July 21, 2020

Exploring Russian Museums ~ Virtually


Exploring Russian Museums ~ Virtually
The Hermitage is just one of the museums offering online exhibits. Image by Sasha Petite via Wikimedia Commons

With the novel coronavirus pandemic still raging, many museums remain closed or mostly closed to in-person visits. But you can still enjoy much of what these venerated institutions have to offer, just in a new format. Many museums are turning to online exhibitions so that virtual visitors can peruse their collections.

One such museum in the US is the Zimmerli Art Museum, at Rutgers University. Zimmerli has launched a new eMuseum, which allows visitors to scan their collections online. Their electronic collections hold more than 7,000 pieces of art and textual information on about 18,000 additional works. New images are being uploaded weekly. Notably, their collections include a large selection of Russian Art and Soviet Nonconformist Art.

Another online museum offering – albeit temporary – is St. Petersburg's Manege Central Exhibition Hall. They have a new exhibit called As They See Us: A Portrait of Russia by the Magnum Agency. This photo series includes 265 images by 39 photographers from 1947-2020. The end of the exhibit features a new project by Nanna Heitmann: Just Stand and Look, which is dedicated to doctors and patients of Hospital 52 in Moscow.

Meanwhile, one of Russia’s most famous museums, the Hermitage, is slowly starting to reopen. For those who prefer to stay at home, however, the Hermitage offers an online viewing option, where you can view thousands of images from their exhibits.

Other museums offering online exhibits include the Tretyakov Gallery, The Museum of Russian Art, The Virtual Russian Museum, and The State Russian Museum.

You Might Also Like

Looking After the Treasure
  • July 01, 1996

Looking After the Treasure

Last year's controversial exhibitions at St. Petersburg's Hermitage museum gave attendance a new boost, and fueld hope for expansion and upgrade plans. Lisa Dickey takes a look at what's in store for Russia's greatest art museum.
Treasure on the Onega
  • January 01, 1999

Treasure on the Onega

Kargopol is one of the richest settlements in the Russian North. William Brumfield takes us on a visit.
17 Petersburg Places
  • September 01, 2017

17 Petersburg Places

Revolutions, including that Great October one, are not a popular topic in Russia today. Nonetheless, we take a photo feature look at how 1917 shaped Russia’s northern capital.
  • July 01, 2020

"Painting Jesus Isn't Dangerous"

Moscow is seeing religious symbolism crop up in unexpected places. It’s not the first time, but there is something different about what is going on now.
Treasures a la Russe
  • July 01, 2017

Treasures a la Russe

In a Washington DC suburb, a retired diplomat and self-professed Russophile has collected a treasure-trove of pre-revolutionary Russian delights.
The Museum of Freedom
  • July 01, 2017

The Museum of Freedom

On St. Petersburg’s Revolution Highway there is a museum devoted to collecting and preserving the elusive and controversial art forms of graffiti and street art.
The Museum of Abandoned Secrets
  • November 01, 2012

The Museum of Abandoned Secrets

Where we interview Nina Shevchuk-Murray, translator of this new book by Oksana Zabuzhko, which is an expansive piece of historical fiction that encompasses much of Ukrainian history, particularly during WWII.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

This exciting new trilogy by a Russian author – who has been compared to Orhan Pamuk and Umberto Eco – vividly recreates a lost world, yet its passions and characters are entirely relevant to the present day. Full of mystery, memorable characters, and non-stop adventure, The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas is a must read for lovers of historical fiction and international thrillers.  
The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.
Survival Russian

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.
The Samovar Murders

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
Russian Rules

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.
White Magic

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.
Moscow and Muscovites

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 
Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.
The Moscow Eccentric

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.
Woe From Wit (bilingual)

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955