Art is one of the essential subjects in Russia, especially since the Romanov’s reign had begun. When you investigate the life of Russian emperors and empresses from Peter the Great’s reign, the love for art and culture is ultimately attractive to the former rulers of Russia. One of the proofs of that statement is the number of art and cultural museums in Russia, especially in St. Petersburg, where was the capital of Russia throughout the Romanov family’s reign. Peter the Great, who himself considered as an artist, collected many pieces of art, and many of his works are still in display on various museums of St. Petersburg. When Catherine the Great succeeded the power, a new age for art, and collecting art has begun. She, who loved to have multiple pieces of art for her private gallery, started a work that has become what we know as the State Hermitage Museum, which is the second-largest art museum in the world. The House of Faberge had designed multiple breathtaking pieces of jewelry for the imperial family, including Alexander III and Nicholas II. You can still find some of Faberge eggs inside the Faberge Museum in Shuvalov Palace. However, the Faberge Museum is not the only place to find Faberge eggs. You can also find some of them in Moscow, New York, and Virginia city, but Faberge Museum is one of the best places in St. Petersburg tour that you can find Faberge eggs on your tour to Russia.
Collecting pieces of art was a regular activity for the Russian imperial family and nobles families, even in the last years ruling Russia before the October Revolution, they did not stop to collect pieces of art. While this habit was not quite favored among Soviet officials, still people of the Soviet Union continued to create pieces of art, which some of them became revolutionary in the contemporary culture in Russia. When the Soviet Union had fallen, the attention was once again drawn to create and collect pieces of art. However, this time, Russian collectors and galleries had their focus on contemporary art and Russian artists. Since then, Russia has two leading contemporary art museum, which each of them has created its own empire in Russia.
In 2008, Dasha Zhukova co-founded the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art with Roman Abramovich, and Moscow had its first contemporary art museum afterward. The garage is a thriving museum that also has a magazine and publishing. The Garage Museum of Contemporary Art currently locates at Gorky Park, which we at the Star Travel Group recommend visiting people who have plans to visit Moscow on their tour to Russia. Garage has plans to establish a branch in St. Petersburg as well. However, St. Petersburg, as the city of museum and funder of art throughout history, should have its contemporary art museum as well. That’s why the Erarta group had established the most significant private contemporary art museum in Russia in 2010. Over the last decade, the Erarta Museum of Contemporary Art has become one of the top museums in St. Petersburg, according to Trip Adviser, and considered to be one of the five Cultural Gems of St. Petersburg as National Geographic had stated.
The name of Erarta came from mixing two separate words, ‘era’ and ‘art,’ which means ‘the era of art’ in Russian. The museum locates on Vasilyevsky Island inside a five-story building that was initially constructed for the committee of the Communist Party in 1951, and later it was occupied by the Institute of Synthetic Rubber Research. The Erarta Museum of Contemporary Art began its work at the end of September 2010, and one of the main features of its presence on Vasilyevsky Island is the two sculptures in front of it. Dmitry Zhukov, one of the well-known Russian sculptors and a member of RAU (Russian Artists Union), was commissioned to create these two monuments for the Erarta Museum of Contemporary Art.
One of the great things about the Erarta Museum is that you can’t define it only as a traditional Fine Art Museum because it also creates art in its facilities as well as collecting pieces of art. The main focus of the Erarta Museum is on Russian artists as well as funding the new generations of artists who are not yet gained recognition in Russia or the world. One of the exciting features of the Erarta Museum is the U-space halls, in which artists create an installation with an independent object or a temporary private living space that wakes a particular emotion in the visitors. There are eight halls inside Erarta dedicated to the U-space program.
Currently, the Erarta Museum of Contemporary Art has around 2800 pieces of contemporary art from the 1940s to the present day. These works of art are from about 300 artists from all over Russia, not only Moscow and St. Petersburg, but from other regions, such as Novosibirsk, Krasnodar, Samara, and other places. Tourists who visit this museum on their tour to Russia will find paintings, sculptures, prints, collage, drawings, installations, video art, and other forms of contemporary art in Erarta’s collections. The main goal of the museum is to show the works of talented Russian artists to the broadest audience possible, that’s why it turned to one of the top ten famous museums in St. Petersburg even though it’s a private museum.
One fun fact about this museum is its restaurant and café since, even in these places, art somehow finds its way. If you visit this museum during your Russia tour, make sure to visit Erarta’s restaurant, which locates in the basement of the building, and order something from its Russia or European menu to find out how art found its way through the dishes.
If you have plans to visit Russia as your travel destination in the future, we at the Star Travel Company recommend you to visit our weblog to find out more about the top attractive places that you can visit during your tour to St. Petersburg or the Moscow tour. We also suggest our picks on the best places to visit on your tour to Russia, top shopping centers in both Moscow and St. Petersburg as well as beautiful places that you can visit during your trip to Russia, and other fun facts about Russian history. You can also get a general idea about how to travel to Russia by visiting our weblog, especially by reading our travel to Russia guides.
