Tretyakov Gallery

The Tretyakov Gallery is so beautiful, and perhaps the best art museum I’ve ever been to in my life. Or at least, I suppose, relative to my tastes. The Smithsonian does not have such a beautiful collection of either icons or nineteenth century intellectual art, depicting the troubles of the time. One thing it reminded me of was the seemingly never-ending sorrow of Russia. Most of the figures in the portraits had distinctly Russian faces, fallen with grief or troubles, and the eyes were all quite striking. It is quite difficult to portray the eyes of deep grief, but the Russian painters of the 19^th century seem to have achieved it with some skill on numerous occasions. Russia was either under the Golden Horde, or with a raging king, or in conflict about the tsar. It has always appeared to me to be a nation continually grieving or in conflict, a conception I think the Tretyakov resurrected in me. This leads me to the conclusion that, on an intellectual (and rather bourgeois level) Russians think rather too much. In different times in Russia, it was impossible for something to not be politically or spiritually charged. Was such a concentration of meaning too dense for the majority of the people, and thus it erupted?

It’s possible to see the results of this, just walking around the streets of downtown Moscow. Russian irony is wonderful. There are stars next to crosses in the Kremlin skies, Soviet as well as literary metro stop names, surprisingly persistent church buildings hidden everywhere, and Soviet memorabilia such as a hammer and sickle ash tray. I find it highly inappropriate to stage concerts in Red Square right in front of the Mausoleum, if they purport to so respect Lenin. Somehow I feel like letting Lady Gaga perform in Red Square rather defeats the purpose of even having the mausoleum there at all. The history of this country has produced so many contradictions.

Apart from my musings, the Tretyakov was wonderful by itself. The only serious disappointment I had was that both the Rublev Trinity and the chapel containing the Vladimirskaya Bogoroditsa were under restoration. That makes me so sad. Those are the two best things in the entire museum, from my religious nerd perspective, and many people requested that I see both, and remember them. The good side of this, of course, is that it gives me a decent reason to come to Russia again after several years.

In my fruitless search for the Vladimirskaya, I also saw a beautiful painting by Mikhail Nesterov that was quite a surprise. I did not know that Nesterov’s famous painting of Sergei Bulgakov walking with Fr. Pavel Florensky was in the Tretyakov. It was a shock, especially since I wasn’t even looking for Russian philosophers at the time. It seemed like even in this room of impressionist painting, the humanity, pensiveness, and subdued sorrow of the Russian people was well represented and reflected. The traditional color contrast was still present, and the portrait seemed as particularly Russian as the execution of the boyars. It’s amazing what you find when you’re not looking for it.