The Russian Academy Of Arts

“The Gallic Spirit on the Banks on the Neva River. Academy of Arts and the French Culture of the 17th-20th Century” exhibition in the gala halls of the Academy Museum in St. Petersburg showcases over one hundred paintings, drawings, sculptures, engravings, architectural blueprints and models from the collection of the Museum and Research Library of the Russian Academy of Arts.

The display is based on a vast architectural collection of the Academy Museum containing original sheets by architects Tomas de Tomon (whose 250th birth anniversary is being celebrated this year) and August Montferran.

The viewers will also see a canvas by Antoine Watteau, fine decorative panels on the topic of a love story of Apollo and Daphne; graphic works by Jean-Baptist Greuse and Edme Bouchardon, author’s models by the sculptor Etienne Maurice Falconet and many other artworks by French masters.

Of big interest are French fashion magazines for ladies. Albums “Furniture and Objects of Taste” represent an illustrative part of the popular periodical magazine “Ladies and Fashions” published in Paris from 1808 till 1835. The show includes prints depicting carriages, objects of decorative and applied art such as armchairs, chairs, beds with canopies, lamps in the Empire style.

Very elegant are aquatints by K.D. Vinezac (1749-1800) who produced a dozen of sketchbooks with designs of vases, candlesticks, lamps and other luxury things to be used by jewelers that were fine specimens of neoclassical style.

A special section of the show is devoted to a theme of the French photography from its invention until the early 20th century. It is a rare opportunity to see unique daguerreotypes executed by Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre which are one of the first experiments in photographical mastership, as well as works by E. Dontenville, L.E. Durandel and other photographers from the holdings of the Research Library.

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