The Museum of Russian Impressionism adds another exhibit to its collection

On the eve of its 10-year anniversary Museum of Russian Impressionism recommences the expansion of its permanent collection. As of September 2025, it now includes a piece by Nikolai Kuznetsov titled “Portrait of the artist’s daughter”. The artwork was created in the end of the 19th century and is the first contribution to the museum’s collection by its partner and patron, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees Valdimir Voronin, founder and shareholder of GK FSK.

A true master of the portrait and a member of the Society of Wandering Exhibitions, Nikolai Kuznetsov is frequently showcased by the Museum, with the permanent collection including companion portrait etudes of the artist’s children – Marusya, as she was called by her family, and Misha. Maria Kuznetsova-Benoit was an operatic singer, the lead of Mariinsky theatre and a member of the Diaghilev’s Russian Seasons. She was often portrayed by her father in various guises. “Marusya was a copy of her father: the same fierce pitch-black eyes, the same – if yet dormant – spirit”, – reminisced Leonid Pasternak, an artist himself. The portrait is a textbook example of Russian Impressionism: profound psychological dimension inherited from Peredvizhniki movement meets the dynamism of the new artistic direction.

“We are happy to finally recommence the expansion of our collection after several years when the task was unachievable for the museum. This female protagonist is well familiar to our guests – “The portrait of Marusya” depicting Kuznetsov’s daughter at the age of 11 has been a part of our permanent collection since day one. Thanks to Vladimir Voronin we now have another representation of the heroine, created 3 years later. Soon enough Maria will sparkle in the footlights in Saint Petersburg and Paris, but the portrait gives us a glimpse of an adolescent girl. Her looks might have changed, but the artist’s sentiment towards his model stays the same. We are delighted to fill our exhibition halls with these touching stories”. – says Julia Petrova, the director of the Museum of Russian Impressionism.

The permanent collection of the museum comprises works by Russian artists created in the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries which showcase the artistic devices and ideas characteristic of impressionism: Vasiliy Polenov, Valentina Serova, Konstantin Korovin, Nikolai Bogdanov-Belski and other artists and sculptors.

The shareholder of GK FSK Vladimir Voronin has been the partner-patron and the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Museum of Russian Impressionism since the early days of 2024.