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

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.
The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The fables of Ivan Krylov are rich fonts of Russian cultural wisdom and experience – reading and understanding them is vital to grasping the Russian worldview. This new edition of 62 of Krylov’s tales presents them side-by-side in English and Russian. The wonderfully lyrical translations by Lydia Razran Stone are accompanied by original, whimsical color illustrations by Katya Korobkina.
Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.
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.
Fearful Majesty

Fearful Majesty

This acclaimed biography of one of Russia’s most important and tyrannical rulers is not only a rich, readable biography, it is also surprisingly timely, revealing how many of the issues Russia faces today have their roots in Ivan’s reign.
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.
A Taste of Russia

A Taste of Russia

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.
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.
Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

This astonishingly gripping autobiography by the founder of the Russian Women’s Death Battallion in World War I is an eye-opening documentary of life before, during and after the Bolshevik Revolution.
Marooned in Moscow

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.

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