Abramtsevo Colony

Abramtsevo
Country EstateandArtists' Colony
Abramtsevo manor house
Abramtsevo Location in Russia
Coordinates:56°14′03″N37°58′06″E
District	Sergiyevo-Posadsky District
Oblast	Moscow Oblast
Website	abramtsevo.net/eng/

One of the wooden workshop studio buildings on Abramtsevo estate. This one host'sMikhail Vrubel's collection of folk art

Ilya Repin:Autumn day in Abramtsevo,1880 painting

Abramtsevo(Russian:Абра́мцево) is a formercountry estateand nowmuseum-reservelocated north ofMoscow,in the proximity ofKhotkovo,that became a centre for theSlavophilemovement and anartists' colonyin the 19th century. The estate is located in the village ofAbramtsevo,inSergiyevo-Posadsky DistrictofMoscow Oblast.The Abramtsevo Museum-reserve site is an object of cultural heritage in Russia.

History

Originally owned by the authorSergei Aksakov,other writers and artists — such asNikolai Gogol— at first came there as his guests. Under Aksakov, visitors to the estate discussed ways of ridding Russian art of Western influences to revive a purely national style. In 1870, eleven years after Aksakov's death, it was purchased bySavva Mamontov,a wealthy industrialist and patron of the arts.

Under Mamontov, Russian themes and folk art flourished there. During the 1870s and 1880s, Abramtsevo hosted a colony of artists who sought to recapture the quality and spirit of medieval Russian art in a manner parallel to theArts and Crafts movementinGreat Britain.Several workshops were set up there to produce handmade furniture, ceramic tiles, and silks imbued with traditional Russian imagery and themes.

Working together in a cooperative spirit, the artistsVasily PolenovandViktor Vasnetsovdesigned a plain but picturesque church, with murals painted by Polenov, Vasnetsov and his brother, a gildediconostasisbyIlya RepinandMikhail Nesterov,and folklore-inspired sculptures byViktor HartmannandMark Antokolsky.Towards the turn of the 20th century, drama and opera on Russian folklore themes (e.g.,Rimsky-Korsakov'sThe Snow Maiden) were produced in Abramtsevo by the likes ofKonstantin Stanislavsky,with sets contributed by Vasnetsov,Mikhail Vrubel,and other distinguished artists.

Museum

Abramtsevo is now open to the public and tourists can wander along the many paths through the surrounding forest and cross the wooden bridges that served as an inspiration for the artists at the Abramtsevo Colony. They can also visit many of the buildings to see works produced by the artists at the colony, e.g., a wooden bathhouse in the shape of a traditional dwelling ofAncient Rus,designed byIvan Ropet,and the House on Chicken Legs, a fairy-tale abode of an evil witch,Baba Yaga,designed by Vasnetsov. One building, the main "manor," is said to have been the model for the estate in whichAnton ChekhovsetThe Cherry Orchard.

Gallery

• 
  Manor House
• 
  Workshop studio
• 
  StoneKurgan stelae(baba)
• 
  Hut on hen's legs (The 'hut on chicken legs' is the dwelling (hut) ofBaba Yagain Russian fairy tales)
• 
  View of theriver Vorya
• 
  Thebathhouse
• 
  Church of the Savior of the Holy Image (architect Pavel Mikhailovich Samarin, based on drawings by V. M. Vasnetsov and V. D. Polenov)
• 
  Former medical building
• 
  Manager's house

See also

• Aksakov Museum

Further reading

• William Craft Brumfield.The Origins of Modernism in Russian Architecture(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991)ISBN0-520-06929-3

External links

• The Moscow Timeson Abramtsevo
• Abramtsevo Museum-Reserve, history and factsArchived2019-04-15 at theWayback Machine- [English]