Residents of Málaga to Explore Russian Museum’s First Foreign Branch

The St. Petersburg-based Russian Museum is opening its first foreign branch. The facility is opening in the Spanish city of Malaga. According to an agreement between the museum and municipal authorities, the branch will operate for no less than 10 years, TASS reports. The branch is to have three exhibitions a year – two temporary exhibits and one permanent exhibit.

The choice of Malaga was no coincidence – this major tourism center is home to the largest Russian language community in Spain. The museum branch will be situated in La Tabacalera, a 1920s tobacco factory which has been converted into an exhibition center.

The inaugural display, “Russian Art of the XV-XX centuries”, traces a path of the country’s art history through 100 works, beginning with Russian icons from the end of the Middle Ages to Modernism and concluding with Soviet Realism, including the canvases of such masters as Venetsianov, Bryullov, Tropinin, Levitan, Serov, Kustodiev and Repin, among others.

The first temporary exhibition is dedicated to Sergei Diaghilev (1872-1929), the Russian impresario behind the Ballets Russes who collaborated with avant-garde artists such as Picasso and Matisse. “Russian Art from the Age of Diaghilev” will include over 60 works, from paintings to stage designs, and will be on display until September. This will be followed by an exhibition on Pavel Filonov (1883-1941), an eccentric avant-garde artist and a fervent supporter of the Russian Revolution of 1917.