |
We then headed to a very crowded Constitution Plaza where the parade had just passed by. More confetti.
 |
| This couple had been throwing confetti from a bag that organisers were handing out |
 |
Balloons
We took a small street over to Plaza de la Merced, where we knew the parade was going to end. We were able to get a front row view and saw most of the different groups in the parade. Lots of people in costume (both young and old) watching the parade.
|
 |
| Batman and superheroes were quite popular |
 |
| One of the many bands |
 |
| Folks from a gym doing gymnastics en route |
 |
| Lots of height! |
 |
| More folks in the parade |
 |
| T-shirts from Carnaval |
 |
| More music |
 |
| Lights in the Plaza de la Merced |
 |
| Full Batman |
 |
| Cakes and sweets |
 |
| Larger floats at the end |
 |
| Another large float |
 |
| Grannies on scooters |
 |
| Another band |
 |
| Lots of colour |
 |
| Birds in the trees at Plaza de la Merced just after sunset |
We headed back to the apartment at around 7:45 p.m. Alano made us some appetizers and we had dorade (sea bream), potatoes, zucchini, salad, wine and a treat (with honey) for dessert. Another full day.
Comments
Post a Comment