The Museum of Russian impressionism, opened on 28 May 2016, was established by Boris Mints, Russian entrepreneur, public figure and patron of the arts. He has been collecting paintings and graphics of Russian artists, mainly relating to the period of the end of the 19th centuryto the beginning of the 20th century, since 2001. His collection includes works of prominent painters such as Konstantin Korovin, Igor Grabar, Konstantin Yuon, Petr Konchalovsky, Yuri Pimenov, Boris Kustodiev, and Valentin Serov. The permanent exposition of the Museum is based on the masterpieces of these Russian artists from the personal collection of Boris Mints. The Museum is housed in the building which earlier, in the end of 19th century, has been used as a mill by Bolshevik factory. In 2012 British architectural bureau John McAslan + Partners began the project of its restoration. This building is remarkable for its unusual shape — it is a cylinder with a rectangular parallel piped on the roof. The mill was successfully converted into a modern museum, which was ready to open in 2016. But as institution the Museum started operating 2014, before moving to the former mill's building. It held several exhibitions not only in Moscow and other Russian cities, but also abroad in Venice and Freiburg. In December 2016 it entered the long-list of the nominees for the Art Newspaper Russia awards.
Collections
The permanent exposition of the Museum covers a considerable chronological range. 'In The Park' by Konstantin Korovin is the earliest painting. It relates to the period of time when Russian art has hade its first steps towards impressionism. Several masterpieces from Museum's collection have been brought back to their homeland by the Museum's founder. Both Pyotr Konchalovsky works in the Museum collection once belonged to Western collectors, as did Nikolai Dubovskoy's 'Mountain Village', 'Summer' by Nikolai Bogdanov-Belsky's and 'Venice' by Boris Kustodiev. Konstantin Korovin's 'Gurzuf' was also purchased at one of the European auctions. The pictures produced by the brushes of Igor Grabar, Konstantin Yuon, Yury Pimenov have too rarely been exhibited to date and now are displayed in the Museum of Russian Impressionism. With regard to contemporary artworks, the most recent of them are those by Valery Koshlyakov.
