Pavel Treťjakov a vznik jeho galerie výtvarných umění. Ke genezi ruského uměnovědného mecenátu
Pavel Tretyakov and the Establishment of His Art Gallery. On the Genesis of the Russian Art Historical Patronage

Summary/Abstract: In the second half of the 19th century, the Russian society was undergoing rapid development. The latter was fuelled by significant changes launched by Emperor Alexander II shortly after the lost Crimean War (1853 – 1856). In defiance of the generally accepted clichés that in this period Russia was remaining a backward country, the changes resulted in the development of Russian industry and trade, the business flourished and in the cities a new modern Russian intelligentsia arose. This modern intelligentsia were characterized by Russian nationalism and by the determination to do anything to make Russia exceptional. This involved their patronage and support of Russian artists and their works accentuating the Russian society. One of the most significant Russian patrons of the second half of the 19th century was a rich Moscow merchant Pavel M. Tretyakov. The paper deals with his life story and transformations of his interest in arts. It zeroes in on his accumulation of available funds for those fine arts which expressed some Russian peculiarities. In this regard, Tretyakov focused especially on the portraits of important personalities of the Russian past and present. Tretyakov’s effort to surround himself with such pictures soon developed into his determination to make them accessible for broader public and thus allow their perception by those who could not afford to buy such pictures. The paper applies a historical rather than art historical view. Therefore, it primarily draws attention to historical circumstances that made the Russian art historical patronage of the Tretyakov’s type possible.

• Details
• Contents